LTE timeline

The LTE project was designed to achieve a 4G wireless data communications standard.

3GPP standard development timeline

• In 2004 NTT DoCoMo of Japan proposes LTE as the international standard.^[1]
• In September 2006, Siemens Networks (today Nokia Siemens Networks) showed in collaboration with Nomor Research the first live emulation of an LTE network to the media and investors. As live applications two users streaming an HDTV video in the downlink and playing an interactive game in the uplink have been demonstrated.^[2]
• The first presentation of an LTE demonstrator with HDTV streaming (>30 Mbit/s), video supervision and Mobile IP-based handover between the LTE radio demonstrator and the commercially available HSDPA radio system was shown during the ITU trade fair in Hong Kong in December 2006 by Siemens Communication Department.
• In February 2007, Ericsson demonstrated for the first time in the world LTE with bit rates up to 144 Mbit/s^[3]
• In September 2007, NTT docomo demonstrated LTE data rates of 200 Mbit/s with power level below 100 mW during the test.^[4]
• In November 2007, Infineon presented the world’s first RF transceiver named SMARTi LTE supporting LTE functionality in a single-chip RF silicon processed in CMOS ^[5][6]
• In early 2008 LTE test equipment began shipping from several vendors and, at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona, Ericsson demonstrated the world’s first end-to-end mobile call enabled by LTE on a small handheld device.^[7] Motorola demonstrated an LTE RAN standard compliant eNodeB and LTE chipset at the same event.
• At the February 2008 Mobile World Congress:
  • Huawei demonstrated LTE applications by means of multiplex HDTV services and mutual gaming that has transmission speeds of 100 Mbit/s.
  • Motorola demonstrated how LTE can accelerate the delivery of personal media experience with HD video demo streaming, HD video blogging, Online gaming and VoIP over LTE running a RAN standard compliant LTE network & LTE chipset.^[8]
  • Ericsson EMP (now ST-Ericsson) demonstrated the world’s first end-to-end LTE call on handheld^[7] Ericsson demonstrated LTE FDD and TDD mode on the same base station platform.
  • Freescale Semiconductor demonstrated streaming HD video with peak data rates of 96 Mbit/s downlink and 86 Mbit/s uplink.^[9]
  • NXP Semiconductors (now a part of ST-Ericsson) demonstrated a multi-mode LTE modem as the basis for a software-defined radio system for use in cellphones.^[10]
  • picoChip and Mimoon demonstrated a base station reference design. This runs on a common hardware platform (multi-mode / software defined radio) with their WiMAX architecture.^[11]
• In April 2008, Motorola demonstrated the first EV-DO to LTE hand-off – handing over a streaming video from LTE to a commercial EV-DO network and back to LTE.^[12]
• In April 2008, LG Electronics and Nortel demonstrated LTE data rates of 50 Mbit/s while travelling at 110 km/h.^[13]
• In April 2008 Ericsson unveiled its M700 mobile platform, the world’s first commercially available LTE-capable platform, with peak data rates of up to 100 Mbit/s in the downlink and up to 50 Mbit/s in the uplink. The first products based on M700 will be data devices such as laptop modems, Expresscards and USB modems for notebooks, as well other small-form modems suitable for consumer electronic devices. Commercial release was set for 2009, with products based on the platform expected in 2010.
• In November 2008 Motorola demonstrated industry first over-the-air LTE session in 700 MHz spectrum.^[14]
• Researchers at Nokia Siemens Networks and Heinrich Hertz Institut have demonstrated LTE with 100 Mbit/s Uplink transfer speeds.^[15]
• In December 2008 the "Rel-8" specification was frozen for new features, meaning only essential clarifications and corrections were permitted.
• In January 2009 The ASN.1 code was frozen. The Rel-8 standard was complete enough that hardware designers had been designing chipsets, test equipment, and base stations for some time. LTE standards development continues with 3GPP Release 9, which was frozen in December 2009. Updates to all 3GPP specifications are made every quarter and can be found at the 3GPP web site.
• At the February 2009 Mobile World Congress:
  • Huawei demonstrated the world's first unified frequency-division duplex and time-division duplex (FDD/TDD) LTE solution.
  • Aricent gave a demonstration of LTE eNodeB layer2 stacks.
  • Setcom streaming a Video ^[16]
  • Infineon demonstrated a single-chip 65 nm CMOS RF transceiver providing 2G/3G/LTE functionality^[17]
  • Launch of ng Connect program, a multi-industry consortium founded by Alcatel-Lucent to identify and develop wireless broadband applications.^[18]
  • Motorola provided LTE drive tour on the streets of Barcelona to demonstrate LTE system performance in a real-life metropolitan RF environment ^[19]
• In July 2009 Nujira demonstrated efficiencies of more than 60% for an 880 MHz LTE Power Amplifier^[20]
• In August 2009, Nortel and LG Electronics demonstrated the first successful handoff between CDMA and LTE networks in a standards-compliant manner ^[21]
• In August 2009, Alcatel-Lucent receives FCC certification for LTE base stations for the 700 MHz spectrum band.^[22]
• In September 2009, Nokia Siemens Networks demonstrated world's first LTE call on standards-compliant commercial software.^[23]
• In October 2009, Ericsson and Samsung demonstrated interoperability between the first ever commercial LTE device and the live network in Stockholm, Sweden.^[24]
• In October 2009, Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs, Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz Institut and antenna supplier Kathrein conducted live field tests of a technology called Coordinated Multipoint Transmission (CoMP) aimed at increasing the data transmission speeds of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 3G networks.^[25]
• In November 2009, Alcatel-Lucent completed first live LTE call using 800 MHz spectrum band set aside as part of the European Digital Dividend (EDD).^[26]
• In November 2009, Nokia Siemens Networks and LG completed first end-to-end interoperability testing of LTE.^[27]
• On December 14, 2009, the first commercial LTE deployment was in the Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo by the Swedish-Finnish network operator TeliaSonera and its Norwegian brandname NetCom (Norway). TeliaSonera incorrectly branded the network "4G". The modem devices on offer were manufactured by Samsung (dongle GT-B3710), and the network infrastructure with SingleRAN technology created by Huawei (in Oslo)^[28] and Ericsson (in Stockholm). TeliaSonera plans to roll out nationwide LTE across Sweden, Norway and Finland.^[29] TeliaSonera used spectral bandwidth of 10 MHz (out of the maximum 20 MHz), and Single-Input and Single-Output transmission. The deployment should have provided a physical layer net bitrates of up to 50 Mbit/s downlink and 25 Mbit/s in the uplink. Introductory tests showed a TCP goodput of 42.8 Mbit/s downlink and 5.3 Mbit/s uplink in Stockholm.^[30]
• In December 2009, ST-Ericsson and Ericsson first to achieve LTE and HSPA mobility with a multimode device.^[31]
• In January 2010, Alcatel-Lucent and LG complete a live handoff of an end-to-end data call between Long Term Evolution (LTE) and CDMA networks.^[32]
• In February 2010, Nokia Siemens Networks and Vodafone Italy complete the first LTE call in Italy. The test was undertaken with commercial hardware and software. During the call a throughput of about 70 Mbit/s downlink and 19 Mbit/s uplink have been reached.
• In February 2010, Nokia Siemens Networks and Movistar test the LTE in Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, Spain, with both indoor and outdoor demonstrations.^[33]
• In May 2010, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Huawei showed an indoor LTE network at "Sviaz-Expocomm 2010" in Moscow, Russia.^[34] MTS expects to start a trial LTE service in Moscow by the beginning of 2011. Earlier, MTS has received a license to build an LTE network in Uzbekistan, and intends to commence a test LTE network in Ukraine in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent.
• At the Shanghai Expo 2010 in May 2010, Motorola demonstrated a live LTE in conjunction with China Mobile. This included video streams and a drive test system using TD-LTE.^[35]
• In August 2010, Alcatel-Lucent and Texas Energy Network, LLC (TEN), a new startup founded by Gregory M. Casey, former Executive Vice President at Qwest Communications, successfully tested an LTE base station working over a range of 12 km by simulating energy industry video and field operation activity. The tests were conducted within the Permian Basin, in the Artesian area of southeastern New Mexico.
• As of 12/10/2010 DirecTV has teamed up with Verizon Wireless for a test of high-speed Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology in a few homes in Pennsylvania, designed to deliver an integrated Internet and TV bundle. Verizon Wireless said it launched LTE wireless services (for data, no voice) in 38 markets where more than 110 million Americans live on Sunday, Dec. 5.^[36]
• In March 2011, Release 10 specifying LTE Advanced was frozen.
• On May 6, 2011, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel successfully demonstrated 4G LTE for the first time in South Asia, achieving a data rate of 96 Mbit/s in Sri Lanka.^[37]

Carrier adoption timeline

Most carriers supporting GSM or HSUPA networks can be expected to upgrade their networks to LTE at some stage. A complete list of commercial contracts can be found at:^[38]

• In January 2009, TeliaSonera signed a contract for an LTE network with Huawei covering Oslo, Norway. Under the agreement, Huawei will provide an end-to-end LTE solution including LTE base stations, core network and OSS (Operating Support System). The Huawei contract was cancelled in January 2010 and a new contract was signed with Ericsson.

• January 2009: Ericsson and TeliaSonera announced the signing of a commercial LTE network. The roll-out of the 4G mobile broadband network will offer the highest data rates ever realized, with the best interactivity and quality. This network will cover Sweden’s capital Stockholm and the contract is Ericsson’s first for commercial deployment of LTE.

• August 2009: Telefónica selected six countries to field-test LTE in the succeeding months: Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Czech Republic in Europe, and Brazil and Argentina in Latin America.^[39]

• On November 24, 2009: Telecom Italia announced the first outdoor pre-commercial experimentation in the world, deployed in Torino and totally integrated into the 2G/3G network currently in service.^[40]

• On December 14, 2009 the world's first publicly available LTE service was opened by TeliaSonera in the two Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo.

• On May 28, 2010, Russian operator Scartel announced the launch of an LTE network in Kazan by the end of the 2010.^[41]

• On August 30, 2010, Scartel launched an LTE network in Kazan, but the LTE network was closed (shut down) on the next day because of license absence.

• On September 2010, Nepal's first privately owned GSM mobile operator, Ncell-part of TeliaSonera, announced plans to roll out 4G service nationwide.

• On October 6, 2010, Canadian provider Rogers Communications Inc announced that Ottawa, Canada's national capital, will be the site of LTE trials. Rogers said it will expand on this testing and move to a comprehensive technical trial of LTE on both low- and high-band frequencies across the Ottawa area.^[42]

• On May 6, 2011, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel successfully demonstrated 4G LTE for the first time in South Asia, achieving a data rate of 96 Mbit/s in Sri Lanka.^[37]

• On May 7, 2011, Sri Lankan Mobile Operator Dialog Axiata PLC switched on the first pilot 4G LTE Network in South Asia with vendor partner Huawei and demonstrated a download data speed up to 127 Mbit/s.^[43]

• On July 28, 2011, Sprint Nextel and LightSquared announced a fifteen-year deal for Sprint to use LightSquared's LTE network; in return LightSquared will utilize Sprint Nextel's current 3G network in 2012.

• On February 9, 2012, Telus Mobility launched their LTE service initial in metropolitan areas include Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, Belleville, Ottawa, Montreal, Québec City, Halifax and Yellowknife.^[44]

• On April 22, 2012, Sprint Nextel made available the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, its first device with LTE radios, although its LTE network isn't schedule to be active until the second half of 2012, the launch of this smartphone makes it know that its LTE network is on track.

Despite initial development of the rival UMB standard, which was designed as an upgrade path for CDMA networks, most operators of networks based upon the latter system have also announced their intent to migrate to LTE, resulting in discontinuation of UMB development.

• Telus Mobility has announced that it will adopt LTE as its 4G wireless standard.^[45]

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel, MetroPCS,^[46] Cricket Wireless, and LightSquared in the United States along with several worldwide carriers are building out LTE networks.

Some newcomers to the mobile phone market are or will be using LTE for their networks:

• Cox Communications has its first tower for wireless LTE network build-out.^[47] Wireless services should launch late 2009.

• Maxis Communications Malaysia is started testing LTE with its technology partners, Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei in June 2010. They demonstrated an LTE connection with peak download speed of 60 and 104 Mbit/s, using both 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidth channels.^[48]

• In May 2011, mtc touch announced in Lebanon the development of 50 LTE sites across the country. In a few months it will be fully usable.

References

1. Faster cell phone services planned
2. Nomor Research: World's first LTE demonstration
3. Ericsson demonstrates live LTE at 144Mbps
4. NTT DoCoMo develops low power chip for 3G LTE handsets
5. Infineon Ships One Billion RF-Transceivers; Introduces Next-Generation LTE Chip
6. SMARTi LTE Specifications
7. Ericsson to make World-first demonstration of end-to-end LTE call on handheld devices at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona
8. "Motorola Media Center – Press Releases". Motorola.com. February 7, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
9. Gardner, W. David. "Freescale Semiconductor To Demo LTE In Mobile Handsets", Information Week, February 8, 2008.
10. Walko, John "NXP powers ahead with programmable LTE modem", EETimes, January 30, 2008.
11. Walko, John "PicoChip, MimoOn team for LTE ref design", EETimes, February 4, 2008.
12. "Motorola Media Center – Press Releases". Motorola.com. March 26, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
13. Nortel and LG Electronics Demo LTE at CTIA and with High Vehicle Speeds:: Wireless-Watch Community
14. "Motorola Media Center – – Motorola Demonstrates Industry First Over-the-Air LTE Session in 700MHz Spectrum". Mediacenter.motorola.com. November 3, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
15. Researchers demo 100 Mbit/s MIMO with SDMA / virtual MIMO technology
16. Mr. Markku Niiranen, Setcom Managing Director, Malta
17. "Infineon Introduces Two New RF-Chips for LTE and 3G – SMARTi LU for Highest Data Rates with LTE and SMARTi UEmicro for Lowest Cost 3G Devices – Infineon Technologies". Infineon.com. January 14, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
18. "MWC: Alcatel-Lucent focusing on cross-industry collaboration". Telephonyonline.com. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
19. "Motorola Media Center – Press Releases – Motorola Brings LTE to Life on the Streets of Barcelona". Mediacenter.motorola.com. February 16, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
20. "achieves best ever LTE transmitter efficiency". Nujira. July 16, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
21. "News Releases: Nortel and LG Electronics Complete World’s First 3GPP Compliant Active Handover Between CDMA and LTE Networks". Nortel. August 27, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
22. "Alcatel-Lucent gains LTE/700 MHz certification – RCR Wireless News". Rcrwireless.com. August 24, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
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24. "Light Reading Mobile – 4G/LTE – Ericsson, Samsung Make LTE Connection – Telecom News Analysis". Unstrung.com. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
25. Lynnette Luna (October 17, 2009). "Alcatel-Lucent says new antenna technology boosts LTE, 3G data speeds". FierceBroadbandWireless. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
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27. "and LG complete first end-to-end interoperability testing of LTE". Nokia Siemens Networks. November 24, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
28. Goldstein, Phil (14 December 2009). "TeliaSonera launches first commercial LTE network". fiercewireless.com. FierceMarkets. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
29. NetCom.no – NetCom 4G (in English)
30. Daily Mobile Blog
31. "ST-Ericsson". ST-Ericsson. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
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33. "4G Wireless Evolution – Telefonica and Nokia Siemens Demonstrate Live LTE in a Real Network Environment". 4g-wirelessevolution.tmcnet.com. February 15, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
34. "MTS and Huawei showcase LTE at Sviaz-Expocomm 2010" (in Russian). Mobile TeleSystems. May 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
35. "Motorola and CMCC LTE live network at Shanghai Expo 2010".
36. "DirecTV Tests LTE With Verizon Wireless".
37. Mobitel - PressReleases1
38. "LTE Commercial Contracts". Retrieved December 10, 2010.
39. "Telefónica drives fourth generation mobile technology by commissioning six advanced pilot trials" (PDF). Retrieved October 2, 2009.
40. "Telecom accende la rete mobile di quarta generazione". Il Sole 24 ORE. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
41. Scartel to launch “$30–$40m” LTE network in Kazan
42. "Rogers launches first LTE technical trial in Ottawa". reuters.com. October 6, 2010.
43. Dialog empowers Colombo as South Asia’s first 4G LTE powered city | DailyFT – Be Empowered
44. http://about.telus.com/community/english/news_centre/news_releases/blog/2012/02/09/telus-4g-lte-wireless-service-goes-live-in-14-metropolitan-areas-across-canada
45. reportonbusiness.com: Wireless sales propel Telus results
46. News Releases - MetroPCS
47. Cox goes with LTE-ready CDMA
48. Tech Shorts | Malay Mail Online