A1 tops 500Mbps in pre-5G tests with Nokia
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A1 tops 500Mbps in pre-5G tests with Nokia

Telekom Austria subsidiary A1 has topped speeds of 500Mbps in pre-5G tests carried out with Nokia.

The Austrian operator transmitted speeds of 513Mbps over the live A1 network using a mobile route, while it realised speeds of 463Mbps on a smartphone in tests carried out at the university of Klagenfurt.

The trial involved triple carrier aggregation across the 2.6GHz, 1800MHz and 800MHz frequencies. This was combined with 256 QAM modulation, to boost speeds above those normally found using LTE.

“The use of different frequency bands that span a wide section of radio spectrum is also very important for 5G transmission speeds. A1 has an excellent frequency spectrum here and is already optimally prepared for the new generation of mobile communications”, said A1 CTO Marcus Grausam. 

“In Austria we will already be making selective use of triple carrier aggregation in 2017. As soon as there are sufficient end devices on the market, we will use the technology in those areas where especially large volumes of capacity are needed in the network - above all in urban areas.”

Carrier aggregation is expected to play a major role in the development of the fifth generation of mobile connectivity, which is expected to be commercialised in 2020.

Nokia has carried out a number of tests of technologies that will be key to 5G, including a recent lab test in Italy with Vodafone.

“In mobile communications LTE or 4G forms the basis for the future communication standard 5G and will be continuously further developed accordingly. What we saw today was a preliminary stage of 5G”, said Peter Wukowits, Nokia country manager Austria and head of the customer business team for Central Europe. 

“In further steps we will also see even greater bandwidths up into the gigabit range, higher capacities and denser networks and fewer transmission delays. The foundations have already been laid in the laboratory and the technology will now be coming to the live networks. Nokia is a leader in the development of 5G and as an innovation partner we are delighted to be taking this forward with A1.”


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