Why is there LTE in the Arctic Circle but not in my neighborhood?

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei and Norwegian network operator Telenor have erected the world's northernmost LTE tower in Longyearbyen on the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Circle. The location is about halfway between the North Pole and Europe, and temperatures there drop 50 degrees below freezing in the winter.

Longyearbyen, the Earth's most northern "city" (settlement with a population greater than 1,000) now has mobile broadband that reaches downstream speeds of 100Mbps. The site first opened in late May, and Telenor described it as a natural location for Arctic research.

"While its location and landscape does imply challenges, the modern infrastructure and the very latest technology at hand make anything possible - even in the midst of a freezing wasteland," Telenor said in May. "The city and the inhabitants of Longyearbyen have, on several occasions, served as a test bed for Telenor's implementation of technological improvements and new services."

So while this deployment does have its uses, it may be less practical than it is symbolic. Huawei is the only wireless hardware manufacturer working with Telenor on its LTE network, and the company says this site proves its SingleRAN LTE cell site is capable of standing up to some of the most unforgiving weather conditions in civilization.