Nokia, STC trial ‘MulteFire’ technology

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and equipment vendor Nokia have conducted a trial of LTE-based technology dubbed MulteFire – which operates solely in unlicensed spectrum, such as the 5GHz frequency band – achieving download/upload throughput of 120Mbps. The test – which used Nokia’s FlexiZone small cells paired with MulteFire software – showcased that MulteFire could harmoniously co-exist with Wi-Fi technology in the same frequency band, while also delivering up to 50% better range and 2x better coverage when compared to Wi-Fi. Commercialisation of the technology will allow operators to simplify delivery of a high-speed, high-quality mobile broadband service and offer more subscribers a seamless mobile experience in public and private locations, a press release claimed. MulteFire also complements heterogeneous networks (HetNets), which use a mixture of macro and small cell radios.