Nokia and América Móvil reach a speed of 2 Gbps over Austria’s 5G network

Nokia and A1 Austria, a subsidiary of América Móvil in Europe, reached a speed of 2 Gbps in a three-carrier aggregation test in a 5G SA (stand-alone) network in Austria.

Carrier aggregation allows mobile operators to achieve higher speeds and better coverage by combining different spectrum frequencies and will enable A1 to deliver a better 5G experience to its subscribers.

The test was carried out using a base station with the Nokia AirScale 5G solution, a 5G smartphone and a 5G business residential modem, all operating on A1 Austria’s 5G network. It was thus possible to combine two carriers in the 3.5 GHz TDD (n78) spectrum and one carrier in the 2100 MHz FDD (n1) spectrum, for a total capacity of 160 MHz using Nokia’s carrier aggregation technology. With this, a download speed of 2 Gbps was achieved.

Mobile operators plan to use medium bands (less than 6 GHz) for 5G.

The lower bands provide greater coverage, while the higher bands provide greater speed.

The middle bands provide a good balance of both benefits. With carrier aggregation, A1 was able to increase the bandwidth available to its mobile users by combining the power of its spectrum assets.

Carrier aggregation can also be used in other scenarios, for example, to combine low-band spectrum with mid-band spectrum, achieving greater coverage for high download speeds. It is the technology that allows mobile operators to make optimal use of their 5G spectrum, without compromising performance and customer experience, and can also reduce the cost of deploying 5G networks.

Nokia has a long-standing relationship with A1, which includes the nationwide rollout of its 5G network, as well as the rollout of the largest fiber optic network in Austria.

In 2021, the A1 network was ranked as one of the ten mobile networks with the best experience for its users worldwide.

Both companies also worked together to launch a commercial offer for 4G and 5G network sharing, after a successful pilot.

With information from Nicolás Lucas.