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Thursday, Sep 18, 2008 2:45pm

LTE hits 170Mbps speeds in ...

Wireless network provider T-Mobile and Nortel Networks on Thursday announced the successful test of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) high-speed wireless data network in a moving car, according to a new update. Tested on a highway in Bonn, Germany in a vehicle moving at an average speed of 42mph, the upcoming LTE network achieved 170Mbps download speeds and 50Mbps upload speeds. Throughout the trip, the car was in range of three cell sites.

The resulting data transfer speeds are nearly three times faster than T-Mobile’s VDSL high-speed broadband technology that the company is currently launching in Germany. LTE, along with WiMAX from Sprint, is one of the 4G wireless network standards expected to define most mobile Internet access in the future. Pending more successful tests aimed at proving LTE’s usability, T-Mobile executives say the company will make a decision about upgrading its networks to the new standard within six months.

T-Mobile has networks in 12 countries, but is working on resolving issues with LTE, not promising to bring LTE to consumers in some markets until 2010. According to the report, Canada’s Nortel Networks believes LTE will be backed by about 80 percent of all global cellphone users, with the remainder using WiMAX.

Motorola, in conjunction with Verizon and other providers, has also been recently testing LTE networks.