Cambodian mobile operator Smart Axiata has launched an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network capable of supporting maximum speeds of 600Mbps. The Phnom Penh Post quotes the cellco’s CEO Thomas Hundt as saying that 1,500 base stations have already been upgraded with multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO), 256QAM and carrier aggregation (CA) technologies by Chinese equipment vendor Huawei. Smart, a subsidiary of Malaysian telecoms firm Axiata Group, has earmarked investment of USD80 million this year, following USD75 million spent last year and USD60 million in 2015.
TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database states that Smart launched Cambodia’s first 4G LTE services in Phnom Penh in January 2014, before gradually rolling out the network to reach parts of all 25 provinces in June 2015. Faster data speeds of up to 200Mbps were made available in September 2016 via the launch of an LTE-A network using CA technology, and at the end of that year the company claimed LTE population coverage of 50%.