A Finnish mobile carrier, Elisa, in cooperation with Huawei broke the record for the fastest speeds achieved over a 4G network. The two companies managed to reach a huge 1.9 Gbit/s over the 4G network using Huawei"s latest 4G technology.
Sami Komulainen, vice president of mobile network services at Elisa, said:
“This new speed record is a step towards the 5G network and also an excellent indication of all the opportunities the 4G network still has to offer. The speeds that the 4G network offers are continuously increasing and, possibly in the next few years, we will even be able to offer mobile data connections of several gigabits per second to our customers.”
In a recent report from OpenSignal, Finland ranked ninth in terms of 3G/4G mobile data performance. Finland"s ranking in Europe is evident in Elisa"s current offerings, the company"s network has a maximum speed of 450 Mbit/s, and the fastest speed mobile subscribers can use is 300 Mbit/s.
As virtual and augmented reality, 4k video, and 360° video becomes more widespread carriers are looking to boost the speeds of their networks, Elisa included, which plans to roll out a "premium" 1 Gbps offering in Finland in the next two or three years.
Speaking to the BBC, an analyst said users will only see modest improvements in terms of overall speed and reliability because the network capacity will be shared among other customers. It does show however that current 4G networks around the world can be improved upon.
Source: Elisa via BBC News | Phone tower image courtesy Shutterstock