By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
LG Electronics said Monday it will supply the next generation of long-term evolution (LTE) modem chips to Japan's biggest mobile operator NTT DoCoMo from March next year.
"Our LTE modem chips will be shipped to the Japanese company from March 2010," a high-ranking LG official said.
In December last year, LG unveiled its first LTE-based mobile terminal modem chip. The chip is believed to support an optimum wireless download speed of 100Mbps and upload speed of 50Mbps.
Currently the fastest mobile phone download, enabled by high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology, stands at 7.6Mbps.
LG's cross-town rival Samsung Electronics is rooting for WiMAX, the rival next-generation telecommunications technology to LTE.
According to data from Strategy Analytics (SA), a market research firm, global sales of LTE-equipped mobile phones will reach 70 million in 2012 and 150 million in 2013.