UK wireless provider O2 has shared some results from its ongoing 4G LTE tests in London. Involving 1,000 consumers and businesses, some have reported reaching speeds as high as 150Mbps, which is on par with some top-rung home Internet offerings and the theoretical peak of LTE. A more representative number range was the average of between 20 and 50Mbps, however.
Also, the average time it took content to load up was just 0.07 seconds. The testing was due to last for nine months, putting the trial at about the halfway point right now. The service is in a near 40 square mile area in key areas. The hardware used involved Samsung B3730 modems along with 4G wireless hotspots and smartphones from other manufacturers.
Exactly when the service will launch to consumers isn’t known, but it’s not likely to arrive until sometime in 2013. The addition will let Android supporters, as well as Apple and others, offer 4G on their devices in the country. Americans have had LTE since 2010.
