This month, two of Europe’s leading operator powerhouses will exclusively deliver their vision for the future of LTE, and indeed their own mobile services, at LTE World Summit (23-25 June). At a time of major consolidation within the telecoms market, and while the industry anticipates the power of 5G, EE and Vodafone Germany will share their future mobile strategies during the opening keynotes at the world’s largest 4G and 5G conference and exhibition.
Both EE and Vodafone Germany are making leaps in LTE - recent reports from Vodafone Germany promise the expansion of the LTE network on underground trains in Munich and reveal that it has already modernised its network across 73% of Germany. This includes 85% of all Germany’s major cities and 84% of motorways which have already benefitted from the EUR four billion project. In selected areas top speeds reach 225 Mbps, and VoLTE has been rolled out nationwide. The provider is currently improving the UMTS base stations with the HSPA+ standard, which will allow speeds of up to 42.2 Mbps for older smartphones and tablets. Meanwhile EE announced last month that its 4G traffic now exceeds the 3G traffic across its network, signifying a new milestone in terms of the LTE customer base. EE said it now has 10 million 4G customers, and since LTE first went live (the network was the first operator in the UK to offer superfast mobile surfing), data usage in rural parts of Scotland is up 60 per cent, and rural Wales has increased by 50 per cent.
“LTE networks have been widely deployed, but now the question is what services can be offered to maximise ROI and quality of experience,” said Alejandro Piñero, Head of Research, LTE World Summit, Informa Telecoms & Media. “As operators continue to adapt their networks to make 4G available and prepare for 5G, the continued development of intelligent technology means everyone can access and enjoy more multimedia on more devices than ever; anytime, anywhere.”
The event programme also incorporates additional key players in the market, including Yousef Abu Mutawe, CTO, Zain Jordan, who will share his experience of monetising LTE strategies. Mutawe will also impart his thoughts regarding the future of LTE networks as part of a dedicated panel discussion. The panel, which includes Alain Maloberti, Senior Vice President of Network Architecture & Design, Orange, will specifically address the role of virtualisation for mobile networks in coming years, the benefits of partnering with successful OTTs for data monetisation, and the race for 5G and LTE optimisation.
The LTE World Summit conference opening day boasts a stellar speaking line-up that includes a host of CxO-level representatives from the world’s leading incumbents. NTT DoCoMo, AT&T, Etisalat, HKT and KPN will join EE, Vodafone Germany, and Orange to give the agenda a truly global representation.
