Network vendors are claiming all manner of ‘LTE-firsts’ in an effort to score future deals with operators for commercial rollout of the technology. Huawei today said it has “successfully completed the world’s first test for LTE self-organising network (SON)” with T-Mobile Austria. Self-organising networks are a hot topic at present due to their potential to offer operators operational cost savings associated with network planning, network deployment and network optimisation. The pilot follows a tie-up between Huawei and Samsung for launch of “the world’s first LTE IOT (Interoperability Test) in Europe in November to verify the interoperability of LTE network infrastructures and device terminals.” Meanwhile, Nokia Siemens Networks today claimed to have recently conducted “the world’s first LTE handover test using a commercially available base station and fully standards compliant software.” Only last week Ericsson – the world’s largest network vendor – said it has achieved interoperability between a commercial LTE device and LTE network, claiming the move to be a world-first.

Mobile Business Briefing reported last week that these vendors, as well as Alcatel-Lucent, among others, are enjoying early operator success with LTE trials, before lucrative commercial deals are awarded. Verizon Wireless and TeliaSonera are expected to launch commercial LTE networks next year, closely followed by Japan’s NTT Docomo. According to reports today, Russia’s VimpelCom is to test LTE in Kazakhstan in preparation for future commercial rollout across its operations in Russia and the CIS.