China Mobile has completed the first verification of TD-LTE inter-band three-carrier aggregation (CA) using Huawei base stations and Qualcomm terminals and modems.
The test verification achieved peak downlink data rates of 320Mbps, the companies announced.
For the test, China Mobile combined one 20MHz carrier of 1.9-GHz spectrum with two 20MHz 2.6-GHz carriers.
China Mobile has spectrum in both bands available for outdoor TDD LTE-A coverage, so inter-band CA could be essential to the operator's network evolution.
The company is currently upgrading its network to support CA, having commenced a wide-scale two-carrier deployment at the end of last year.
China Mobile has also been working with Huawei on research and pilots involving CA. Provincial branch Shandong Mobile recently completed commercial authentication for downlink four-carrier aggregation, achieving single-user peak downlink speeds of 400Mbps.
Another branch, Jiangsu Mobile, also recently completed an uplink two-carrier aggregation field test with the vendor. During the trial, uplink speeds were improved by up to 180%.
According to the GSA, as of April, 64 operators in 69 countries had deployed LTE-A CA, and 116 operators are investing in the technology.