At Soldier Field in Chicago, Sprint joined hands with Samsung Electronics America to conduct the first live U.S. demonstration of three-channel carrier aggregation on its 4G LTE network. Sprint claims that it has deployed the technology on more than 500 cell sites in Chicago. The Operator recently reached peak speeds of 295Mbps in similar lab tests using the HTC 10.
The demonstration reached peak download speeds of more than 230 Mbps running on Samsung 4G LTE network and a range of new devices including the Samsung Galaxy Note7, Galaxy S7, and Galaxy S7 edge, said Sprint. The tests at Soldier Field utilized Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum. In addition, both companies also showcased live streaming of ultra-high definition 4K video and a low-latency, high-speed, virtual reality system.
In optimal RF conditions, three-channel carrier aggregation can increase throughput by 50 percent over the current two-channel carrier network, claims Sprint. For instance, users can reduce download time of a 1GB video by approximately one-third in a typical environment, when compared to using two-channel carrier aggregation. Sprint will utilize 60 MHz of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band to provide peak download speeds of more than 200 Mbps on compatible devices. In total, Sprint holds more than 160 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum in the top 100 U.S. markets.
Sprint also claims that at present it uses two-channel carrier aggregation to deliver peak speeds of more than 100 Mbps in 237 LTE Plus markets across the country using 40 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum.
Günther Ottendorfer, Sprint COO, Technology
4K video and immersive virtual reality systems are gaining momentum and Sprint is ready with more spectrum and capacity than any other carrier to support our customers’ demands for data now and well into the future.
Mark Louison, SVP and General Manager of Samsung Networks
We continue to invest in LTE Advanced technologies, and drive commercialization of new three-channel aggregation features with carriers such as Sprint through both our Network infrastructure and device products.
