The next generation of broadband is called Long Term Evolution, or LTE for short. LTE Broadband will be used across all broadband services including mobile, fixed and portable wireless broadband connections. LTE Broadband technology is expected to deliver download speeds of around 100 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50 Mbps.

As we continue to demand more from the internet, both in terms of capacity and speed, we also demand more of the networks. LTE is their answer to this challenge. LTE will sit alongside the current core architecture of mobile networks, SAE or System Architecture Evolution, and together they will offer network operators significant performance improvements over 3G, possibly two to four times the spectral efficiency of 3G/HSPA networks. This means LTE networks will be able to squeeze more bits of data into the same amount of spectrum as 3G and HSPA networks, which in turn means increased data speeds and/or increased capacity.

LTE technology is the natural successor to 3GPP GSM and WCDMA networks. LTE itself is a new technology which sits alongside OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex, and antenna technology, MIMO, Multiple Input Multiple Output. OFDM splits the information into multiple narrowband subcarriers, allowing each of them to carry a portion of the information at a lower bit rate, which makes OFDM a very robust modulation, particularly in multipath scenarios, like urban areas. MIMO technology creates several spatial paths on the air interface between the network and the subscriber; so these paths can carry the same or different streams of information.

LTE is the result of ongoing work by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a collaborative group of international standards organizations and mobile-technology companies. 3GPP set out in 1998 to define the key technologies for the third generation of GSM-based mobile networks (3G), and its work has continued to define the ongoing evolution of these networks. Near the end of 2004, discussions on the longer-term evolution of 3G networks began, and a set of high-level requirements for LTE was defined: the networks must transmit data at a reduced cost per bit compared to 3G; they must be able to offer more services at lower transmission cost with better user experience; LTE must have the flexibility to operate in a wide number of frequency bands; it should utilize open interfaces and offer a simplified architecture; and it must have reasonable power demands on mobile terminals. Some operators are expected to test their networks with LTE Broadband capability as soon as late 2009. This is likely to be in either Japan or US. Europe, including the UK, is expected to follow in 2010.