MegaFon Tests First Commercial Gigabit LTE Network in Russia

MegaFon has showcased the capabilities of Gigabit LTE on a commercial network. The peak data download speed reached 979 Mbps.

Nokia Air Scale system module and Sony’ Xperia™ XZ Premium, powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 Mobile Platform with X16 LTE, were used in the successful demonstration.

MegaFon became one of the first operators in Europe who launched the commercial Gigabit LTE network and showcased the operation of the commercial device in that network. Today’ s event is another milestone in the telecommunications development in Russia. It is a qualitatively new level of services for MegaFon subscribers.

To achieve the speed of 979 Mbps 3x Carrier Aggregation (two 20 MHz 2600 FDD, one 20 MHz — 1800 FDD), 256 QAM and 4×4 MIMO technologies were used. The test was conducted using Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium smartphone, which uses the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, and which was the first commercial mobile device in Europe which supports Gigabit LTE. Nokia Flexi Multirado modules were used as the base station, which are equipped in most of the sites of the Moscow MegaFon branches, and the Nokia AirScale system module is already in place in order to support the path to 5G.

MegaFon is the first in Russia to showcase the functioning of a Gigabit LTE commercial network. Alexei Semenov, director of the Stolichny branch of MegaFon, said, “We have prepared the infrastructure and used the maximum potential of the company’s unique frequency spectrum. Therefore, the full functionality of the equipment from our colleagues Sony, Qualcomm Technologies and Nokia can only be used on MegaFon’s commercial network. At the same time, we have steadily increased data transfer rates. Last year at the World Hockey Championship in Moscow we demonstrated 450Mbps and in May at SPIEF we set a speed record and today we achieved 979 Mbps using a smartphone on a commercial network. Our team continues to develop innovative solutions that allow customers to use the most advanced network services. For us this is not just a record, it is a unique opportunity for our customers and a strategic play to lead in innovation”.

Gigabit LTE is about more than just peak speeds. It is also about delivering more network capacity, to benefit all users in the network, not only those users with Gigabit LTE devices. A Gigabit LTE mobile device will complete downloads significantly faster, freeing up network resources to be available for other users.

Yulia Klebanova, vice president, business development, Qualcomm Europe Inc., commented, “We are proud of our results with MegaFon and Sony Mobile. Gigabit LTE — is a qualitatively new level of sustainable connection and data download speed for those consumers who use flagship smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform. Gigabit LTE will also impact other network users, regardless what device they use, they will experience also higher speeds. We are excited that Russia became one of the first European countries where commercial Gigabit LTE network and device was launched, and MegaFon, as one of the technological leaders in the Russian market with a unique set of frequencies, has the opportunity to be one of the first operators in Europe to offer this incredible user experience. Gigabit LTE is paving the way to 5G.”

Demetrio Russo, vice president of Nokia, Eastern Europe, said, “Nokia constantly invests in the development of innovative technologies that provide increasingly higher data rates and allow world-leading telecom operators such as MegaFon to take advantage of higher speeds. Increased data transfer speed is becoming one of the key factors which is driving innovation from network operators. Today’s demonstration is another important step towards the launch of MegaFon’s 5G network. We are excited by the cooperation involved in this project, the successful implementation of which will make it possible for MegaFon to offer its subscribers a unique experience of using modern broadband services during the transition to 5G.”

“Our customers always want more from their Xperia smartphones: fast data access, high-quality content in the 4K, Hi-Res Audio and more. Xperia XZ Premium is the first smartphone with 4K HDR resolution display and support of Gigabit LTE class network which provides the necessary speed for non-stop 4K content streaming or large files downloading for offline viewing,” — said Shinichi Tanaka, head of Sony Mobile Russia & CIS.