First ever data call made on LTE network

The first LTE data call on the 800 MHz spectrum band in a live network was made by Alcatel-Lucent last month, at the vendor's solutions center in Germany.

The 800 MHz spectrum, which will be freed up in Europe when countries switch from analogue to digital terrestrial TV, is particularly well suited to bringing mobile broadband internet services to rural areas.

Alcatel-Lucent's trial involved transmitting high-definition video streaming over the air using the firm's commercial infrastructure platforms and prototype mobile devices.

 "This is a major breakthrough on our path to become the first vendor to offer a commercial solution for the ´Digital Dividend` spectrum", said Ken Wirth, president of Alcatel-Lucent's LTE and 4G Solutions department.

"Our goal is to quickly and effectively support operators in their plans to further enhance the availability of broadband services all over the region, so we adapted our LTE solution to the 800 MHz frequency band quite early on and we are now working with customers on field trials."

Alcatel-Lucent is working on UAE operator Etisalat's LTE project, as well trials with operators including Verizon Wireless, Telefonica, France Telecom and NTT DoCoMo.