The demonstration used spectrum in the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands
Nordic telecom operator TeliaSonera Norway and Chinese ICT solutions provider Huawei demonstrated LTE-Advanced Pro technology over a live commercial network in Oslo, Norway.
According to the Chinese company, this was the world’s first demonstration of “4.5G” in a real outdoor environment with the same frequencies and radio equipment that the normal mobile network uses. In order to carry out the demonstration, the two companies used spectrum in the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands.
“This is the future mobile network for the new generation telecommunications companies. TeliaSonera is an innovative company that will always strive to be in front of the development, and we are proud to cooperate with Huawei in Norway to develop and test this new technology,” TeliaSonera Norway’s CEO Abraham Foss said.
Huawei said the introduction of 4.5G technology will allow mobile operators to improve the user experience and support the increase of machine-to-machine communications and the “Internet of Things” as well as new mobile Internet applications, such as virtual-reality glasses and drone technology.
“The Nordic region is a strategically important market for Huawei, and Norway is a very natural and obvious location for us to demonstrate new technologies such as 4.5G. This is the place to be if you have the ambition to be at the technological forefront within telecom and ICT in general,” said Jim Lu, Nordic Region president for Huawei.
The Chinese vendor said it expects to see the initial commercial deployment of 4.5G networks next year.
TeliaSonera Norway, which operates under the NetCom brand, provides LTE coverage to 95% of the country’s population. By the end of the third quarter of the year, the Nordic firm counted 2.47 million subscribers. NetCom initially launched LTE services in Norway in 2009, through spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band.
The telco recently obtained 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in an auction carried out by the Norwegian Communications Authority.