Ericsson has signed a commercial contract with LG U+, a South Korean wireless service provider, to build a LTE commercial service network. The cotract was signed via their local entity, LG-Ericsson.

With this deal, LG U+ will be able to support the existing CDMA and 4G LTE mobile service concurrently. Commercial service will start in July 2011.

Ericsson will be responsible for building LTE network in Seoul and metropolitan area with a population of 25M and will supply Evolved Packet Core network, LTE base stations and optical repeaters for access and transmission. The project will start in May this year and be completed in 2012.

At the initial stage, the service will be provided through a dongle that allows LTE network access. Once LTE-dedicated handsets are available, the LTE service is expected to prosper.

"Ericsson has successfully introduced the world's first LTE commercial service and accumulated unrivalled technology, experience and know-how. We are embarking a vital project for the future of LG U+. We will not only bolster our partnership with LG U+ but also contribute to the LTE development in Korea," said Mats H Olsson, Head of Region China and North East Asia.

In September 2010, LG U+ had a benchmarking test to select LTE equipment vendors and named Ericsson as supplier of Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and LTE radio base station (eNodeB).