" ITREALMS: Unitel, Ericsson demo first LTE-Advanced in Africa

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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Unitel, Ericsson demo first LTE-Advanced in Africa

In effort at showcasing its advanced technology, Ericsson has partnered Angolan leading mobile operator, Unitel to demo on the first Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-Advanced) in Africa, reports ITRealms.

The demonstration, ITRealms gathered is the first Africa’s data transmission on combined 
1800MHz and 900MHz spectrum bands on a commercial network on the continent.

Vice President, Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, Magnus Mchunguzi, confirmed this to ITRealms, saying that by using LTE, operators could increase their network capacity and enhance the mobile broadband user experience, enabling up to 1Gbps data rates in the future.

“This demo places Unitel on the very limited list of operators in the world to demonstrate LTE-A in a live network using a commercial terminal. We are very proud to have partnered with Unitel in this achievement, further extending our long-standing relationship with Unitel,” Mchunguzi said.

Stressing that LTE advanced technology helps Unitel to match its spectrum assets, while enabling higher data speeds to increase network capacity and enhance end-user experience.

For the first time in Africa, Ericsson, together with Angola’s leading telecommunications provider Unitel, has successfully demonstrated LTE Advanced (LTE-A) Carrier Aggregation technology. The demonstration was done on both 1800MHz and 900MHz spectrum bands on a commercial network, using a commercial terminal, and took place on December 18, when Unitel transferred data across its live network in Luanda, Angola, carrying commercial traffic.

LTE Carrier Aggregation is the next step in the evolution of high-speed mobile broadband services, enabling operators to make the most of their existing spectrum assets by combining multiple spectrum bands to enable higher mobile broadband download speeds.

Amilcar Safeca, Deputy CEO of Unitel, said they will always innovate to enhance the customer experience. 

"With the global leap toward higher data access speeds for sophisticated video and mobility services; we are enhancing our network to ensure we continually provide high-quality services to our high-demanding subscriber base. With this demo, we are well on the way to launching the most advanced mobile network in Angola and perhaps Africa in the near future. We are working with Ericsson to make this happen,” Safeca said.

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