Telecom New Zealand Expects LTE Launch in October

Telecom New Zealand announced plans to launch its first LTE service in in Auckland by October. The carrier said it intends to extend 4G LTE coverage to Wellington and Christchurch by Christmas, and expects to have 4G LTE live on close to half of its nationwide Smartphone Network during 2014.

Telecom also announced today that it has selected Huawei to build its network of 4G-capable mobile sites – known as the eUTRAN, Cisco to provide the Enhanced Packet Core (EPC), and Ericsson to build the new HSS (Home Subscriber Service) and the replacement HLR (Home Location Register).

"Huawei’s selection was based on two main factors. The first is that they have extensive experience, having built 73 LTE networks in 42 countries. The second is that they are truly pushing the boundaries of LTE technology.  Over the past 3 months we have been trialling Huawei’s 4G LTE technology in Auckland and Rotorua. Our testing has encompassed some very exciting new developments like ‘carrier aggregation’. Carrier aggregation allows us to use two different spectrums simultaneously, and in our trials it produced maximum peak speeds of up to 250 Mbps," stated Telecom's Chief Technology Officer, David Havercroft.

http://www.telecom-media.co.nz/releases_detail.asp?id=3885&page=index