LTE roll out can begin in India by July 2011 if operators want: Ericsson
Ericsson says that the commercial roll out of TD-LTE (long term evolution-time division duplex), one of the two versions of LTE, can start in India as early as July 2011.
P Balaji, vice president, Ericsson India, said, “The equipment (for LTE) will be available for commercial use in the first quarter of 2011. Whether operators want to launch services then or later is their decision. However, if they want they can start the commercial roll out within two to three months of acquiring supplies. You can say that by July 2011, the commercial rollout can begin if operators want.”
Balaji added that the equipment is already available for trials and that most operators are looking forward to it.
Ericsson recently conducted first trials of TD-LTE in the country using the 2.3GHz band. The company will further conduct trails using broadband applications such as high definition TV and video conferencing over TD-LTE.
TD-LTE is a fourth generation technology which uses time division duplex (TDD) unpaired spectrum channels that combine uplink and downlink, and let resources adapt to real-time demand.
The technology provides backward compatibility with 2G and 3G networks and can work even outside the LTE coverage area.
