Today at the metropole shopping centre in Lausanne I noticed a big sign that said that Swisscon is testing LTE in Switzerland.

Given that I am on prepaid and I am considering options for a contract (as soon as my permit arrives), I will go tomorrow to check price plans and devices.

I will let you know, but I was wondering if anybody knows if they actually have LTE phones or if it's only USB sticks. According to this there are no phones, but it was posted on December 8.

don't bother. The test is only for a couple of winter-sports destinations and 11 Swisscom shops (not the entire mall - just the SC shop in Lausanne). And yes, it's notebook / USB-stick-only for the moment, unless you're able to find an LTE-enabled smartphone that can use the frequencies offered in Europe (US-phones won't work).

There are two: the Galaxy SII and the Galaxy SII HD.
Both with tri-band LTE: 800 / 1800 / 2600MHz. So they will both work in all European LTE networks.
Telia offers the first one: http://www.telia.se/privat/katalog/V...-lte.product#4

So, are you really sure they don't offer any phone yet?
Maybe you checked before Christmas? I really want to test an LTE Galaxy SII!

Germany, Sweden and a few other countries have LTE deployed in a large-scale and more customer hardware is available there. Switzerland is only testing (ie: pilot) LTE right now, in less than a dozen locations, as noted on Swisscom's website. They are still pretty far from having a full, nation-wide LTE network built and offering it commercially. They have a few data cards now and that's it, as there's not really any need to have a full range of LTE devices in their portfolio now. If you want to bring your own LTE phone to the party, and only use it in the few test locations, it could be possible, but you'd better check with Swisscom first before buying anything.

Generally speaking, most LTE operators are offering it primarily for data, as the voice part of LTE was not fully worked out in the specs yet (VoLGA or IMS). Even on the LTE phones that are available, the voice is most likely going over the legacy (GSM/UMTS) connection, and only data connections on LTE.

...actually, the first LTE->UMTS call hand-over was only demo'ed yesterday, so it just goes to show that voice on LTE is not really all there yet!
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-d...over-40094971/

I know all this, but believe me, I would not be unhappy using 2G/3G for voice and keep the LTE for my data (I don't do any legacy calls anyway, Voip please!).
Anyway, I'll do a one year contract now hoping that in 12 months we'll have real LTE.

Orange are also starting a 4G pilot.

See their press release:
http://www1.orange.ch/media/press/fi..._EN_4G_LTE.pdf
(warning: PDF. warning: marketing-speak.)

It's now a couple of months since the last post, and I was looking for any information on 4G release dates in Switzerland.

I'd hate to buy a new phone or sign up for a contract if 4G is just around the corner, as I like my gadgets upto date and 4G is an interesting toy :-)

Orange (inc CoopMobile) - around March 2013
Sunrise (inc Yallo, Cablecom, talktalk)
Swisscom

Swisscom will have live LTE in 12 cities by the end of this year, and nation-wide coverage by 2014. Go ahead and buy a LTE phone if you are on Swisscom.

http://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/ber...id2010434.html

If you are on Orange, you may have to wait a little longer as they are only announcing a pilot right now, so looks like they are at least 1-2 years behind Swisscom. I haven't heard of any news about Sunrise.

Thanks Esto. Does the S III support 4G, any recommendations ?

Yes. The Slll is 4G:LTE

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/09...eptember-2012/

No it's not, you need the specific LTE version. The SIII you find around is by default not 4G.
You gave a link to a US-focused website, please be more careful. They have 2 4G standards over there, so what it says is that the SIII is 4G LTE instead of 4G WiMax.

Very important advice: get a triband 4G phone with 4G on 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz.
For instance, the HTC One XL does not support 800 MHz.
On the other hand, Samsung included LTE on 800 MHz in the 4G versions of the Galaxy SII and the Tab 8.9.
So if I was you, I would wait for a 4G version of the Galaxy SIII.


Maybe 800 MHz is not licensed yet, but it will be soon and it is the best spectrum band for penetration and reach, so a phone with only 1800 and 2600 will be missing coverage.

"3G" and "4G" are more marketing terms rather than technical terms. In the US they "watered-down" the "4G" label to include HSPA+. Swisscom's LTE will be on 1800 MHz initially. I'm not sure when the 800MHz is coming, but anything is possible.

I think it's probably best to just buy a LTE phone/data-card directly from the operator, just to be sure you have the right frequency/technology match. Plus you usually get some kind of subsidy

They will tell you whatever to sell a phone.
800 MHz is the digital dividend band and is the main spectrum band promoted by the EU for as the basis of LTE networks. 900 MHz will be busy with 3G/2G and the higher frequency bands do not offer as good penetration and reach (they are useful to increase capacity, but 800 MHz is what will provide you coverage in difficult locations). So any phone without 800 MHz is a bad investment in my opinion.
If you want to sign a new contract now, I strongly recommend to sign a phone-less contract in order to get a discount in your monthly bill and then buy a proper (and unlocked) LTE phone when it's finally available.

Now ladies and gentlemen, this is what I call a proper 4G phone.
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_hd-4970.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_razr_m-4974.php
Announced only yesterday.

LTE on 5 bands:
-800 / 1800 / 2600 guarantee it will work on every LTE network in europe (assuming operators will keep 900 and 2100 for GSM and 3G).
700 / 1700 guarantee it will work on both AT&T's and Verizon's LTE networks in the US (and since the US set the tone for the Western hemisphere, I would dare assume it will find an LTE network to connect to in most countries in the Americas, once they habe such networks).

Hmmm . . . no joy for the iPhone 5 then.

The Swisscom network runs on 2600 MHz, which is unsupported by the iPhone.

Or have I got this wrong?

2600 MHz is absolutely unimportant. Granted, it is used for the pilots and initial developments throughout Europe, since 800 MHz is still being auctioned in most countries and operators have to clean up 1800 MHz from GSM (and also extend their licenses), but once 4G gets serious 2600 MHz will only be there as a last resort to add capacity in very busy areas. And by that time the iPhone 7 will be out.

The big drawback is the lack of 800 MHz. 800 MHz propagates much better than 1800 MHz and way better than 2600 MHz. Thus it will be the basis of the LTE networks and will offer coverage to places where 1800 MHz won't make it (e.g. in underground rooms and remote areas in the Alps).
1800 and 2600 MHz will add capacity, because spectrum below 1GHz is scarce and only small slices are used for mobile networks.
Thus the iPhone 5 will be OK in cities, but will lose its 4G signal before phones that connect to 800 MHz networks.

nope - that's correct. The iPhone 5 doesn't support any of the LTE frequencies intended for usage in Switzerland.

Oh gosh, maybe my posts are too length for some.

Thanks. Do we have any idea about the Swiss networks' plans, particularly their timelines?