Next-generation telecoms broadband provider Huawei has demonstrated record mobile data download speeds at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona.

The firm showed the capability of its long-term evolution (LTE) technology in providing up to 600Mb broadband – around 20 times faster than the speeds offered by existing 3G networks.

According to Huawei, the technology has the potential to meet the bandwidth requirements of data-heavy applications, for instance downloading DVD movies in less than a minute.

It says the LTE technology increases spectrum efficiency by up to five times, leading to significant cost reductions.

Wan Biao, president of wireless at Huawei, said: "This milestone heralds the industry is moving towards the Gigabits era of mobile broadband.

"Huawei is committed to accelerating the commercialisation and adoption of LTE technology through continuously offering solutions to reduce the per-bit cost and improve the profitability for operators worldwide."

Back in December, Huawei linked up with O2 to trial LTE technology in Slough, achieving peak download speeds of 150Mb in the area.