Swisscom, together with its partner Ericsson has successfully tested 1Gbps on its mobile network using the LTE- Advanced technology. The commercial launch of the new technology, dubbed as LTE Advanced Pro is planned for early 2017, said the operator. Devices that support this technology will most likely be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona.
Swisscom’s mobile broadband network reaches over 98% of the population with 4G/LTE and more than 99% with 3G. Furthermore, Swisscom has already rolled out LTE Advanced to more than 100 locations, with theoretical bandwidths of up to 300 Mbps. A few selected locations in buildings already allow for transfer rates of up to 450 Mbps.
According to Swisscom, until the fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) is standardised and rolled out, Swisscom will continue to make its existing network faster and improve it with carrier aggregation, which combines multiple frequencies. The LTE Advanced Pro promises peak download speed of 1Gbps and upload speed of 150Mbps.
Heinz Herren, CTO and CIO t Swisscom
At the beginning of this week, we were able to celebrate a first for Europe by achieving a transfer rate of 1 Gbps, thanks to our close collaboration with Ericsson. This success shows me that Swisscom is on the right path for innovation.
Martin Bürki, CEO of Ericsson Switzerland
With Europe’s very first LTE Advanced Pro transfer of 1 Gbps live over Swisscom’s mobile broadband network, we are highlighting the innovative strength of our close and effective collaboration.
