C Spire announced it has rolled out carrier aggregation using 2.5 GHz spectrum in 40 markets.
The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based carrier said it began deploying carrier aggregation in March starting with targeted regions in its home state and plans to continue to upgrade its network in other markets through October. The move enables users to access peak download speeds of 100 Mbps, C Spire said, up from typical speeds between 5 Mbps and 12 Mbps.
Customers can access the faster speeds by using one of 13 current LTE smartphones including the Samsung Galaxy S6, S7 and S8, Apple iPhones and recent LG and Motorola models.
Like its bigger rivals, C Spire is hoping to wring as much performance as possible out of its LTE network as it begins the transition to 5G technologies and services.
“More and more consumers are living life in the fast lane on the information superhighway, and our network needs to deliver the capacity and peak speeds they want and need,” said Alan Jones, C Spire’s senior vice president of network engineering and development, in a press release. “These latest LTE enhancements enable them to change lanes as often and as effortlessly as needed so they can optimize their mobile broadband experience.”
The nation’s sixth-largest carrier, C Spire said it is completing the addition of 700 MHz and 850 MHz spectrum throughout its network to expand coverage and improve in-building penetration. The carrier last year became the first company to successfully demonstrate a 5G fixed wireless solution in Mississippi using Nokia equipment with a direct connection to its fiber-based commercial service.
More recently, C Spire confirmed to FierceWirelessTech that it was planning to conduct a 5G R&D test with Phazr at its corporate offices. The operator planned to test speeds as it transmits HD video content from its fiber-based commercial television service as part of a larger 5G effort.