Look out for that LTE-A icon on your phone

Remember LTE-A, the next evolution of uber-fast wireless mobile internet that we first saw in Boracay last year? Well, Smart is now turning on the technology behind that make those speeds possible in the Philippines, starting with Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

Smart has rolled out LTE-A capable base stations in key locations around the country, and is part of their ongoing network modernization program, which aims to blanket the country with LTE by end-2018.

“We continue to set the bar higher for our mobile service experience with our LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) service, which is the next stage of development for 4G/LTE,” said Joachim Horn, PLDT and Smart chief technology and information advisor.

“Now is the right time to take advantage of LTE-A, because there are already handsets available in the market,” Horn said.

LTE-A or LTE Advanced is a new type of technology that utilizes several LTE bands to deliver blazing internet speeds. Because the theoretical limit of a single carrier of LTE in a 20MHz block is only 150Mbps, telcos need to turn to carrier aggregation to deliver even faster speeds to their consumers.

Think of an LTE band as a lane on a highway. A single lane can only accomodate so much cars (in our case, data). What carrier aggregation does is add additional lanes in a highway, which delivers more bandwith than a single lane could.

Most flagship and mid-range phones have carrier aggregation technology built-in, phones like Huawei’s P10 and P10 Plus, Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+, LG’s G6, Sony’s Xperia XZs and many others.