Hong Kong's SmarTone has announced the launch of the city's first live commercial licensed assisted access (LAA) network. The LTE-Advanced network supports speeds of up to 1Gbps.
The new network aggregates five licensed and unlicensed LTE carriers, and supports 4x4 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and 256 quadrature amplitude modulation (256 QAM).
By deploying small cells supporting LAA and LTE-Advanced functionality, SmarTone is aiming to improve the mobile experience for its customers with faster speeds and higher capacity.
SmarTone has deployed these small cells in a number of popular hotspots in busy areas of the Central, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Shatin districts.
SmarTone CTO Stephen Chau said deploying in these locations will allow the operator to absorb traffic surges during festivals and other high-traffic events.
“This new network deployment demonstrates our technology leadership and [commitment] to leveraging the latest technology to bring our customers an unparalleled mobile experience with increased speed and capacity,” he said [PDF].
“As a leading operator in Hong Kong, we will continue to embrace disruptive technology, using our stable and reliable network as the backbone to lay the ground for enhanced network performance on path towards 5G.”