Australia's Optus and Nokia Solutions and Networks have attained an aggregate downlink of 1.7 gigabits per second (Gbps) from a single site on the operator’s live network using commercially available NSN equipment. The site, in Sydney, combines six frequency bands supporting HSPA+, FDD LTE and TD-LTE radio technologies to provide this capacity.

Using NSN’s commercially available Single RAN Advanced, Optus took advantage of six of its existing 3GPP spectrum allocations to build a live network site at St Mary’s in western Sydney. The aim was to demonstrate the technology needed to meet burgeoning mobile broadband demand.

The 1.7 Gbps represents the total site downlink measured as the combined speeds achieved on each spectrum layer. The figure was achieved using a total of 226.8 MHz spectrum. The Optus trial is a field site based on the following frequency bands and technologies:

• FDD LTE: 700 MHz (2 x 10 MHz, 3GPP Band 28)
• HSPA+: 900 MHz (2 x 5 MHz, 3GPP Band 8)
• FDD LTE: 1800 MHz (2 x 15 MHz, 3GPP Band 3)
• HSPA+: 2100 MHz (2 x 20 MHz, 3GPP Band 1)
• TD-LTE: 2300 MHz (80 MHz, 3GPP Band 40)
• FDD LTE: 2600 MHz (2 x 20 MHz, 3GPP Band 7)