Motorola has opened a Long Term Evolution (LTE) trial and testing lab in Swindon, England, that offers carriers the opportunity to test mobile gear and services in a real-world setting. The trials will be conducted in the 2.6-GHz spectrum band, which is likely to be the main spectrum of choice by European cell phone service providers.

The company said this week that trials can be used to test OFDM-based mobile broadband networks and to develop 4G migration strategies. Motorola indicated that carriers and operators may sign up to use the Swindon facility at next week's Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona.

Motorola's Joe Cozzolino said the Swindon facility features operations on LTE radio frequency and self-organizing network development as well as a center for base station transceiver development for GSM and LTE.

Additional LTE development work is being conducted at Motorola facilities in Arlington Heights, Ill., and Forth Worth, Texas, as well as Beijing and Bangalore, India. Cozzolino is senior VP and general manager, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility, EMEA & Asia Pacific.

In preparation for its first commercial release of LTE products and services later this year, Motorola is preparing a line of products for the 700-MHz and 2.6-GHz spectrum bands. The company said it is already working with operators throughout the world in preparation for LTE rollout. The 700-MHz spectrum is expected to be used heavily by U.S. wireless carriers.

Based on OFDM -- which stands for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing -- LTE offers high spectral efficiency and uses an all-IP flat architecture. Initial LTE consumer rollouts are expected to take place late in 2009 with widespread commercial availability planned for 2010.