SingTel rolls out commercial LTE Advanced service delivering 300 Mbps

Singapore operator SingTel introduced the Huawei 5786 mobile MiFi hotspot device, enabling SingTel to claim it is the world's first mobile operator to offer commercial 300 Mbps service using LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation.

Huawei 5786

Source: Huawei

The Huawei 5786 supports LTE-A CAT 6 and enables connections for up to 10 simultaneous devices. SingTel promised to will offer other LTE-A enabled devices, including smartphones and tablets, over the coming months. It said its 4G customers with compatible devices will not be charged extra for the 300 Mbps service.

Back in May, SingTel and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) announced that SingTel's network was employing carrier aggregation to enable data speeds up to 300 Mbps. The operator combined 20 MHz bandwidth each from its 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz spectrum bands.

The first deployment was in the Singapore Expo area, and LTE-A coverage has since been expanded to Changi Airport and the area around the Bugis MRT station. However, customers have not been able to leverage the improved speeds as there were no compatible devices available until now.

According to SingTel, more than half of the island will be covered with LTE-A service by the end of October, and nationwide coverage is expected by the end of March 2015.

SingTel and Ericsson first divulged their intent to enable 300 Mbps speeds using LTE-A via an announcement during the 2014 Mobile World Congress trade show, held during February in Barcelona, Spain.

For more:
- see this SingTel release

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