Hong Kong's HKT is teaming up with Huawei to demonstrate the first IP RAN based inter-site carrier aggregation (CA) for an LTE-Advanced network at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The trial will use an inter-site CA system from Huawei based on IP RAN backhaul, designed to fill in CA coverage holes. Huawei said the technology has the potential to expand the range of CA and improve the user experience.
PCCW subsidiary HKT's LTE network aggregates spectrum in the 1800-MHz and 2600-MHz bands, providing peak data rates of 300Mbps.
HKT's mobile arm CSL launched its LTE-A network in December in selected districts. The company expects one third of its 4G network to be LTE-A ready by early this year.
“We are honored to have this cooperation with Huawei pioneering the inter-site carrier aggregation solution for uplifting user experience in mobile broadband ,” HKT managing director of engineering Peter Lam commented.
“The solution also enables us to be at the forefront of LTE development, relieving the restriction of co-site requirement of carrier aggregation.”
In a statement announcing the planned demonstration, Huawei revealed that it is expecting LTE-A adoption to blossom in 2015 as the technology ecosystem matures.