SmarTone, the leading mobile network operator in Hong Kong, in partnership with Ericsson completed a trial of Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) technology in a live over-the-air demonstration in Hong Kong.
LAA allows the use of unlicensed spectrum in the 5GHz band in combination with licensed spectrum. By doing this, subscribers get an enhanced mobile broadband experience with even more capacity and faster speeds while operators make efficient use of unlicensed spectrum resources.
SmarTone used one LTE 10MHz band aggregated with three 20MHz bands of unlicensed spectrum for the trial. Together with 4CC carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256QAM technologies, the trial used a Qualcomm SnapdragonTM X16 LTE mobile test device and Ericsson’s micro Radio 2205 for LAA, which is designed for unlicensed spectrum use and provides small dimensions, flexible mounting and superior performance.
Future enhancement of LAA includes 5CC carrier aggregation support in 2018, and allows the download speeds to exceed 1Gbps.
This latest news is a significant milestone for SmarTone and Ericsson, after the companies extended their partnership in Q4, 2016 to transform the operators network beyond 4G.
Stephen Chau, Chief Technology Officer of SmarTone
SmarTone is very pleased to have completed the first LAA trial in Hong Kong. LAA is an important technological evolution that can combine licensed and unlicensed spectrum to provide LTE service.
Petra Schirren, President of Ericsson Hong Kong and Macau
LAA is a key evolution of mobile technology and we are pleased to be first in Hong Kong together with SmarTone to demonstrate the increased capacity, improved speeds and enhanced user experience through the combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum.
