Telekom Austria is satisfied with its HSPA+ network and expects the LTE roll-out to begin within several years, according to CFO Hans Tschuden in an interview with Total Telecom.

He said that the HSPA+ technology is currently sufficient to fulfil consumer demand and LTE is not a necessity right now. He explained to Total Telecom in London that LTE tests are currently underway in Austria, with a spectrum auction due to begin in 2011 and carry on into the start of 2012. 

However LTE remains part of the operator's long-term next generation network strategy as a means of offering faster connection speeds, supporting high-bandwidth applications, and keeping pace with the competition.

In June, erlier this year, Mobilkom & Telekom Austria conducted a live LTE demonstration on the A1 network .