T-Mobile today gave us an update on its LTE Advanced rollout.
T-Mo says that its LTE Advanced coverage, which can up to double download speeds, is now available in more than 920 markets. The combination of 4×4 MIMO, 256 QAM, and carrier aggregation is available in 430 of those markets. Not all devices support all three of those technologies, but those that do can experience another doubling of download speeds in markets where the tech is available.
When you pair 4×4 MIMO, 256 QAM, and carrier aggregation with sufficient spectrum and backhaul, you get Gigabit Class LTE. When combining network and device tech, you can get increased capacity, better spectral efficiency, reduced congestion, and faster speeds.
This means that customers with select devices in 430 markets could get Gigabit Class LTE speeds. There’s no guarantee that you’re going to get these Gigabit Class LTE speeds, but these devices do have the components give you the opportunity to access them, so long as you’re in one of the 430 markets with 4×4 MIMO, 256 QAM, and carrier aggregation.
The T-Mobile devices that have a Snapdragon 835 processor with X16 modem and can access Gigabit Class LTE include the Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Moto Z2 Force Edition, and LG V30.
T-Mobile also said today that it plans to launch License Assisted Access (LAA) on small cells this year. LAA is an LTE technology that utilizes unlicensed spectrum to get more network capacity and speed.
Source: T-Mobile