Entel Chile launches LTE-A carrier aggregation over 700 & 2600 MHz

Entel announced the start-up of its 4G network in the B28 (700 MHz) band, the same day that the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications (MTT) affirmed that the spectrum was already available for use.

In a first stage, the Chilean operator plans to enable more than 200 sites in the Metropolitan region, which represent 30 percent of the total commercial project. The company expects that by the end of the year, another five regions will have LTE service over the 700 MHz band, completing 70 percent of the technical project.

In total, the Entel project will demand a disbursement of 130 million dollars in the installation of 660 4G stations throughout the country.

Entel confirmed that the network will use LTE Advanced technology, with carrier aggregation capacity, for its new 4G network.

The company had conducted LTE-A tests with aggregation of carriers in the 2600 MHz and 700 MHz bands earlier this year.  The experience allowed speeds of up to 250 Mbps.

The provider chosen for the deployment of Entel's LTE network is Ericsson .

As of March 2016, Entel had around 1.2 million users with 4G service, which represents a 47 percent participation in the marking. The company noted that some 755,000 of its customers already have devices able to connect to the 700 MHz band. Meanwhile, some 70,000 devices also support LTE-A Carrier Aggregation.