Ericsson, T-Mobile and Qualcomm Technologies, continue to push the envelope on performance and spectral efficiency by achieving download speeds beyond 3.6Gbps in a world’s first six-component carrier aggregation using sub-6GHz spectrum on a live production 5G network

The mind-blowing downlink speeds above 3.6Gbps in the field test are fast enough to download a two-hour HD movie in less than 7 seconds!

5G carrier aggregation allows service providers like T-Mobile to combine multiple 5G channels (or carriers) to deliver greater speed and performance. In this test, the trio merged six 5G channels of mid-band spectrum – two channels of 2.5GHz Ultra Capacity 5G, two channels of Personal Communications Services (PCS) spectrum and two channels of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum – creating an effective 245MHz 5G channel. That’s like taking six separate highways and turning them into a massive superhighway where traffic can zoom faster than before.

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks at Ericsson, says: “This latest technology advancement with T-Mobile and Qualcomm Technologies comes as Ericsson continues to go beyond the bounds of its carrier aggregation journey. With this new milestone we have proven once again the versatility of our software innovation and how it helps our customers boost network capacity, coverage and performance.”

Ulf Ewaldsson, President of Technology at T-Mobile, says: “We are pushing the boundaries of wireless technology to offer our customers the best experience possible. With the first and largest 5G standalone network in the country, T-Mobile is the only mobile provider serving 10s of millions of customers to unleash new capabilities like 5G carrier aggregation nationwide, and I am so incredibly proud of our team for leading the way.”

Durga Malladi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Technology Planning & Edge Solutions, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. says: “Qualcomm Technologies has been at the forefront of 5G connectivity technologies and this milestone shows that we will continue to innovate to help bring the best, and most reliable performance to end-users. Achieving the world’s first data call on 6 component carrier aggregation over sub-6 GHz in a live 5G network is remarkable, further paving the way to 5G Advanced. We look forward to continuing this successful collaboration with Ericsson and T-Mobile.”