Having received the Italian government OK to continue trials for the rest of 2010, Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) has started the second and final phase of its LTE tests.
The company, which will use two 20MHz blocks in the 2.5GHz-2.69GHz band, said these latest tests would use pre-commercial equipment from its technology partners Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks. The operators confirmed the work will involve a series of integrated tests covering 17 new sites in the centre of Turin, home to parent group Telecom Italia's TILab research centre.
The tests will also cover the main functions and services offered by LTE, including stability and interoperability between the new network and the existing mobile network, and compatible USB modems.
Commenting on this move, Oscar Cicchetti, Telecom Italia's director of technology and operations, said: "We want TIM's mobile network to remain the best in terms of quality and performance. That is why we are continuing to invest in technology and services. LTE represents a major step forward enabling us to provide 100Mbps connections, but progresses in 3G technology will already allow us to offer our mobile Internet customers higher speeds over the coming months."
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