Smart Communications along with Huawei Philippines recently tested their LTE-Advanced network in Makati and in Davao City and has easily attained twice the speed of current LTE technology.
LTE-Advanced is the technology currently deployed in South Korea, UK, and different South American countries. This next step for LTE can deliver data rates in excess of 200 Mbps and can theoretically go up to 700 Mbps.
At trials held first in Makati City in cooperation with network equipment provider Huawei Philippines, Smart co-founder and Chief Wireless Advisor Orlando B. Vea saw the test facilities achieving break-neck speeds of up to 209.66 Mbps, over twice the 100 Mbps top speed of LTE.
During the recently-held Kadayawan Festival in Davao, Smart and Huawei officials tested the LTE-Advanced connectivity deployed in the area, and achieved LTE-Advanced speeds of up to 210.85 Mbps.
In actual usage and test, a 10MB file download took just about a second via FTP using LTE-Advanced while it took about 5 seconds using Smart’s current LTE network. This means that a typical 700MB movie file should take just over a minute to download with LTE-Advanced. A completely lag-free Skype HD video chat was also achieved under the LTE-Advanced network.
“œLTE Advanced is the next step forward for mobile broadband, and we look forward to many new possible applications of this ultra-fast technology that will benefit Filipinos and keep the Philippines abreast with the most technologically advanced countries in the world,” said Vea.
Although mobile devices readily supporting LTE-Advance are not yet available in the market, these tests demonstrate the readiness of the Smart network infrastructure to meet the demands of technologies that go beyond LTE.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 (8974) chip supports LTE-A and there are just a handful of devices that runs on this chip; this includes the HTC One Max, an LTE-A version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the LTE-version of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, the newly-announced LG G2, and the ZTE Grand Memo. It’s also rumored that the next iPhone (5S) will also support LTE-A.
