Later this year, LTE North America, the regions only LTE focused event, will take place once again with all the major service providers from the continent in attendance. This unique networking event, which takes place 18-20 November, will see industry giants like AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular all in one place, allowing easy accessibility for delegates looking to create new relationships and partnerships. The carriers will educate and inform the entire LTE ecosystem, to further develop the quality and reach of LTE services in the region.

A recent study carried out by Ovum[i], found that North American LTE subscriptions now make up 45% of the world’s total subscriptions, proving the amount of dedication and experience the operators have in the region with deploying and rolling out LTE connections. LTE North America, through its operator speaker line up, will provide further stepping stones for the regions carriers and vendors looking for further development and create vital business leads for companies across the industry.

The line-up of top speakers from North American carriers includes:

• Ron Marquardt, VP of Technology, Sprint Corporation
• Carlos Sanchez, VP, Antenna Solutions Group, AT&T
• Anzar Hasan ,SME – IT Audit, Verizon
• Yasmin Karimli, Director of Radio Technology Development, T-Mobile USA
• TJ Kennedy, Deputy General Manager, FirstNet
• Narothum Saxena, Manager, Technology Development and Strategy, US Cellular

During Day One, conference keynotes, Ron Marquardt, VP of Technology, Sprint Corporation, will deliver his keynote address on LTE innovation, looking at continuously upgrading and expanding the LTE network. He will assess innovations from the past twelve months and the impact they will have on Sprints networks. Marquardt will also draw on sprints optimization strategy, coverage, interference and capacity for his presentation.

Marquardt’s keynote will be followed by a panel discussion which will explore the future of LTE evolution, investigating the key LTE innovations required for the next twelve months, the key challenges (VoLTE, Video) and looking at the developments of LTE-A and 5G. The panel will largely consist of speakers from operators including Marquardt himself and Carlos Sanchez, VP, Antenna Solutions Group, AT&T. Later the same day, along the Future of LTE track, Philippe Andres, Group Marketing North America Vice President, Orange, will deliver a case study on LTE-A.

We put forward the question, “What is the key aspect of the LTE North America conference that most impressed you,” to some of last year’s carrier attendees:

“Excellent opportunity to network with other organizations and vendors involved in LTE. All the presentations were very informative and engaging.” Manager – Technology, Verizon Wireless
“Informative about the direction of the industry for LTE and highlights the challenges that carriers must address to remain competitive” Network Performance Specialist, Bell Mobility
“The place where you should be for keeping up with your competitors” VP Group Marketing North America, Orange

LTE North America offers a unique opportunity for attendees to meet with carriers away from the busy exhibition floor. The structured speed networking sessions will give vendors the chance to discuss their solutions with carrier delegates. The show will also feature roundtable discussions led by top carriers and another by the region’s leading analysts through morning breakfast briefings.

Day Two will see JR Wilson, WBA Chair and Vice President, Partnerships and Alliance, AT&T, give a keynote presentation on the future of Wi-Fi: The carrier Wi-Fi evolution and how the wireless broadband alliance is driving the revolution towards a seamless Wi-Fi experience. He will draw on the lessons learnt from successful deployments in China, Korea, Japan and Barcelona.

Also on Day Two, TJ Kennedy, Deputy General Manager, FirstNet, will deliver a significant keynote on the status of Public Safety LTE. Looking at the importance of working partnerships to make FirstNet a success, the progress of the preparation for the national network and looking into the training required to manage the increased volume and variety of data.

Yasmin Karimli, Director of Radio Technology Development, T-Mobile US, will kick off the Enriched Communications track on Day Two of the conference with her presentation on the commercialisation of VoLTE. She will explore how VoLTE can complete with the popular OTT players like Skype, Viber and Google Talk, also looking at how the connection can benefit enterprise customers. T-Mobile and AT&T will also be demonstrating their VoLTE network.