British telecom operator EE has showcased Europe’s first commercial Gigabit LTE network – with upload speeds of 110Mbps and download speeds of 750Mbps — at the Wembley Stadium.
EE said upload speeds of 110Mbps and download speeds of 750Mbps is more than twice as fast as the UK’s fastest commercial fibre broadband offering.
EE showcased the Gigabit LTE network in association with top tech companies such as Qualcomm Technologies and Sony Mobile.
Benefits of Gigabit LTE in four real-life use cases
# streaming 4K HDR10 content from Amazon Prime
# speed improvements for downloading large files via Google Drive
# download of music/video files for offline use, and
# network simulation showcasing the network-wide benefits of deploying Gigabit LTE.
EE has switched on the latest upgrades to its 4G network in Cardiff and London’s Tech City, and will be rolling out to more major cities throughout 2017 and 2018. EE has achieved speeds of 428Mbps in Cardiff City Centre to mark the launch of Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium smartphone.
EE, a BT group company, was the first mobile network in the UK to support Cat 9 mobile devices, in September 2016. With today’s development EE becomes the first to support Cat 16 mobile devices with Gigabit LTE.
Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium, announced at MWC 2017 and launched in June this year, is the first Gigabit LTE enabled smartphone. Powered by Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform, the XZ Premium is also the first smartphone to feature a 4K HDR display.
Its Gigabit LTE performance, enabled by Snapdragon X16 LTE modem integrated into the Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform, allows smartphone users to stream and watch 4K HDR resolution content on their mobile.
Tom Bennett, director, network services and devices, EE, said, “Peak speeds get all the headlines, and their importance is simple: the higher the peak speed on our network, the better the average speed for every customer.”
Gigabit LTE is enabled by LTE Advanced features including 4×4 MIMO, Three Carrier Aggregation and 256-QAM higher order modulation. Gigabit LTE capability, which has been pioneered by Qualcomm Technologies is an essential pillar for the 5G mobile experience as the high-speed coverage layer that co-exists and interworks with nascent 5G networks.
Gigabit LTE is about delivering more network capacity, to benefit all users in the network.
EE, which achieved 14 million 4G customers in December 2015, has around 550 shops across the UK. 4G of EE, which reaches more than 97 percent of the UK population, will be extending to 95 percent geographic coverage by 2020.
