Telekom Austria continues its tests of LTE technology, which will be deployed by the operator once spectrum for LTE becomes available in Austria. In the meantime, Telekom Austria continues to roll out HSPA+ in the A1 network. At present, approximately 1,000 base stations are equipped with  HSPA+ technology and are connected to Telekom Austria’s high capacity fiber optics network.

To clarify the Austrian Press Agency’s circulation of a summary of an interview published in the international trade magazine “total telecom” with Hans Tschuden, CFO of the Telekom Austria Group, the company states that it is continuing tests for the next generation of mobile communications technology, LTE. The company’s strategy continues to be to deploy the best and fastest technologies for its customers. Continued rollout of HSPA+ in the A1 network is currently underway. In 2009 the company was Europe’s first operator to commercially deploy this technology. At present approximately 1,000 base stations are equipped with this technology and are connected to Telekom Austria’s high capacity fiber optics network.

Pilot projects are currently being carried out with LTE. At the end of June A1 Telekom Austria showed a live demonstration in the network. As the conditions at which frequencies for LTE will be available are not clear at the moment, HSPA+ is currently the best technology to face the exponential growth of data traffic in the mobile communications network accordingly. It will still take some time before LTE can be introduced to the market in Austria and enjoys widespread coverage.