2:00 PM Motorola LTE USB device set to be unveiled in Chicago at 4G World

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

October 18, 2010

1 Min Read
Moto to Unveil Commercial LTE Device

2:00 PM -- CHICAGO -- Word on the street has it that Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) will unveil the world's first commercial Long Term Evolution (LTE) device at the 4G World show in Chicago Tuesday.

The device is a USB stick -- the USB-lte 7110 -- for FDD LTE deployments, and it's ready for commercial distribution right now, though it's unclear what sort of volumes are available or what the wholesale price will be for operators.

Operators are desperate to get their hands on any LTE devices at all. Industry reports suggest that trial devices have been costing operators -- such as Telia Company , which has public LTE networks live and carrying (small volumes of) traffic in Sweden and Norway -- thousands of dollars per unit. (See Road Testing LTE.)

So Moto's news will be most welcome. Except...

The device is ready to rock with Motorola LTE networks (soon to become the property of Nokia Networks ), but has yet to undergo interoperability testing with LTE networks built using infrastructure from other vendors. (See NSN to Buy Moto's Wireless Biz for $1.2B .)

Motorola, one of the "LTE 8," is hoping that having a commercial LTE device will pull in some "end-to-end" LTE deals, like the one it has in Saudi Arabia, but is also prepared to work with operators to help them get the USB devices working with any existing LTE networks. The odds, of course, are stacked for the latter option. (See Zain Saudi Arabia, Moto Sign LTE Deal and MWC 2010: The LTE G8.)

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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