T-Mobile launches LTE-U
T-Mobile has completed the first mobile broadband data session live in the field in the US using Licence Assisted Access (LAA) on its commercial network.
The testing showed 741Mbps download speeds using 80MHz of aggregated spectrum.
Earlier this year, the FCC cleared the way for LTE in unlicensed spectrum, enabling providers to use airwaves in the 5GHz band.
LTE-U and LAA devices and equipment intelligently tap into and share underutilised unlicensed spectrum without affecting other users on the same band.
LAA enables greater carrier aggregation than LTE-U, so mobile operators can combine larger amounts of unlicensed and licensed spectrum.
T-Mobile is also the first wireless provider to make LTE-U available to customers in the US.
LTE-U uses 5GHz spectrum to bolster existing LTE capacity.
T-Mobile LTE-U is live in select locations in the US.