Telstra, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), NETGEAR and Qualcomm say they have achieved 4G mobile speeds of up to 2 Gbps in lab testing using a new chipset. The tests aggregated five 20 MHz LTE carriers across three different frequency bands with each carrier using 4x4 MIMO and 256-QAM.
The 2 Gbps speeds were achieved by aggregating 100 MHz of spectrum across the bands 1, 3 and 7, using a NETGEAR Nighthawk mobile router equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X24 LTE modem, a Category 20 LTE modem. The tests also used Ericsson's Baseband 6630, Radio 4415, and Gigabit LTE network software.
Telstra's Group Managing Director of Networks Mike Wright said: "With the ever-increasing demand for data and the need to provide our customers with a superior user experience, we are always striving to provide new solutions and develop advanced technologies. Following Telstra's world first gigabit-enabled network launch in January 2017, we are delighted to again be partnering with Ericsson and Qualcomm to double these speeds. This achievement demonstrates our continued LTE innovation, providing our customers with an unrivalled network experience and preparing our networks for future growth."
Serge Willenegger, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G and Industrial IoT, Qualcomm Wireless, said: "By setting this major industry milestone, we're helping mobile operators fully mobilize their spectrum assets and maximize the capacity of their gigabit LTE networks and allowing mobile device makers to offer consumers a preview of new services soon expected to be enabled with 5G networks."
Joakim Sorelius, head of Product Area Network Systems at Ericsson, said: "We're pushing the boundaries of technology and providing unprecedented advances in LTE evolution by breaking the 2 Gbps barrier with our partners. This technology advancement will enable faster mobile broadband speeds and greater network capacity for all subscribers. This is important as users consume and generate greater amounts of content via video streaming and share their own pictures and video content."
Ericsson, Telstra, Qualcomm Technologies and NETGEAR will be showcasing the 2 Gbps speeds in a live demonstration at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.