Magyar Telekom and Ericsson Magyarország tested today the mobile technology enabling a download speed of 1200 Mbps in the Regional Digital Summit organized in Budapest.
The improved 4G+ technology, that can be demonstrated only in laboratory environments to this day, enables a radical - approximately three-fold - performance boost compared to the fastest mobile internet technologies available publicly today. The technology is able to achieve a multiple of the speed available publicly today by aggregating several frequency ranges, using an improved aerial system and a higher order of modulation. The 4G+ technology implemented by aggregating multiple frequency bands is already available in the live network. A majority of the equipment presented in the demonstration are identical to the latest equipment installed to the Telekom network.
“As a result of the network development, practically the whole population of Hungary received access to the 4G service providing fast mobile internet. But we do not stop here. While further increasing the speed of the 4G mobile internet provided to our clients, and we take 4G to the smallest villages, we demonstrated today a speed and a technology together with our partner that provides an answer to the network demands of the future, when billions of connected devices will communicate with each other, and the age of the Internet of Things (IoT) arrives” said Christopher Mattheisen, Chief Executive Officer of Magyar Telekom.
Gábor Éry, President of Ericsson Hungary, says: “Ericsson, in cooperation with Magyar Telekom, demonstrate the newest 4G+ technologies in Hungary, Following previous successful tests in the commercial network, today’s event is an important next step in the long-term cooperation between Magyar Telekom and Ericsson. We strongly believe that we can contribute and support Magyar Telekom to further develop the Hungarian telecom industry."
The key novelty of 1.2 Gbit/s ( 1200 Mbps) download speed showcased today is that such a speed is provided to a single user by 4G+ (LTE-Advanced) technology. This is all implemented by Ericsson’s radio network equipment already operating in today’s networks. Latest 4G+ technologies applied are: 3 components carrier aggregation, 4x4 multiple antennas and 256 QAM modulation. All these applied together result in a 1.2 Gbit/s throughput to a single user, which is already targeting 5G services. Ericsson’s 5G network evolution way is in line with this showcase: Introducing 5G solutions in today’s 4G+ networks as soon as they are available, thus enabling a smooth gradual transition towards 5G services.
The current national outdoor coverage of Telekom’s 4G network is 97,8 percent, and a nominal maximum 150 Mbps download speed is provided as default to the majority of the clients today. Additionally, the company started covering small settlements with 4G technology, and within one year, superfast mobile internet will be available to more than 2600 settlements with a population of less than six thousand.
Telekom also improves its existing 4G network so that 25% of the population already has access to the 4G+ service with a maximum nominal speed of 200-300 Mbps. Just two weeks ago, the 450 Mbps 4G+ service was also introduced at Gödöllő.