lte

Samsung has started producing its own WiMAX and LTE chips, and according to the source is already sampling them to partners inside and outside the company.

Currently the only producer of such chips is Qualcomm, but apparently things will change soon.

LG has recently as it successfully tested the world's first LTE chip for mobile phones. The chip was able to provide data speeds of 60Mbps downlink and 20Mbps uplink, which is much faster than the bandwidth of existing wireless networks.

The chip measures 13mm x 13mm, and theoretically the aforementioned speeds are not the limit.

The first LTE-equipped handsets are expected to appear in 2010.

CDMA service provider MetroPCS announced that it the near future it will move to the 4G GSM/LTE network. The respective network is potentially able to speeds downlink speeds of up to 386Mbps, and upload speeds of nearly 86Mbps.

Earlier this year such major carriers like Verizon and Alltel also announced their CDMA to LTE upgrade plans, and AT&T will apparenltly follow their example.