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Telecoms giant BT (EE) and network supplier Nokia have successfully achieved mobile broadband upload speeds of over 230Mbps on a trial 5G network. This feat was accomplished by utilizing the uplink aggregation of two carrier components in live spectrum for a 5G Standalone (SA) network. Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology has been used to combine multiple radio bands for enhanced mobile data speeds and coverage, and this capability is now being harnessed for 5G networks.

BT and Nokia embarked on a similar trial a year ago when they aggregated four downlink channels of radio spectrum in a live 5G SA network. The latest trial focused on the uplink side, employing both 2CC CA uplink and 4CC CA downlink simultaneously.

The tests took place at BT Group’s facility in Adastral Park, UK, using Nokia’s 5G AirScale kit and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon® 5G Modem-RF System. The trial achieved speeds of over 230Mbps in the uplink and over 1Gbps in the downlink, including utilizing the wider 5G FDD carrier at 40MHz in 2.6GHz.

This trial also marks BT as the “first in Europe” to achieve both 2CC CA uplink and 4CC CA downlink simultaneously. BT’s Chief Networks Officer, Greg McCall, emphasized the importance of carrier aggregation in delivering the best 5G experience to customers. McCall also expressed BT’s commitment to further milestones in this space as they progress towards 5G SA.

While Three UK tends to deliver the fastest 5G mobile download speeds in most studies, BT sees the adoption of 5G SA networks as a way for EE to maintain its unbeatable 5G network for customers. It is worth noting that the awards given by RootMetrics for an “unbeatable 5G” network were largely based on combined 4G and 5G performance and did not touch on upload speeds or latency. The competitiveness in the 5G space is expected to increase as more operators adopt 5G SA networks.

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