Nokia has achieved another industry first, completing carrier aggregation in a 5G standalone (SA) network environment.
In collaboration with Taiwan Mobile, Nokia conducted a New Radio Carrier Aggregation (NR CA) trial that combined spectrum in the 700 MHz (n28) and 3500 MHz (n78) bands.
Tom Koh, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Technology Group at Taiwan Mobile, commented on the milestone:
“This trial is an important milestone as we execute our 5G strategy and deliver best-in-class 5G services to our subscribers. Combining SA with NR CA raises the 5G user experience to the next level while maximising the utilisation of our spectrum assets and 5G networks. We are pleased with our partnership with Nokia as we continue to advance deployment and build a thriving 5G ecosystem.”
Carrier aggregation improves coverage, supports higher data rates, and enhances network capacity, allowing operators to deliver the full benefits of 5G to subscribers.
Mark Atkinson, Senior Vice President of Radio Access Networks PLM at Nokia, added:
“We are delighted to have completed this successful trial with our trusted partner, Taiwan Mobile. Aggregating spectrum is an efficient way to enable enhanced coverage and capacity. This successful trial demonstrates how mobile operators with similar spectrum allocations can achieve comparable results.”
The trial used Nokia’s AirScale 5G SA architecture deployed in Taiwan Mobile’s commercial 5G network, combining frequency division duplex (FDD) in 700 MHz (n28) with time division duplex (TDD) in 3500 MHz (n78). Both bands are commonly used for 5G deployments worldwide.
(Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash)
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