Mobitel, Dialog Axiata trial 1Gbps+ 4.5G

In a South Asia first, Sri Lanka’s Mobitel and Dialog Axiata have each completed successful trials of 4.5G technology capable of speeds of over 1Gbps.

Mobitel announced it has tested a technology it calls LTE-A Pro at the operator’s test lab.

The operator partnered with Huawei and ZTE to test LTE-A technology capable of using a combination of up to five-carrier aggregation, 4×4 MIMO and 256 QAM. The company plans a commercial deployment in the near future.

Dialog meanwhile revealed it has completed capability testing on Huawei’s LTE equipment, demonstrating the ability to deliver throughputs exceeding 1Gbps over the LTE radio interface.

Mobitel asserts it was the first operator in South Asia to trial LTE technology in 2011, while Dialog Axiata said it was the first in the region to launch commercial LTE services in 2014. Dialog’s LTE network now covers more than 50% of the population.

Dialog and Mobitel are Sri Lanka’s first and second largest mobile operators by subscribers respectively.

The ITU has named Sri Lanka as having the lowest broadband tariffs among operators in the Asia-Pacific region.