Europe France : Alcatel-Lucent and LG Electronics announced that the two companies have completed Long Term Evolution (LTE) test calls using Alcatel-Lucent's LTE solution and mobile device prototypes from LG.

This accomplishment - one of the industry's first multi-vendor, over-the-air LTE interoperability testing initiatives - highlights the strength of the two companies' LTE development efforts and represents a key milestone in the commercialization of this next-generation wireless technology, which is currently being standardized by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

The tests demonstrated super high-speed data transmissions, validating the expected performance of LTE in the field and were conducted using both single antenna and multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) 2x2 configurations, transmitting over a 10 MHz channel. This effort is part of a broader testing regime being conducted under the auspices of the LTE/SAE Trial Initiative (LSTI), a group of operators and vendors established to ensure the rapid commercialization and easy interoperability of LTE systems.

"We are proud of the results that were demonstrated by this end-to-end LTE system, which help show in concrete terms the benefits and capabilities that LTE mobile broadband technology can deliver," said Mary Chan, Alcatel-Lucent's Wireless Networks. "By using LTE equipment that was developed using a commercial wireless networking platform - one that is in service in mobile operators' networks today -- as well as early devices from one of the world's leading device vendors, we've been able to highlight the great progress that is being made in bringing LTE to market." The collaboration between Alcatel-Lucent and LGE focuses on ensuring the early availability of a stable, open and fully integrated LTE ecosystem incorporating state-of-the-art infrastructure, innovative devices, and compelling applications.

The collaboration covers areas including technical cooperation, interoperability testing, market research on applications and devices, and joint customer outreach. The two companies also are committed to fostering the rapid growth of a large and diverse LTE ecosystem, to ensure the availability of commercial LTE solutions and services by 2009. The tests were carried out by Bell Labs researchers and product development teams in Alcatel-Lucent's facility in Stuttgart, Germany. These teams, in close collaboration with Bell Labs researchers and technologists around the globe, are leading the charge in developing the next-generation of wireless networking technologies such as LTE as well as future "4G" networks.

About LTE

3GPP LTE technology is being designed to provide improved spectral efficiency, increased radio capacity, lower latency and lower operating costs for operators, and ultimately new high-performance mobile broadband services for end-users. 3GPP LTE is specified to enable downlink/uplink peak data rates above 100/50 Mbps in initial deployment configurations.