Zain KSA and Nokia today announced the deployment of LTE-Advanced three component carrier aggregation technology that will enable Zain to provide unprecedented data speeds of up to 187.5 Mbps across its network. The network, launched in the high-profile business and residential districts of Jeddah, will move the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s second largest city a step forward to becoming a smart city.
Carrier aggregation is a technique widely used in LTE-Advanced standards. It allows operators to bond together non-contiguous bands of spectrum to create wider channels, resulting in faster LTE speeds.
The implementation of three component carrier aggregation in the FDD-LTE band (FDD-LTE 3CC) concludes an extensive commercial network trial by Nokia and Zain. As a result, Zain will be able to increase data speeds at the cell edge – close to neighboring cells, where interference and signal loss can impact the subscriber experience – to meet the evolving demand from its customers, and in turn support the growth of its business and customer base. Zain customers will be able to enjoy enhanced quality of experience when downloading HD video or sharing images at events where network congestion can occur due to high demand for data access.
The higher speeds are already available in several high-traffic areas of Jeddah, allowing users of Category 6 (CAT 6) capable devices to benefit from available and upcoming data intensive services, such as virtual reality.
Overview of the products and services delivered by Nokia:
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LTE-Advanced three-band carrier aggregation technology using the Nokia Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station and FDD-LTE software
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Aggregation of a total of 25 MHz of spectrum on the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands boosting network speeds by up to 187.5 Mbps
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Nokia used its network implementation and multi-layer optimization services to plan and optimize deployment to deliver the highest speeds
Sultan AlDeghaither, Chief Technology Officer of Zain KSA, said: “Our customers and their ever-increasing demands in the digital age will continue to dominate and drive our technology innovation. With this new launch, we can help to fulfill these demands by providing ultra-user experience through higher data throughput levels and optimum network performance. Moreover, this technology will allow us to move toward our goal of transforming Jeddah into a role model for smart and digitally connected cities across the world, and enrich the experience of Zain customers in Saudi Arabia.”
Ali Aljitawi, Head of Zain KSA Customer Team at Nokia, said: “We’re pleased to support Zain as it puts in place infrastructure that will allow Jeddah to become a smart city. With this project, Zain becomes the first Operator in Saudi Arabia to carry out the refarming of spectrum in the 900 MHz band from GSM to LTE, and using three component carrier aggregation to increase speeds on Zain’s 4G network.”
