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LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, the technology under pinning the fourth generation (4G) mobile network. It all sounds very grand indeed. Happily, the benefits of the new mobile internet standard are straight forward. It. Is. Fast.
You will need two things to take part. Firstly, a 4G-friendly device. According to telecoms technology giant Ericsson, there are already around 160 of those on the market worldwide. And the coming months will also see a number of serious new players enter the fray, including a rumoured 4G-enabled Apple iPad.
The second thing you need is a 4G data package from your provider. In the UAE, that means Etisalat.
Huge jump in mobile broadband speed
So once you have all that, what advantages will 4G bring? Smartphone penetration in the Gulf States is stratospheric, and most people are comfortable using their phones for gaming, checking emails and some browsing.
But there are many more apps that are severely limited by use on a 3G network. Features which may previously have only been useful at home when our phones are connected to a WiFi network will be let off the leash with 4G.
Similarly, using Skype and other VoIP services in the UAE on 3G can be frustrating at best and fruitless at worst. Making the jump to the 100Mb/s speeds of LTE transforms this experience and opens the door to video and voice chat on the move. So if you're calling in sick to work while sitting on the beach with your friends, you had better make sure you turn the video feed off.
The kind of free app navigation tools on mobiles and more established satnav gear that downloads as it goes, such as Google Maps, will also become more effective. Mobile broadband speeds will smooth out the process of using these maps on your smartphone, killing the delay that makes them less than useful when you're driving and confines them to pedestrian navigation. The experience can also become much more immersive with data-heavy tools like Street View no longer the sole preserve of the laptop.
There are also a number of apps on the market that until now have been confined (rather uselessly in some cases) to the indoors. Layar is an augmented reality (AR) browser, which adds handy information to whatever you're looking at. For example, if you look at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai using the Layar, the programme 'sees' through your lens and shows you onscreen where restaurants and hotels are located in the tower. Another option called Tweeps Around allows you to see twitter users located in or around the building.
Multimedia content will be another big winner of LTE move
Multimedia is another big winner of the 4G revolution. Whether you're a fan of naqatube or YouTube, 4G will take these services into malls, cafes, airport lounges and anywhere else sitting within the bounds of the 4G network. Looking for a WiFi hotspot becomes immaterial if you're hooked up to the net through LTE. Downloading MP3s, e-books and even movies become services available anywhere and anytime.
The door is also now open for video content owners in the region such as MBC and the Abu Dhabi Media Company to make further inroads in the mobile TV sector.
Some consumers may be reluctant initially but in the industry there is no doubt that LTE and the 4G revolution are by no means a passing fad.
"Smartphones have been held back to an extent by the limitations of the cellular networks; current 3G systems are faster than the older 2G standards, they're still slow in comparison with even the less expensive home broadband options," says Andreas Krenn, market development director, mobile broadband, Middle East and Africa at Ericsson.
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