Nokia and A1 Telekom Austria have announced that they have reached peak downlink data rates of 2Gbps with Three Component Carrier Aggregation (3CC CA) in a 5G Standalone (SA) trial network in Austria. CA allows mobile operators to reach higher throughputs and better coverage by combining different frequencies to efficiently utilise their spectrum assets. The Finnish vendor says it will enable A1 to deliver a superior 5G experience to its subscribers. The trial utilised Nokia’s AirScale 5G baseband, a 5G smartphone, and a commercial 5G CPE over A1 Austria’s 5G network. It successfully combined two mid-band carriers in the 3.5GHz TDD band and one capacity carrier in the 2100MHz FDD band for a total bandwidth of 160MHz by using CA technology.
‘This trial is an important milestone as we continue to deliver on our strategy of bringing best-in-class 5G services to our subscribers,’ noted Alexander Stock, CTO of A1 Austria, adding: ‘Maximising our spectrum assets will enhance coverage, capacity, and performance and we are pleased to continue to work with our long-standing partner, Nokia to realise the full potential of 5G technology.’