BT and Everything Everywhere’s 4G trial hits ADSL speeds

4G brings with it a lot of benefits. It’s no surprise then that many mobile operators are interested in bringing the technology to the UK. In October, it was announced that BT Broadband would be working with Everything Everywhere to conduct a 4G mobile broadband trial in Cornwall. The trial would be using 4G or Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology to deliver fast broadband speeds to users based in Cornwall.

One hundred eighty participants were selected for the trial, with one half making use of 4G wireless routers and the other making use of 4G dongles for their laptops.

Of the trial, Everything Everywhere’s CEO Tom Alexander stated: “We strongly believe that, by sharing our network and mobile assets in this way, we can make a valuable contribution to the economics of rural broadband services. Our work with BT is providing a test bed for new technologies such as 4G LTE which, with the correct allocation of sub 1GHz spectrum from the Government, has the potential to make a real impact on the way in which we communicate in the future. The Government has previously stated its desire for the UK to have the best in class superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015, and we hope to help this vision become a reality.”

CEO of BT Broadband, Sally David, also said: “BT is committed to bringing the highest speed broadband to everyone in the UK, whether that’s over fibre, copper or airwaves. This is a great mixed economy example of innovation and collaboration by two organisations pushing the boundaries of technology for the benefit of customers. The expectation of what we will learn is truly exciting, as much for the customers who are unable to get a broadband service in a number of rural communities across the country.”

An update on the trial has revealed that the average speeds that users are hitting are 6Mbits/sec, which is close to the national average ADSL speed of 6.8Mbits/sec. The top download speed during quiet periods was recorded at 30Mbits/sec.

Live demonstrations of Cornwall’s 4G network showed  HD video streams loading beside Google Maps sessions, and two other concurrent downloads. BT adds that some households were able to connect up to 10 different devices to the Home Hubs.

Everything Everywhere CEO Olaf Swantee stated: “We’re not only demonstrating LTE for mobile, but for fixed purposes as well. It is my belief, and Everything Everywhere’s belief, that the UK needs 4G. Scandanavia, the US, Germany – all of these regions are already deploying 4G. It’s my belief the UK needs to start deploying 4G now.”

Source – PC Pro