MTN, a leading telecommunications company with presence in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, has partnered with Ericsson to successfully trial LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U), a mobile technology innovation that improves indoor app coverage for smartphone users, in South Africa. The trial was completed by aggregating 10 MHz from the 1800 GHz with 20 MHz from the 5 GHz band and showcased a throughput of more than 200 Mbps. This is the first time LTE-U has ever been trialed over the air in Africa.
LTE-U leverages the 5 GHz unlicensed band in combination with licensed spectrum to deliver a performance boost for mobile device users. According to Ericsson, the LTE-U solution showcases Carrier Sensing Adaptive Transmission (CSAT) capabilities for coexistence with Wi-Fi in accordance with the latest LTE-U Forum specifications, which have been designed to enable fair sharing of unlicensed spectrum with Wi-Fi.
The licensed band provides an anchor designed to ensure a seamless user experience with full mobility while the unlicensed band provides incremental capacity and a better user experience.
Henrik Linnet, Head of Practice Mobile Broadband, Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa
This solution when fully operational will allow MTN to boost data speeds and coverage in the cellular network and support the growth of indoor traffic, by using the unlicensed 5 GHz band already populated by Wi-Fi devices. This is the first LTE-U trial and first enhanced CSAT (Carrier Sensing Adaptive Transmission) functionality demonstrated in Africa.
