Australia's Optus has launched the first commercial 3x LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation network that combines one FDD carrier with two TDD blocks.
The company has switched on the network in three suburbs of a New South Wales city ahead of the introduction of the first commercial LTE-A Category 9 devices to Australia.
The LTE-A CA network combines 15 MHz of paired 1800-MHz spectrum with 20+20 MHz in the 2300 MHz band. Testing over the live network using a Cat 9 device yielded mobile data download speeds of 317Mbps.
Optus plans to extend the 3x CA network to the Melbourne CBD early next month and to the Sydney CBD early next year.
“Aggregating 1x FDD and 2x TDD carriers on a commercial network with a commercial device is a world first for Optus,” Optus Networks acting managing director Dennis Wong said.
“It is a more efficient use of our spectrum bands and will provide a more consistent and better experience for our customers.”
Optus currently offers a 2x CA network in parts of Australia's major cities and largest regional centers. The SingTel subsidiary is going all in on 4G as it prepares to shutter its 2G network in April 2017.