TeliaSonera LTE network test disappoints

According to a test conducted by consulting firm Northstream, the download speeds on TeliaSonera's new commercial LTE network in Sweden fall significantly short of the company's promised "up to 50 Mbps."

TeliaSonera is the first operator in the world to offer a commercial LTE network. It has launched services in parts of Stockholm and Oslo, Norway using the 2.6GHz band. Using a Samsung Electronics modem and a broadband-measuring site to conduct the test, Northstream said the service never exceeded 12 Mbps on the downlink. However the networks upload speeds came in at 5 Mbps, which was impressive to the firm.

While TeliaSonera's launch event showed off download speeds that exceeded 40 Mbps, Northstream CEO Bengt Nordström said the distance from the base station could explain its lower speed results his firm achieved.  

"It seems like the capacity drops off fast as the distance from a base station increases," said Nordström. TeliaSonera didn't want to comment on the test.

For more:
- check out this Network World article [1]

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