Think 100Mbps over a fiber connection is cool? Try 1000Mbps (1Gbps) over a wireless 4G connection. That’s what Aussie carrier Telstra and Ericsson just hit in their new network testing.


That’s right: using LTE-Advanced and carrier-aggregation tech, Ericsson and Telstra pulled down 1Gbps over 4G wireless as it gears up to build a new 5G network.



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The two network giants smushed together 100MHz of mobile spectrum across five different frequency blocks: 700MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and two 20MHz portions of the 2600MHz band.

Of course, it’ll be a long time before you ever see this sort of speed on your mobile device. The fastest 4G standard on consumer-level devices available these days is Category 11, which has a theoretical maximum speed of 600Mbps. Currently, Telstra is the only one selling a 4G modem that goes that fast, and even then it’s still a “theoretical” “maximum”. Those Category 11 devices will likely never even see 600Mbps on their clock.

Telstra nailed down the 1Gbps speed on a special device designed for hardcore network testing. It’s called a TM500 and it’s made by a company called Cobham Wireless. Translation: it’s not your iPhone.

Despite the fact that you’ll not be using these speeds until around 2020, it’s great news that we’re charging ahead into a speedy future.


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