Gemalto, one of the world leaders in digital security, announces that it is delivering its UpTeq LTE SIM and embedded software applications to EE, powering the launch of the UK’s first 4G mobile network.
“Gemalto was able to meet our very challenging requirements in terms of planning, capacity and overall program delivery,” commented Simon Frumkin, VP of procurement and supply chain at EE.
EE, the joint venture between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom in the UK, is the first mobile operator in the UK to launch 4G, which is available on the company’s EE brand.
EE’s 4G service is already live in 18 cities and towns across the UK, with 17 more planned by the end of March 2013, and 98% of the UK population is scheduled to be covered by the end of 2014
In this first large-scale LTE deployment in Europe, Gemalto’s UpTeq LTE plays a key role in helping EE meet the commercial and technical challenges of 4G.
The high-end software package included in the SIM card is compliant with the latest industry standards, and embedded for EE in both Micro SIM Plus and nano SIM (4FF) formats.
”EE is leading the introduction of LTE in the UK, and the Gemalto UpTeq LTE front-end and back-end software technologies allows them to rapidly leverage the full potential of LTE networks,” said Philippe Vrignaud, senior vice-president of telecommunications at Gemalto.
4G technology allows consumers to experience “blinding speed” mobile interactions, thanks to short response times (low latency), and loading speed up to five times faster than 3G.