Swisscom is turning on commercial 4G LTE services for its customers in Switzerland starting tomorrow. At the time of the launch, this new network will be available in 26 locations. Swisscom aims to work as quickly as possible during the next year to continue LTE expansion and plans to cover 70 percent of the population by the end of 2013.

The volume of data transmitted over the Swisscom mobile network is currently doubling every 16 months. Operator hopes that LTE network will make it possible to manage increasing data volumes in the future, as well.

Swisscom is continuously expanding its range of 4G/LTE smartphones: HTC One XL will be available at the launch with Samsung Galaxy SIII 4G, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 4G, and Nokia Lumia 920 to follow in early December. Swisscom also offers a USB modem for notebooks from Hauwei and a mobile hotspot from ZTE. 

Earlier, Swisscom  has successfully completed 4G/LTE pilot project in seven tourist regions and the cities of Berne and Zurich.  Frequencies of 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz are used to transmit the 4G/LTE signal. The company will invest around CHF 1.5 billion in the expansion of its mobile network until 2016.