Etisalat demos LTE-A

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) has partnered with Alcatel-Lucent to test LTE Advanced (LTE-A) technology in the United Arab Emirates. Gulf News reports that the trial was based on carrier aggregation technology in the 1800MHz and 800MHz spectrum bands. The live demo of an LTE-A call saw Etisalat transfer data across its live network on various sites across Abu Dhabi carrying commercial traffic. ‘Advanced technologies, adopted by Etisalat, have set a benchmark for other companies to follow by increasing mobile broadband speeds and enhancing customer experience,’ commented Saeed Al Zarouni, Etisalat’s senior vice president for Business Planning and Technology Evolution, adding: ‘The capacity, higher data speeds and efficiencies provided by LTE-A will help manage growth in data traffic as more customers choose our network.’ He added that the operator is aiming to increase the number of 4G LTE base stations to 4,000 by the end of the year.