Roaming fees scrap to cost operators hundreds of millions
Big four count the cost as European Union’s roaming charges ban comes into effect on June 15
Operators
June 7, 2017
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium is the first smartphone to take advantage of 4G+ with Cat 16 technology
EE has today (June 6) activated its next generation 4G+ network in Cardiff and London Tech City enabling speeds up to 429Mbps.
Upload speeds were hitting past 50Mbps. EE plan to switch on 4G+ in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester city centres during 2017.
The sites that are capable of delivering these maximum speeds are equipped with 30MHz of 1800MHz spectrum, and 35MHz of 2.6GHz spectrum.
1800MHz carriers are delivered using 4×4 MIMO, which sends and receives four signals instead of just two, making the spectrum up to twice as efficient.
The sites also broadcast 4G using 256QAM, or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, which increases the efficiency of the spectrum.
Sony’s latest flagship the Xperia XZ Premium is the first smartphone to be 4G+ compatible with Cat 16 technology, it was launched June 2.
EE CEO Marc Allera said: “What we’ve demonstrated live in Cardiff is more than ten times the average mobile download speed. We’re rolling out this new capability in Cardiff and London’s Tech City, and we’ll keep expanding to the busiest areas of the UK so that our customers always have a great connection to do the things they love.”