There's no rest for the wicked -- and perhaps nothing in the world of wireless describes "wicked" better than Nordic carrier TeliaSonera, which holds the distinction of having deployed the world's first commercial LTE network last year. Thing is, the network's been taking a little heat for being effectively no faster than some of the recent HSPA+ deployments around the globe, but no worries -- they're already working on it. It seems that central Stockholm is the first area to benefit from upgrades that will take the LTE airwaves to a theoretical max of 100Mbps with "practical" downlink throughput alleged to be down around 80Mbps, still a fine upgrade from the real-world peaks of 40Mbps that folks have been seeing so far. If you're outside Stockholm, TeliaSonera expect to upgrade the rest of the LTE network in Spring. Where's the carrier suddenly finding all this extra bandwidth? It's said to be more of a backhaul upgrade than anything else, which sounds kind of familiar.

Indeed, just as we said in our last look at the topic, the old adage of "your mileage may vary" most definitely applies here. Consulting firm Northstream has updated its first look at TeliaSonera's worlds-first commercial LTE network, emphasizing that it wasn't disappointed with performance at all -- they'd gotten a scant 12Mbps down previously (we're delighted to be able to call 12Mbps "scant," by the way), but further testing reveals that it's a little more complicated than that. Like any wide-area wireless network, performance is a voodoo formula of location, speed, network utilization, moon phase, and whether you're casting evil stares at the modem, and Northstream was able to see performance of around 25Mbps regularly with a few bursts up above 40Mbps. For a first-gen 4G network, that's more like it -- it's an encouraging sign both for TeliaSonera's customers and for folks looking forward to near-term LTE deployments around the world.

It's pretty easy to fall far enough into the 4G mania trap that you lose sight of the important stuff -- like, say, how much cash you're going to be shedding every month for the delightful privilege of delivering 10Mbps-plus speeds straight to your lappie. Sweden's TeliaSonera -- which just launched service in Oslo and its home turf in Stockholm -- has revealed that users will be paying ridiculously low fees to get 'em to sign up before bumping rates mid-contract, a tactic stolen right out of Comcast's playbook. To start, Stockholm residents will be paying SEK4 a month until July 2010, which works out to just 56 cents, while Oslo folks pay a NOK1 (17 cent) pittance until April 2010. After those rates expire, though, watch out: Stockholm goes up to SEK599 ($83) for 30GB of usage and Oslo bumps to NOK699 ($120). That's a hell of an increase -- but then again, 30GB of service at torrent-friendly speeds is a tempting proposition. Anyhow, the other interesting tidbit of this story is the fact that early adopters (read: anyone lining up at the store to sign up today) will get a free upgrade to Samsung's HSPA / LTE dual-mode modem next year once it's available; the current model is LTE-only, which makes roaming a bit tricky. Kind of them, no?

Scandinavian folks tend to be a pretty cheerful bunch during the summer, and now Swedes and Norwegians will have reason to smile through the cold dark winters as well, with Samsung announcing an agreement to provide TeliaSonera with "mobile broadband devices for commercial service next year." This agreement relates to Sammy's Kalmia 4G USB modem and adds to the Swedish operator's LTE push, which already counts Ericsson and Huawei among the contracted hardware providers. So that's 100Mbps mobile broadband, coming to a snow-covered nation near you within the next dozen months or so. All we would ask of our viking friends now is that they remember their world-conquering ways of the past and start spreading that goodness globally. Come on, it's our right! Full press release after the break.

Mmm, the sweet smell of mobile data burning up the pipes in the morning. Gets us every time. Evidently, the same aroma does something to the brains of Ericsson and TeliaSonera, who have taken their January agreement to the next level by introducing the planet's first commercial Long-Term Evolution (LTE) site in Stockholm, Sweden. Mind you, we've seen lots of trial runs over the past year and change, but this one's no test. Rather, this site will become part of a commercial network scheduled to go live in 2010, bringing wicked fast mobile transfers to Stockholmers everywhere. Now, let's hope these American carriers get jealous, and fast.

2.6GHz is fast emerging as a favored slot for LTE spectrum in Europe, but Finland's bucking the trend with an auction of some space in the 1800MHz band -- space that carriers TeliaSonera, Elisa, and DNA have snapped up. The frequency is touted as effectively being a lower-cost option for 4G deployment because it's better suited for range and penetration, meaning fewer base stations need to be deployed. Theoretically, the net effect should be that LTE networks get deployed faster in the country, but as we know all too well from 3G deployments, spectrum diversity always leads to fractured hardware availability; of course, with Nokia right in the backyard, we bet 1800 ends up getting all the support it needs to be successful.

LTE just got officially legitimized under a month ago, and already Nordic-based TeliaSonera is lining up contracts in an effort to showcase its forward-thinking nature to the world. Both Huawei and Ericsson have been chosen to provide 4G LTE equipment for high-speed networks in Stockholm and Oslo, with SE proclaiming that the Swedish network will be ready for commercial launch in 2010. It's expected that the first devices to tap into these newfangled waves will be of the USB / external variety, with 4G handsets following six to twelve months later. Did our 3G just get slower, or are our brains already messing with us?

[Via Network World, image courtesy of BusinessWeek]

Read - Huawei deal
Read - Ericsson deal

Following a rather unceremonious rejection of a $41 billion offer earlier in the month, rumors are swirling that France Telecom is adding some extra cash onto its bid for TeliaSonera, a juggernaut carrier and ISP serving Nordic and Baltic countries. France Telecom's flagship brand is Orange, and if some sort of deal does go through, it could theoretically lead to Orange becoming one of the dominant carriers in the world with control over a huge swath of European spectrum. The talks, which are apparently still underway, are said to be extremely fragile -- they could end in tears of joy or sadness at any moment -- and France Telecom would like to get a deal done by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. More on this one as it develops.

Update: The bid is dead -- again. Something tells us this isn't the last time we're going to hear about this.

Ok ok, we hear you tipsters, iPhone now official for Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia "later this year" thanks to a deal between Apple and TeliaSonera. At this point, only The Netherlands seems to be out of the loop in Europe.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

It looks like the days of bloated roaming fees within Europe are nearly over. Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor, TeliaSonera, and Wind have joined T-Mobile in an agreement to cap the rates they charge eachother within the European Economic Area – 45 euro cents per minute from October 2006 dropping to 36 euro cents per minute by October 2007. In time, that should result in a savings of nearly 50% for consumers travelling within Europe and from abroad as the proposed cap is extended to operators outside the sub-continent. An independent watchdog group will then monitor fee reductions on the open market and publish an index every six months. And what of Europe's largest carrier, Vodafone? Well, they're apparently sticking to their rather dubious "Vodafone Passport" scheme said to save punters 40% on roaming fees after registering for the service, after a "connection fee" of 75p per call and after April 2007 when the rate cuts would go into effect. Now this isn't the first time the cabal European operators have agreed to lower roaming tariffs so we'll just have to see how this plays. Just remember dear carriers, the world and Viv is watching.