TeliaSonera's NetCom Demos speeds up to 1 Gbit/s with LTE Advanced Pro

Delivering true next generation connectivity, TeliaSonera’s subsidiary NetCom in Norway set a speed world record in Oslo.

Minister of transport and communication Ketil Solvik-Olsen and the Norwegian press experienced speeds up to 1 Gbit/s. The new technology, LTE Advanced Pro, is an important step towards 5G.

On this exact day six years ago NetCom was the first operator in the world to introduce 4G, and today the company took a step further and wrote Norwegian telecom history by demonstrating speeds up to 1 Gbit/s.

The minister of transport and communication attended the demonstration: - The speeds we have seen today proves that Norway is at the very front of the technological development, says Ketil Solvik-Olsen. - It is important for us as a nation to have high ambitions in the electronic communications field.

Digitization has great significance for the economy and society, and it is all about using the opportunities technology gives to strengthen Norway's competitiveness and to generate growth and welfare. We see it already in the transport sector and the transportation industry, and I am sure we have only seen the beginning of what will come.

Smart solutions are introduced in large cities, in people’s homes, services, production and transport. The Internet of Things becomes an increasingly important part of our lives. All everyday activities and things we surround ourselves with are smart and can talk to each other and the users using the web. There are no limits, and this will set new demands for speed and capacity in the mobile networks.

- We have more than 95 percent 4G population coverage in Norway, and we deliver amazing customer experiences in Norway’s fastest mobile network every day. Today we have shown the future of mobile networks and a taste of what we can expect on our way to 5G, says Abraham Foss, CEO of TeliaSonera Norway. - NetCom has always been a pioneer. We will always challenge, be innovative and stay ahead of development, and we will be an important driver for digitizing Norway and the society around us. As a company, we want to learn new things in order to give customers access to new technology. We want to create a digital democracy where our customers are able to have the world in their hands, at all times.

Digitization will lead to profound changes in business and society. The digital revolution opens up a world of new opportunities where individuals, businesses, municipalities, counties and organizations will demand superior speed, advanced coverage and top entertainment - and customized solutions to develop more digital interaction and smarter solutions over the mobile network.

- This is an important step towards 5G, which lies a few years ahead, says Jon Christian Hillestad, CTO of TeliaSonera Norway. - We do not know exactly which speeds the future will require, but we know that the digitization era, where the Internet of Things will continuously grow, will demand much higher speeds. The future will require bandwidth, high speed and no delay in transfers. We are preparing for that reality with the LTE Advanced Pro.

NetCom is the first operator in the world to take the LTE Advanced Pro technology out of the test laboratory and build a pilot outdoors under real life conditions. To achieve the high speed, NetCom transmitted data over four frequency bands simultaneously, and what makes today’s test special is that NetCom only used frequency resources that are already available for mobile today: 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2600MHz.

NetCom’s 4G net is today available to 95 percent of the population, and the 4G + to more than 1,5 million Norwegians. 4G and 4G + offers speeds of up to 80 Mbit / s and 300 Mbit / s. LTE Advanced Pro provides speeds of up to 1000 Mbit/s (1 Gbit/s). That means that you can download a 1GB movie in just a few seconds.