Swiss operator Sunrise will roll out inter-site carrier aggregation as part of its LTE expansion plans, a move the telco claimed as a first in Europe.
The technology allows compatible smartphones to receive two signals from antennas at the same time, which will increase speeds and improve coverage. Consumers will be able to hit download rates of up to 225MBps.
The operator also announced it will hit 95 percent LTE population coverage by the end of 2015. The company has signed a deal with Swiss Fibre Net to install several hundred 4G antenna sites across Bern, Geneva, St.Gallen, Lucerne, Winterthur, Lausanne and Basel. It said this would give it access to fast fibre optic connections in key parts of the country.
Sunrise consumers will also be able to measure their network quality in real-time. They can carry out connection tests or speed tests through an app and send feedback to Sunrise’s network team.
The app will track speed, call quality and coverage but personal data will not be forwarded, recorded or processed. Customers are able to use the app without being charged for data. The app will be available from August from Apple and Android.
Sunrise said the expansion of its LTE coverage was in light of similar trends among European operators, namely the booming number and usage of applications.
Switzerland has been a busy testbed of new mobile technology in recent months. Sunrise rival Swisscom has experimented with driverless cars and Internet of Things networks.