Nokia Siemens Networks has opened a research and development lab in Dallas in order to further its development of Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology.

The lab was designed to support North American operators through development, verification and interoperability activities, from network infrastructure to mobile devices, ensuring Nokia Siemens Networks LTE technology roadmaps meet operator needs.

Nokia said the its Dallas R&D center will be the hub for all LTE trials in the United States and Canada with the initial trials slated for the first quarter of next year.

Nokia said the lab will also foster local product development to address specific North America requirements, and will drive LTE ecosystem development to accelerate service adoption when LTE networks are deployed.

“The new lab will further enable us to capitalize on the exceptional market opportunities for next generation networks in North America and the growing expectations of consumers and enterprises for bandwidth hungry mobile applications,” said Sue Spradley, president, North America, Nokia Siemens Networks.

Juha Lappalainen, previously CTO of Nokia Siemens Networks North American operations, has been named head of LTE for North America and will oversee the lab’s development as well as domestic R&D advancements.

 Long Term Evolution (LTE), the next generation of mobile networks like GSM, WCDMA and CDMA, promises delivery of new multimedia intensive and rich call applications by improving data speeds, reducing latency and building on a scalable flat network design.

In October, Cox Communications said it will test 4G technology using LTE (see story here) while AT&T and Verizon have also expressed interest in deploying wireless networks with LTE.

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