The company, the brand name for Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), says it combined spectrum used by three separate time division duplex (TDD) carriers – all below 6GHz – to achieve the high speed.
Mikko Lavanti, Nokia’s senior VP for mobile networks in the Middle East and Africa, said: “Carrier aggregation is the key to unlocking high throughput also in the sub-6GHz spectrum bands, which additionally provide great coverage.”
The companies claim that this is the world’s highest spectrum throughput. The project combined two high-speed 5G bands to aggregate 300MHz of spectrum for a throughput of up to 4.52Gbps .
du CTO Saleem AlBlooshi said: “This milestone will enable us to plan for the new and enhanced services that we will be able to offer with 5G and put us in a leading position to highlight our commercial 5G capabilities.”
The company’s 5G network already covers a wide area of the UAE (see map).
du said it could use the technology to provide high-speed internet connectivity to residents through many 5G products including its home wireless offering. The company has just launched this, with an introductory cost of 299 Emirati dirhams (US$81) a month for unlimited data, plus 5% tax. The normal price is 399 dirhams ($108).
Lavanti said: “The mid-band allocations allow for 100MHz-wide 5G carriers, which translates directly into higher peak data rates and increased average data rates for users, giving them access to more attractive services.”
