Arqiva and Alcatel-Lucent have announced a LTE trial in the Preseli Mountains, West Wales. This UK trial uses the 800MHz spectrum freed up by digital TV switchover and can deliver speeds of over 50Mbit/s. 

The Preseli Mountains area has already switched to digital TV and combines low population density with dispersed communities, making it typical of areas that can’t be reached economically with the existing fixed networks.

Alcatel-Lucent is ensuring that the trial provides a full fixed and mobile broadband experience to end-users. Arqiva’s neutral-host network solution would offer wholesale access to all service providers and new entrants. This approach extends the reach of the fixed networks while at the same time maintaining competition at the service layer - ensuring that consumers retain choice and benefit from service innovation. Shared infrastructure, combined with a single network interconnect, provides the service provider with a far more cost-effective means of accessing a potential market of up to 2 million households.

"We firmly believe that the combination of LTE technology, the 800MHz spectrum and a neutral-host commercial model is the best way of providing rural communities with broadband quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively," said Steve Holebrook, Managing Director of Arqiva’s Government, Mobile & Enterprise business.