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    Japan's eAccess LTE network gets 300Mbps download speeds in testing

    Japan's eAccess LTE network gets 300Mbps download speeds in testing

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    Japanese broadband provider eAccess has completed testing of its LTE network, which can reach speeds of 300Mbps in tests. The network, which will launch in March, will provide speeds closer to 75Mbps for users.

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    Japanese broadband company eAccess has completed testing of its LTE mobile network, reaching download speeds of 300Mbps. The 4G LTE network will be the second to launch in Japan, behind NTT Docomo. However, this test speed dwarfs that of Docomo or anything found in the US, including Verizon's theoretical 100Mbps download speed. Because of the technical challenges in designing the network, users probably won't be using the network on their smartphones — the four LTE antennas required would take up too much space and drain battery quickly. However, users of tablets or other larger devices could see some major improvements over the current eAccess HSPA+ network.

    That 300Mbps test speed, of course, won't be what customers get when the service launches in March. The actual numbers will be closer to 75Mbps for downloads and 25Mbps for uploads, still blazing fast even compared to wired broadband speeds. According to GigaOm, the network uses too much spectrum to make it feasible on crowded US airwaves, so we Americans will have to wait for LTE-Advanced in 2013 to get speeds like this on our mobile devices.