Orange and Ericsson have completed a live test of LTE-Advanced FDD carrier aggregation using the 3.5GHz frequency band.
The test was conducted over Orange’s live mobile network in Bordeaux, France, using Ericsson pre-commercial equipment.
During the trial, a peak performance of 150Mbps was observed at a distance of up to 700 meters when using the 3.5GHz band alone. This increased to 300Mbps when used in aggregation with 2.6GHz frequency.
Ericsson said the results confirmed the potential of 3.5GHz FDD technology to increase the capacity of mobile broadband in Europe, particularly for FDD-mode macro cells in cities.
Thomas Noren, VP and Head of Radio Product Management at Ericsson, commented: “This live FDD trial also demonstrated that the macro coverage of 3.5 GHz spectrum is suitable for providing substantial capacity gains that can satisfy future consumer needs.”
The vendor added that the results were particularly promising as it confirmed that existing network grids for 1800MHz and 2.6GHz bands could be re-used to support 3.5GHz frequencies.
Alain Maloberti, SVP of Orange Labs Networks, commented: “This live FDD trial demonstrated that the 3.5 GHz band can be successfully used in urban and suburban environments in stand-alone mode or in aggregation with another band to provide advanced mobile broadband services using a FDD access scheme for high peak data rate applications to enhance user experience.”
The test was conducted between October and November this year.
UK regulator Ofcom recently announced it will hold auctions of spectrum in the 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz bands to help meet the demands of the country’s growing mobile traffic.
Ofcom also plans to make the 700MHz frequency available to operators by 2022.
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