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BT and Everything Everywhere will start LTE trial in rural UK this September
Some of the UK's most remote parts still don't have access to broadband of any kind, but later this year, they might have the sort that makes us look on in envy. BT and Everything Everywhere are planning to start an LTE trial in Cornwall, England's most southerly county, which will last from the 1st of September through to the end of December. Connection speeds could scale as high as 40Mbps, though the typical rate is expected to be closer to 10Mbps. Volunteers are now being sought to participate in the trial, though they have to reside (or be willing to move, we presume) in the pretty tiny 4G coverage area near Newquay. BT and T-MOrange have been allowed a temporary slice of 800MHz spectrum to do their experimenting in, which will likely be up for grabs in the LTE spectrum auction that's set for next year. First we take Newquay, then we take the world.
Clear bullish on LTE trial results, says WiMAX is 'best for the customer' right now
Clearwire's talking more about some of the glorious numbers it's seeing as it drives around the greater Phoenix area testing its trial LTE network, and we think one specific quote pretty much sums it up: "this isn't your grandfather's LTE." That statement was made in comparing Clearwire's results -- bumping up against 90Mbps in some configurations -- to the 5 to 12Mbps that Verizon is quoting for its first-gen commercial LTE network, though they're quick to note in the same breath that Clear's test is on an unloaded network without a deluge of users all trying to stream professional sports games in HD at the same time. What does that all mean for Clear's existing WiMAX deployment? The company's as noncommittal on the subject as ever, saying only that WiMAX continues to be "best for the customer" today but that "potentially in the future that could be WiMAX and LTE." Needless to say, though, they're taking the LTE option pretty seriously if they're dumping serious cash into testing it out and publishing the results. Follow the break for Clear's teaser footage -- wouldn't you like access to this action?
4G shocker! The good people of Boston enjoy Verizon's trial LTE network
You know what makes us happy? Pizza. But a close second has to be 4G technology, which makes us truly envy the Bostonians who were treated to a sample of Verizon's trial LTE deployment in the friendly confines of a downtown pizza joint last month. Big Red filmed the event -- and while the whole thing comes off a little bit like a carefully-orchestrated PR stunt, it's hard to argue with nearly 10Mbps down and over 2Mbps on the upstream. That's good stuff that should have Sprint, Clearwire, and the rest of the players on notice -- assuming Verizon's network holds up under the crushing pressure of commercial availability once thousands of rowdy Harvard students start hammering it, of course. Follow the break for the full video.
Motorola's LTE trial is a go in Swindon, UK
We're almost as the excited as the fella in the picture at the news that Motorola's LTE (Long Term Evolution) trial has gotten off the ground -- with an honest-to-goodness set making a standards compliant LTE call. Moto's setting themselves up as an in-house host for carrier testing in the U.K, or will haul kit to your neck of the woods for a carrier-hosted LTE trial. So that settles it, we've decided to launch Engadget Mobile mobile and will be applying tomorrow for our very own LTE test pack tomorrow. Motorola will have this on display at Mobile World Congress and you can rest assured we'll be all over it.
