Nokia Siemens Networks has announced that they are first to complete a multi-user field trial in an urban environment using the new Long Term Evolution (LTE).

The increased usage of multimedia wireless services sets the pattern of the necessity for faster data transfer rates. In the recent years the need for higher speeds has lead to a great deal of improvements. Nothing like the 173Mbps that Nokia Siemens Networks managed to demonstrate at the LTE test site has been achieved before (160Mbps is what they got a year ago).

In order to obtain data about LTE performance in an actual urban environment the test was conducted in Berlin by placing an LTE base station on top of the Heinrich Hertz Institut. Then the LTE test terminals were driven up to 1km away to measure the LTE cell’s coverage and throughput.

In the U.S., Verizon Wireless has announced, that LTE is going to be their choice of 4G standard. AT&T has also expressed interest in the LTE technology. They are supposed to start a trial in partnership with Vodafone in 2008.