Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm, UK mobile operator EE and Sony Mobile Communications have showcased what they claim is Europe’s first commercial Gigabit LTE/4G mobile device and network.
During the event, held at the Wembley Stadium in London, the companies demonstrated live upload speeds over the EE 4G network of 110 Mbit/s and download speeds of 750 Mbit/s, which are claimed to be more than twice the speed of the UK’s fastest commercial available fibre broadband offering.
The demonstration also featured what is believed to be Europe’s first commercial gigabit LTE mobile device, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, which is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform.
During the event, the companies showcased Gigabit LTE capabilities in four real-world use cases: streaming 4K HDR10 content from Amazon Prime; downloading of large files via Google Drive; download of music/video files for offline use; and a network simulation designed to showcase the network-wide benefits of deploying Gigabit LTE.
It was noted that EE, the mobile operation of BT, has activated the latest upgrades to its 4G network in Cardiff, Wales and in London’s Tech City, and will be rolling out the technology to more major cities during 2017 and 2018. EE stated that real-world speeds of up to 428 Mbit/s have been demonstrated in Cardiff city centre to mark the launch of Sony’s flagship Xperia XZ Premium smartphone.
EE noted that it was the first network in the UK to support Cat 9 mobile devices in September 2016, and is extending its leading position by being the first operator to support the latest Cat 16 mobile devices with Gigabit LTE.
Announced at MWC 2017 and launched in June, Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium is claimed to be the first Gigabit LTE-enabled smartphone. The device, powered by the Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform, is also the first smartphone to feature a 4K HDR display. The Gigabit LTE performance is enabled by the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem integrated into the Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform.
Gigabit LTE leverages LTE Advanced features including 4 x 4 MIMO, 3 x CA (3 carrier aggregation) and 256QAM higher order modulation. Gigabit LTE capability will provide a key element of future 5G mobile networks by providing the high-speed coverage layer that will co-exist and interwork with 5G networks.
