Verizon demonstrates near gigabit speeds in Florida trial
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Verizon demonstrates near gigabit speeds in Florida trial

Verizon has partnered with Ericsson and Qualcomm to demonstrate wireless technology approaching gigabit speeds.

A joint-trial in Florida used Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) technology to realise speeds of 953Mbps in a dynamic, real world environment, a world’s first according to Verizon.

Verizon supplied the cell site, hardware, software and backhaul for the trial, with Ericsson offering up an advanced remote radio head – the micro Radio 2205 for LAA, which is designed for unlicensed spectrum use.

"Today's milestone is a great example of our approach to new technology - we deploy the latest capabilities reliably and in real-world environments, not just in a lab," said Nicola Palmer, Chief Wireless Network Officer for Verizon. 

"By continuing to deploy the latest technologies on our 4G LTE Advanced network, we pave the way for better and faster performance for the things our customers do now, and provide the groundwork for our future advancements."

Other technologies involved included 4x4 MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) which uses multiple antennae at the cell tower and on consumers' devices to optimize data speeds; and 256 QAM which enables customer devices and the network to exchange information in large amounts, delivering more bits of data in each transmission, significantly enhancing data speeds.

The test used the Ericsson Radio System, which offers end-to-end modular technology, and is expected to be a component in the Swedish vendor’s 5G portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm, provided the processor used in the test, a Snapdragon 835 test device with Gigabit LTE technology.

"These technologies produce record speeds for wireless technology and we are proud to be leading the way to commercialization with such strong partnerships," said Joakim Sorelius, head of product area network systems at Ericsson.

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