Verizon LTE-Advanced activation highlights carrier aggregation

As the big four U.S. carriers – Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile US and Sprint – attempt to outdo each other with promotional plans and splash TV advertisements, there’s a more subtle advancement of technology. Yesterday, Verizon Wireless made waves by announcing increases in data throughput in 461 markets on the back of carrier aggregation.
While this is a major network upgrade, Verizon Wireless is not alone in its use of carrier aggregation, which essentially combines spectrum bands to provide a wider channel. Carrier aggregation is the key feature of 3GPP’s Release 10, which standardized LTE-Advanced. Here’s more technical information on that.
But, back to the other carriers. On the same day Verizon made its big announcement – forestalled by a countdown clock on the Verizon Wireless homepage – Sprint said it is testing three-channel carrier aggregation in Chicago with device and equipment partner Samsung.
The carrier said it had deployed 3CCA capabilities across 500 cell sites in Chicago, with each site supporting three 20-megahertz channels of spectrum from Sprint’s vast 2.5 GHz spectrum portfolio. The 60-megahertz of total spectrum is said to provide download speeds of more than 230 megabits per second using commercial Samsung devices like the Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.
T-Mobile US is also testing 3CCA based on an astute Reddit user based in Dallas. Per an accompanying screenshot, the user’s device was connected to T-Mobile US spectrum in the 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz and 700 MHz bands.
AT&T Mobility’s biggest carrier aggregation-related news came back in 2014, when a network exec told GigaOm carrier aggregation was “live in several markets,” but only identified Chicago.
According to the GSA, at the beginning of 2015, there were 107 global LTE operators that “have launched” or “are deploying or are trialling LTE-Advanced technologies. This includes 49 operators that have commercially launched LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation in 31 countries.”