The ITU had set a deadline of 7 October for proposals to be received and 3GPP responded by submitting a comprehensive description of LTE-Advanced, an evolution of the LTE technology which has received considerable support from the world's leading mobile operators.
The submission was made jointly in the name of the 3GPP Organizational Partners: ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TTA and TTC, which represent the North American, European and Asian regions and make 3GPP a truly global initiative.
Adrian Scrase, Head of the 3GPP Mobile Competence Centre, speaking in Geneva at the ITU Telecom 2009 Forum, stressed the evolutionary aspects of the LTE-Advanced proposal, commenting: "More than 30 operators have already announced their intention to deploy the LTE technology, and the evolution possibilities of LTE Release 10 & beyond provides security for their investments for many years to come."