Stockholm to get 4G mobile network in 2010

Mobile broadband users in Stockholm will soon be able to surf the internet on a new high speed 4G network, following the signing of a deal between Ericsson and TeliaSonera.

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The order from Finnish-Swedish telecom provider TeliaSonera marks the first commercial deployment of Ericsson’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) network technology and will provide mobile internet users with data speeds up to ten times faster than those offered on current networks.

"LTE brings the highest possible performance and network capacity, which is needed to meet the needs of the fast growing group of mobile broadband users around the world,” said Ericsson’s president for the Nordic and Baltics, Mikael Bäckström, in a statement.

The new network, set to be launched in Stockholm in 2010, will provide “real-time performance”, allowing users to watch high-definition (HD) quality television programmes on their laptop computers or mobile phones from anywhere on the network, according to a statement from Ericsson.

“Our customers are among the world's most advanced users of telecommunications services. With 4G, we will provide them with the best mobile broadband capabilities they can get,” said TeliaSonera’s head of mobility services in Sweden Erik Hallberg.

The current agreement between the two companies will create a 4G network which covers Stockholm’s city limits, as well as Kista Centrum north of the city, the Globen arena complex south of the city, and Stockholm’s two main conference centres in Älvsjö and Farsta, according to the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.

Looking ahead, TeliaSonera hopes to build a 4G network in other parts of Sweden as well.

“We’ve purchased a 4G licence which covers the whole of Sweden, so we have no plans to simply stay in Stockholm,” Hallberg told DN.

“But how it happens will depend on our experiences in Stockholm and the market conditions when we get further along in the future,” he said.