So far 20 operators across 15 countries have launched 300Mbps Category 6 LTE-Advanced services, according to a paper by the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA).

Auri Aittokallio

January 28, 2015

1 Min Read
Fibre Network Broadband Fast

So far 20 operators across 15 countries have launched 300Mbps Category 6 LTE-Advanced services, according to a paper by the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA).

The paper, titled LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation deployment: peak speeds, lists the following countries as having seen LTE-A services deployed by utilising the 300Mbps Cat 6 carrier aggregation technology: Australia, Austria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Cat 6 is defined by the 3GPP as a system that has a theoretical peak downlink speed capability of 300Mbps, and 50Mbps on the uplink. According to the GSA, 49 operators in 31 countries have launched commercial LTE-A carrier aggregation with lower download speeds (between 110Mbps and 300Mbps).

“A further 22 Category 6 LTE-Advanced systems are also being deployed or in a trial phase,” Alan Hadden, GSA’s President said. “It means that 42 operators in total are investing in 300 Mbps LTE-Advanced deployments in 24 countries.”

The GSA also said nine Cat 9 systems are either at a deployment, trial or test stage in Australia, Japan, Portugal, Qatar, Turkey, South Korea, Switzerland, UAE and the UK. According to the 3GPP’s specification, Cat 9 is a system with a theoretical peak downlink speed of 450Mbps, and 50Mbps uplink.

Meanwhile, capabilities “well” beyond- as the GSA put it- Cat have also been demonstrated in a number of multi-band and multi-mode LTE-A trials.

About the Author(s)

Auri Aittokallio

As senior writer for Telecoms.com, Auri’s primary focus is on operators but she also writes across the board the telecoms industry, including technologies and the vendors that produce them. She also writes for Mobile Communications International magazine, which is published every quarter.

Auri has a background as an ICT researcher and business-to-business journalist, previously focusing on the European ICT channels-to-market for seven years.

You May Also Like