Ericsson has made announcement about the launching of the world’s initial LTE (Long Term Evolution) capable platform named the M700.

Products in the M700 series will hold a top download data rate of 100 Mbit/s and a top upload rate of 50 Mbit/s.

Long Term Evolution is one of many options opposing for next-generation mobile networks.

The recent launch is a mode for Ericsson to demonstrate LTE is on the right track, during a week when it’s going head to head with WiMax and other mobile technologies at CTIA 2008 in Las Vegas.

Björn Ekelund, vice president of product management at Ericsson said, “We want to show LTE is real, and on the way.”

The company said that the commercial release is set for the coming year, even though samples will ship in the existing year.

Real products based on the platform are expected to be ready in 2010, Ericsson said.

According to Gartner Inc. analyst Alan Brown, it is a declaration of readiness for the new standard.

"But in my opinion, it does seem rather early for an announcement as the first products, according to Ericsson's own statement, will not appear until 2010," said Brown.

The initial products that are based on M700 will not be cell phones, but data centric devices including different kinds of laptop modems.

One presumptive customer is Sony Ericsson, but it doesn't want to give any details about upcoming products. It will wait until there is customer demand, according to Rikard Skogberg, category manager at Sony Ericsson.

In addition to the requirement for capability that can confront fixed networks, Ericsson also underlines support for a mass of different frequencies.

"New frequencies are popping up left and right, and supporting them all is difficult, but we have to keep up," said Ekelund.

He singles out 700 MHz in America, and 1500 MHz in Japan, but the platform can support up six different bands.