Demo reached data rates of up to 375 Mbps
Nokia Networks and Nordic mobile operator TeliaSonera conducted a live demonstration of LTE-Advanced three-band carrier aggregation using Category 9 devices in Finland. The companies claim the demo reached data rates of up to 375 megabits per second on a commercial network, marking an industry-first in the Nordic region.
The end-to-end demo, performed on TeliaSonera’s commercial network in Finland’s capital Helsinki, aggregated three LTE FDD carriers of 20 megahertz, 20 megahertz and 10 megahertz bandwidth. The mobile provider plans to continue rolling out the advanced mobile service networkwide once compatible mobile devices are available in sufficient volumes.
The demonstration was performed using Nokia Networks’ Single RAN Advanced platform, including the Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station. The demo also included software upgrades to aggregate two 20 megahertz carriers in the 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands with one additional 10 megahertz carrier in the 800 MHz band, as well as testing, planning and implementation support.
“Through this groundbreaking trial of 3X CA, our network has delivered high data throughtputs with superior reliability, meaning our customers will benefit from superfast multimedia applications and services once the technology is rolled out commercially,” said Timo Hietalahti, TeliaSonera Finland’s head of architecture and development.
TeliaSonera initially launched LTE services in Finland in November 2010 through spectrum in both the 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands. The telco ended the second quarter of the year with 3.3 million mobile subscribers in Finland. TeliaSonera Finland added 21,000 mobile subscribers during the quarter. The company also provides fixed telephony, pay-TV and broadband services in the country.
Spain to award 2.6 GHz spectrum auction
The European country aims to launch a tender to award mobile spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band in the coming weeks, according to Víctor Calvo-Sotelo, the country’s communications minister.
The new spectrum will allow local mobile operators to boost LTE coverage. Calvo-Sotelo said that LTE networks in Spain currently cover 76% of the country’s population.
In 2011, Spain carried out a previous auction of spectrum in both the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands. At that time, the government raised 1.65 billion euros ($1.8 billion).
The government also recently announced plans to launch a tender to award the 1.5 GHz band for the provision of 4G services.
