Etisalat completes CAT-9 LTE-A trial

Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has completed live testing of CAT-9 Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) technology on its network, paving the way for the introduction of downlink speeds of up to 450Mbps. Last year Etisalat successfully trialled and launched CAT-6 LTE-A on its networks, allowing peak theoretical download speeds of up to 300Mbps. The firm is currently deploying 150Mbps LTE technology to cover 88% of the populated areas of the UAE, while the launch of improved download speeds will come once handsets are available to support the new technology.