Singtel has delivered 1.1 Gbps peak speed during a trial of a new configuration of Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) technology.
Ericsson said Singtel conducted the trial in a Singtel laboratory in Singapore, combining key LTE technologies such as 256 QAM, 4×4 MIMO, and aggregating two licensed and three unlicensed spectrum bands on a TM500 Test System device.
“A large percentage of mobile traffic in Singapore is generated indoors with more mobile customers browsing the web, streaming video and accessing cloud applications on the go. We are in a position to deploy LAA technology to boost our LTE mobile capacity to meet increasing traffic demand,” said Mark Chong, group chief technology officer of Singtel.
Singtel used the 12-layered LAA configuration during the trial to provide 2 to 3 times faster speed than prevailing peak LTE speeds.
Following this trial, Singtel will explore the feasibility to deploy the technology on Singtel’s network for improving user experience, especially in high traffic indoor environments such as shopping malls.
“Licensed Assisted Access took wireless technology to a whole new level, delivering the increased capacity and faster speeds that operators demand as they evolve their networks. This trial is a significant milestone in the use of LAA, pushing the limits of Gigabit LTE in a unique configuration of advanced technologies,” said Martin Wiktorin, head for Ericsson Singapore, Brunei & the Philippines.
Singtel and Ericsson earlier this year achieved download speeds of up to 800Mbps by deploying 256 QAM downlink, 4×4 MIMO and triple carrier aggregation techniques.
In October 2017, Singtel and Ericsson jointly established a 5G Centre of Excellence to facilitate 5G development in Singapore.
