Nokia claims Russian first after aggregating FDD-TDD for MTS

Nokia announced it completed the first commercial deployment of FDD-TDD carrier aggregation (CA) in Russia after a launch on MTS' LTE network in Moscow.

The infrastructure vendor said MTS is now equipped to provide peak data rates of up to 187 Mbps to subscribers in a Moscow business district where the CA technology has been rolled out, and that the move also boosts the operator's indoor coverage. The data rate compares to peak speeds of 75 Mbps on FDD-LTE and 112 Mbps on TD-LTE alone, Nokia stated.

Nokia completed the MTS CA using its Flexi Multiradio 10 base station, and LTE software that aggregated 10 MHz of spectrum in the FDD 1800 band and 20 MHz of spectrum in the TDD 2600 band.

In addition to deploying the first aggregation of FDD and TDD, Nokia said it completed the first demonstration of three-component CA on MTS' Moscow network. This element utilised 25 MHz of spectrum across FDD bands, specifically: 10 MHz in the 1800; 10 MHz in the 2600; and 5 MHz in the 800 band.

The vendor said the three-component element is just one way it is working with MTS to pave the way for the future launch of 5G technology. Other developments Nokia and MTS are working on include trialling and deploying LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, and early 5G technologies, Nokia stated.

Andrey Ushatsky, VP and CTO at MTS, said the deployment of CA in Moscow will enable the operator to deliver a 1.5- to 2-fold increase in average access speeds for users of flagship smartphones. "This technology is important as its further implementation in Russia will help increase the efficiency of frequency resource use," he explained.

Nokia's head of East Europe market unit, JP Takala, said the "project with MTS marks a new milestone in our longstanding relationship", and is another move in trials of "technologies that allow the operator to take the next step towards 5G."

For more:
- see this Nokia announcement

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