21
February
2018
|
10:52
Europe/Amsterdam

More capacity and higher 4G speeds thanks to extra frequency

Summary

KPN has started activating frequency band 4 (2100 MHz) for 4G and is stacking it on the existing frequencies that are already being used. This signifies a further rise in the capacity and speed of the mobile network.

The introduction of 4G in 2013 brought about a veritable revolution in smartphone usage. KPN was the first operator in the Netherlands to roll it out and in the past few years has further compressed the mobile network to meet the ever-increasing data growth.

“We will continue improving our network in 2018, by installing new transmission towers and by enlarging the capacity at places where a lot of people congregate,” says Tom Poelhekken, Chief Technology Officer at KPN.

“We have already started activating frequency band 4 (2100 MHz) for 4G on a larger scale and we are stacking it on the frequencies that we were already using for our mobile network (800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz). This stacking of frequencies is known as four-band carrier aggregation (4CA), which ensures that greater capacity and higher speeds are made available.”

Thanks to the activation of the 2100 MHz band, which was previously used for 3G, and the latest modulation techniques (256QAM) download speeds of up to 500 Mbps will be possible. The latest smartphones on the market will increasingly support four-band carrier aggregation.