Cosmote has become the first operator in Greece to launch tri-band carrier aggregation, offering consumers speeds of up to 375MBps.
The operator said it was able to launch the technology because of the outcome of last summer’s spectrum auction. Cosmote won lots in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands. Its LTE coverage affects 77 percent of the population.
Athens and Thessaloniki are the first cities to be covered by an LTE-Advanced network, with the service to be extended “promptly” to the rest of the country, Cosmote said.
Currently, the only handset that can take advantage of the network is the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+. Cosmote said it was selling the device at a reduced price, to encourage consumers to take advantage of the network.
The rollout follows lab trials that took place in June. Cosmote then tested the technology on its live network, as well as its interoperability with other networks.
In a statement, the operator said: “With the commercial launch of speeds up to 375 Mbps, Cosmote further establishes its technological superiority and confirms its steady investment in customer experience.”
Last month, the Global mobile Suppliers Association said more than 30 percent of operators were investing in LTE-Advanced. There are now more than 88 operators who have rolled out the technology across 45 countries.
There are 15 category 4 networks and 73 category 6, the association added.