LTE has been trialled by O2 at its Slough-based UK headquarters. LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and refers to the planned next generation of mobile broadband technology that will hopefully be available to UK customers over the next couple of years.

On paper the trials sound very exciting indeed. O2 has partnered with Huawei, the firm that produces the majority of the mobile broadband dongles currently used by mobile broadband customers and it claims that the successful tests of LTE in Slough provided download speeds of up to 150Mbps.

Obviously this sounds to be very good news for everyone, although the roll out of LTE networking technology around the UK is not expected to begin in earnest for a couple of years. When it finally arrives it will mean better download speeds without a fixed line connection and many consider mobile broadband to be the most financially viable next generation broadband technology because it does not require that streets are dug up to lay cables with the associated disruption.

If this is indeed the case, traditional fixed line broadband ISPs could face stiff competition in the coming years and an all-out exodus to the more convenient and faster LTE services might even be on the cards. BT broadband options will be seeing improvements over the coming years with fibre to the cabinet technology providing faster broadband speeds to many customers, but it is the flexibility of mobile broadband’s next generation that could see it dominating the marketplace.

LTE technology is already commercially available in Sweden, with network provider TeliaSonera having launched the service for customers only recently. For the moment, the UK is lagging behind with this cutting edge connectivity, but O2’s trials could well generate some sense of urgency in the broadband market, accelerating evolution.