TDC began deploying LTE Advanced (LTE-A) carrier aggregation technology across its network in Denmark in a move the operator said would deliver peak data speeds of 300 Mbps on the downlink.
The technology is now deployed on 500 mobile masts across the country. The operator's next move will be to deploy tri-band carrier aggregation in order to be able to offer even higher speeds.
At present, TDC provides data transfer speeds of up to 150 Mbps on its network. It added that the experience of customers when using the network as a whole, not just peak speeds, was an important element of moving to LTE-A carrier aggregation.
EVP of operations Peter Schleidt said the deployment of so-called 4G+ provides TDC with more capacity to handle the increasing data usage of customers. "4G+ is not only a competitive advantage when talking about speed," he added.
TDC noted that few devices on the market currently support the new technology, but said devices and subscriptions would soon start to be more widely available for consumers. The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) recently reported that new LTE devices are increasingly supporting LTE-A.
TDC joins a growing number of operators that are moving to the next stage of LTE in order to benefit from improvements in speed and capacity. The GSA said in April that 64 operators have commercially launched LTE Advanced systems in 39 countries.
Denmark is already one of the most advanced countries in Europe in terms of LTE deployment. The European Commission's 2015 Digital Agenda Scoreboard revealed that Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden lead the European Union, with 99 per cent of households covered by LTE.
The country is also facing a major structural change to the mobile telecoms market, with plans by Telenor and TeliaSonera to merge their Danish businesses set to reduce the number of operators from four to three. Telenor and TeliaSonera recently appointed the CEO and two other leading executives for the future joint venture.
The two operators remain bullish that the deal will be approved in the second half of 2015, and recently shrugged off an EC statement of objections to the planned combination as nothing more than an "ordinary event" in such a merger process.
The EC is concerned that the merger would create Denmark's largest operator in terms of revenue and subscriber numbers, ahead of TDC and Hi3G (Three Denmark).
For more:
- see this TDC release (in Danish)
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