Verizon, Nokia and Qualcomm Technologies recently reached peak data speeds of 1.45 Gbps on LTE in a live commercial environment using six channel carrier aggregation, a key LTE Advanced technology.
Carrier aggregation combines multiple channels of spectrum to provide greater efficiency for data sessions transmitting over wireless networks. By using a combination of both licensed and shared spectrum, for the first time in the U.S. in a commercial environment the three companies combined six separate channels of spectrum.
The record-breaking speeds on 4G LTE were reached on Verizon’s network in New York using a combination of Verizon’s licensed PCS and AWS spectrum in conjunction with four carriers of LAA (License Assisted Access) spectrum. The demonstration used Nokia’s AirScale base station and Qualcomm Technologies’ mobile test device powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon TM X24 LTE modem.
The demonstration in New York also used LTE Advanced feature, 256 QAM (enabling the network to deliver more bits of data in each transmission) and 4x4 MIMO (using multiple antennas at the cell tower and in the device to minimize errors and optimize data speeds.) In mid-2018, Verizon announced these technologies were available in over 1,100 markets nationwide.
Bill Stone, VP of Technology Planning and Development, Verizon
When we first launched our LTE network, we knew there would be a lot of room for innovation and to expand its capabilities. Eight years later, we continue our advancement of our 4G LTE network knowing our LTE network leadership is foundational for our evolution into 5G.
Joe Glynn, VP, Business Development, Qualcomm Technologies
Qualcomm Technologies was first to introduce Gigabit LTE and LAA technologies into a commercial modem, and we continue to innovate with our latest Snapdragon X24 LTE modem capable of up to 2Gbps speeds.
