I recently upgraded to a smartphone that supports LTE, a new “pseudo-4G” standard that claims much faster speeds than 3G networks. Around the world, telecommunications operators are just beginning to roll out LTE. My first impression when using LTE was one of incredulity. This thing is smoking fast! The screenshot below shows 2 tests performed on my cellphone within minutes of each other in Melbourne’s CBD. The panel on the left is with my phone connected to 3G, while the one on the right is for the same phone connected via LTE. Download speeds for LTE are in the 21+ Mbps range as compared to 3+ Mbps on 3G. The phone feels noticeably faster when browsing the web or running web-connected apps such as Facebook. 3-dimensional maps appear really quickly on LTE. It is really a pleasure to use, but truth be told the old 3G speeds were already respectable for a mobile device.

What makes LTE a game changer is its upload rather than download speed, which is shown in the photo at around 20Mbps. On 3G, uploads are 16 times slower (at 1.2Mbps), and that is being generous as I am often only able to connect at half or a quarter of that speed around Melbourne. The amazing thing is that 20Mbps is much faster than most residential broadband connections. Many people are connected to the internet at home via ADSL2+ technology, which typically has download speeds of 5-8Mbps (despite what your Telco’s marketing brochure says) and upload speeds limited to a measly 1Mbps. In contrast, at various places around Melbourne’s CBD I have measured LTE upload speeds ranging from 6 to 20 Mbps, but of course this is not a scientific test.

In practical terms, what this means is that on an LTE phone, I can upload photos and videos much faster than many people can from their home networks. Uploading to Youtube, Instagram and Flickr from my cellphone while on the move has become amazingly practical, and no longer feels like a hopeless endeavour. Video conferencing over LTE is quite smooth, e.g., using FaceTime or similar programs. Applications that capture data locally and process it remotely (including Siri and other voice recognition apps) work quite well. This make the end-user experience so much better. While better download speeds are certainly welcome, the new upload speeds have removed a critical bottleneck that existed before. I believe it will open up all sorts of new opportunities for innovation and new applications.

It remains to be seen whether LTE speeds will remain impressive after everyone piles onto the network. I hope it won’t slow down to a crawl. The design of LTE incorporates better traffic handling than earlier networks, plus LTE has theoretical download and upload limits of 300Mbps and 75Mbps respectively, but how well will it cope in practice? Before it gets too congested, I am enjoying the boost in speed, glad to be working and living downtown and bathed in LTE goodness.