Deutsche Telekom trials 3C LTE-A in Berlin

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom (DT) has trialled tri-band carrier aggregation (3C) technology on its LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network using spectrum in the 800MHz, 1800MHz and 2600MHz frequency bands. The trial was carried out at several locations in the Prenzlauer Berg district in Berlin, in cooperation with network partner Huawei. According to DT’s head of technology Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, DT became the first operator in Germany to successfully demonstrate the technology in an operational network and on a commercial phone, achieving peak download speeds of 375Mbps. The executive added that the new technology combined the advantages of lower frequency bands – i.e. wider area coverage and better penetration of buildings – with the benefits provided by higher frequency bands – greater capacity and data transfer rates – thus achieving greater bandwidth and consequently greater flexibility for the intelligent management of data streams in one radio cell.