Japan's NTT DoCoMo will tomorrow launch a trial 150 Mbps LTE service, ahead of a commercial launch in October.
The operator said it will begin testing and verifying the service in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, to prepare for the launch later this year.
DoCoMo plans to upgrade its Xi LTE network to support theoretical peak speeds of 150 Mbps starting in parts of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in October.
The operator said its network now offers 112.5Mbps downlink speeds to more than 130 cities in parts of Hokkaido, Tohoku, Shinetsu, Hokuriku, Chugoku, Shikoku and Okinawa.
DoCoMo launched 75 Mbps LTE services in December 2010,and had upgraded its network to 100Mbps by last November.
The trial launch will come the month after SK Telecom launched its 150 Mbps LTE-Advanced network in Seoul and 42 other cities, and weeks after South Korean rival LG Uplus followed suit with its own launch.
Other early LTE-A movers, including Australia's Telstra, also plan to roll out services this year.