Telecom network vendor Huawei Technologies announced its deal with SoftBank for verification testing, technological evaluation, and R&D of TDD+, a 4.5G mobile communications technology based on TDD LTE.
SoftBank is deploying TDD-capable Advanced eXtended Global Platform (AXGP) networks in Japan using its TDD spectrums to meet the increased demand from smartphones and tablets.
The TDD+ research cooperation with Huawei, whose TDD technology currently leads the global TDD market, enables SoftBank to increase the frequency resource efficiency on the AXGP networks by about 5 times, substantially improves the user experience.
Keiichi Makizono, senior vice president of SoftBank, said: SoftBank is planning to construct the next-generation mobile network. Therefore, our cooperation with Huawei on 4.5G technology is quite meaningful.”
TDD LTE, which has become available for commercial use in 2011, has 200 million subscribers in the world. The deployment of TDD+ enables telecom carriers to explore new revenue opportunities and increase the revenue of mobile broadband services, before 5G becomes available. 5G is expected in 2020. Multiple carriers from China and Europe are planning to introduce TDD+ on their networks.
“TDD+ helps increase the spectral efficiency and decrease the total cost of ownership (TCO). It also creates new services and provides a communications environment able to adapt to user demands,” said David Wang, president of Huawei Wireless Network Product Line.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
