Ooredoo Qatar launches commercial tri-band LTE-A

Ooredoo Qatar and Nokia Networks today (23 December 2015) announced the commercial launch of LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) three-band carrier aggregation (3C) technology, enabling higher data speeds of up to a peak theoretical 375Mbps. The higher speeds are already available across substantial high-traffic areas of Doha, including West Bay, the Corniche and Katara Cultural Village. A press release declares that users with Category 9 (CAT 9) capable handsets can benefit from ‘data intensive services, including ultra high-definition video download, and upcoming trends, including virtual reality.’ The LTE-A service aggregates two 20MHz carriers in the 1800MHz and 2600MHz bands with one additional 10MHz carrier in the 800MHz band.