South Korea's wireless operator SK Telecom has debuted the LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) service through smartphones. To commercialize LTE-A, SK Telecom has already applied Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Coordinated Multi Point (CoMP), and plans to apply Enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) in 2014.
Nokia Siemens Networks has announced that it has achieved 56 Mbps peak upload throughput in a TD-LTE network using its commercial 4G base station with multiple antenna technology and a single 20 MHz carrier.
Analysts IDATE predicts more than 915 million LTE subscriptions worldwide by the end of 2016 and expects first billion to be exceeded during 2017. Asia-Pacific is expected to represent a sizeable 41.6% of the total, North America 21.6%, Africa/Middle East 7.5%, Eastern Europe 4.9% and Western Europe 15.8%.
SIMalliance has published an updated technical document for mobile network operators (MNOs) that specifies the integrated features required to provide optimal UICC support for LTE network and IMS services deployment.
Russia's mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has selected Ericsson to deploy the LTE network in four regions covering more than half of Russia. Under the three-year agreement and starting in Q2, 2013, Ericsson will roll out LTE in the Siberian, Ural, Volga, and Southern Federal Districts of Russia.
Aio Wireless, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, has announced the launch of no-annual contract LTE service covering more than 200 million people. Aio has also added Naples and Ft. Myers to the number of markets it serves.
Switzerland's telecom operator Swisscom is now offering 4G LTE roaming its customers. From 21 June, Swisscom customers will be able to browse the Internet in South Korea with LTE.
Bulgarian telecom operator Max Telecom has picked Nokia Siemens Networks as the main vendor to provide equipment for its LTE network. Operator plans to launch LTE mobile internet services in Q4 2013.
U.S. operator Sprint announced expansion of its 4G LTE network in 22 new cities including Miami, New Orleans, Raleigh, N.C., and Tampa, Fla. Sprint's LTE network is now serving 110 markets nationwide and expects to provide 200 million people with LTE by the end of 2013.
AT&T continues to expand LTE coverage in existing markets and has now switched on its 4G LTE service in 17 new markets this week. With this expansion AT&T 4G LTE is now available in 278 markets.