Over the last 20 years, the advancement of new telecommunications and computer technologies has had a profound impact on society. Capabilities that seemed like science fiction two decades ago, are now taken for granted. Cellular telephony has lead to the expectation of anytime, anywhere accessibility. The wide-spread availability of broadband connectivity provides access to the largest repository of information and entertainment materials on the planet (the world-wide-web). Consequently, with more information, available in more places, people can be more and more mobile in both their work and personal life. Now, on the realm of taking these advances in connectivity to the next level plane, is a new technology called Long Term Evolution, or LTE. LTE is the next generation mobile broadband network from the 3GPP standards group (GSM/UMTS/HSPA).

Still with every new mobile technology comes the question, do we really need it? This paper will look at what is driving the development of LTE, how this will impact future LTE subscriber experiences, and ultimately how it will help drive operators businesses.