TeliaSonera is upgrading its LTE network, the world’s first commercial deployment of the next-generation technology. In a statement yesterday, the Nordic operator said that the network will support theoretical peak download speeds of 100 Mb/s in central Stockholm, with “practical speeds” of up to 80 Mb/s. Specific details on the upgrade were not revealed, but it is thought to involve enhancements to the network’s backhaul. From Spring the upgrade will be rolled out across the operator’s whole LTE network in Sweden. Although TeliaSonera was keen to stress that the LTE enhancements would achieve practical speeds of up to 80Mb/s, real-world performance is unlikely to be so high. Testing to date by analyst firms on the network has demonstrated that data rates above 25 Mb/s are common, hitting 45 Mb/s on occasions.

Launched in Stockholm (as well as Oslo, Norway) last December, TeliaSonera’s LTE network is an industry-first and will be switched on in 25 of Sweden’s “largest municipalities and recreation areas” by the end of this year (as well as Norway’s “four largest municipalities”). Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks will supply radio access network (base station) kit for LTE buildout in Sweden and Norway, whilst Ericsson has won a sole supplier core network deal in both countries.