New Zealand mobile operator 2degrees has launched a three-month trial of LTE in Auckland, ahead of an anticipated commercial launch in July.
The operator said it is trialling LTE over the 1800-MHz band at 10 cell sites in New Zealand's largest city.
The company plans to launch commercial LTE services in Auckland in July, and extend the network to the cities of Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch by the end of the year. A rollout to regional areas will commence in 2015.
2degrees has revealed it intends to offer 4G for both its prepaid and contract customers. The company already offers 10 LTE-compatible handsets, including the iPhone 5S and 5C, multiple Samsung Galaxy series smartphones, the LG Nexus 5 and the HTC One.
In the statement, 2degrees said it has decided that the time is now right to introduce LTE.
“Since our launch in 2009, we have been busy building a third national mobile network which consists of 2G and 3G services,” it reads. “[LTE] is the next generation in mobile and we feel we are now ready to offer 4G later this year.”