New tests show TeliaSonera's LTE network delivers

Days after consulting firm Northstream indicated the anticipated performance of TeliaSonera's commercial LTE network in Stockholm was significantly below the advertised speed of 50 Mbps [1] in its somewhat unscientific tests, SwissQual, an independent Swiss network quality measurement firm, conducted a drive test on the network, declaring that the downlink speed was established at 47 Mbps with TCP latency as low as 20 ms.

According to Magnus Hylen, SwissQual product manager, the tests used its own optimizer technology, the new Samsung Kalmia LTE and the Swedish Internet Infrastructure Foundation's server to test data download and upload to ensure that there were no bottlenecks in the IP connection.

"This was crucial for accurate and reliable throughput assessment, especially at the speeds we now see with LTE," said Hylen. Naturally LTE is in its infancy, and this meant that we saw regular disconnects and modem restarts. However, this is something we have experienced with all new mobile technologies during the early phases of the rollout. Apart from these issues, the performance that we have recorded is really impressive and sets a new baseline for mobile high speed data services."

Earlier, Northstream found that the network in Stockholm delivered just 12 Mbps on the downlink and 5 Mbps on the uplink. That result caused a tizzy in the blogosphere, apparently prompting Northstream to conduct a second round of tests at several locations in central Stockholm. It then concluded its LTE experience had improved. According to the company, the downlink data rates were above 25 Mbps more often than below, and reached 45 Mbps on some occasions. This number is much closer to the "up to 50 Mbps" promised by TeliaSonera's Web site, conceded Northstream.

For more:
- see Northstream's blog [2]
- read this PC World article [3]
- take a look at this Mobile Europe article [4]

Related articles:
TeliaSonera LTE network test disappoints [1]
LTE-to-HSPA hand-off demonstrated, courtesy of ST-Ericsson [5]
Video: TeliaSonera makes 'world's first' LTE Internet connection [6]
Europe to lead LTE user growth with 52% CAGR [7]
LTE device certification ready by year end [8]