Cambridge, Aug 14th 2012: ip.access today confirmed that it had already shipped an LTE-only version of its new E-100 dual mode access point to five customers for laboratory and field trials. This is an important staging point in the process of moving towards full commercial deployments and represents the company’s first LTE product shipments.

Announcing the shipments, ip.access CEO Simon Brown said: “Customer interest has been strong in the E-100 and we have invested in accelerating the programme in order to meet that demand.

“Indeed, our commitment to increased R&D into understanding and delivering on all the end-to-end requirements of the developing small cell network layer – from access points to network gateways and management systems – is now paying dividends; gaining recognition and support from network operators, system integrators, our partners and the industry in general.”

The E-100 is a small cell Access Point targeted for use in enterprises and public indoor environments. The device will provide simultaneous 4G and 3G mobile phone signals with data speeds of up to 150 Mbps and 42 Mbps respectively and will also be able to support WiFi as an optional module.

ip.access founder and CTO Nick Johnson said: “Small cells will have a vital role to play in delivering LTE's promise of high-speed data for the mass-market and the E-100 will allow operators to quickly deploy that capacity exactly where it is needed.”

The E-100 will be integrated into ip.access' nanoConverge end-to-end small cell solution architecture, allowing operators to deploy the E-100 alongside the company's existing 3G small cells using the same gateways and network management system.

Last month, judges at the Small Cells Forum industry awards gave ip.access a special award for its Network Orchestration System small cell layer next generation management tool and its nanoConverge combined 3G/LTE network gateway.