UAE telecoms operator Du has announced the successful completion of its first pilot trial of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, TradeArabia reports. Du said the pilot was conducted in April and supported mobile broadband speeds of up to 150Mbps. It added that a commercial launch of the 4G technology will follow in the second half of 2011. ‘Mobile broadband is increasingly gaining traction and we are proud to be one of the early operators in the world to begin trials of LTE – arguably one of the most cutting-edge telecom technologies, also referred to as 4G,’ commented Farid Faraidooni.

Du’s chief commercial officer, adding: ‘At Du, we are constantly exploring new opportunities and pushing the boundaries, so that our customers benefit from some of the most innovative services available in the world.’ In September last year Du upgraded its network to DC-HSPA+, offering download speeds of up to 42Mbps. Du competes in the UAE telecoms market with incumbent operator Etisalat, which also plans to commercially launch its own LTE network by the end of 2011.