300 Mbps as Telecom demos carrier aggregation

You need special kit not publicly available in New Zealand until later this year. And, for now, there are only six Auckland carrier aggregation sites.

Yet Telecom NZ’s demonstration shows where mobile data is heading with a service that has theoretical peak speeds of 300 Mbps — faster than UFB.

At those speeds you could download an 800 MB movie in 20 seconds.

Carrier aggregation works by joining spectrum bands together to give more bandwidth. Telecom NZ’s version joins two bands.

A recent trial by Telstra in Australia joined three bands to reach speeds of up to 450 Mbps. That’s the theoretical top speed, in practice the bandwidth is shared with other users. Even so, the technology dramatically speeds up mobile data.

Telecom NZ says it expects suitable carrier aggregation devices will be available by the end of this year or early next year.

In a statement Chief Operating Officer David Havercroft says when CA devices do come to market, Telecom NZ customers will be able to take advantage of “phenomenal” data speeds straight away.