Mobile Phone Technology

How can 4G be sped up? The LTE Advanced network, often referred to as 4G+, uses existing 4G technology to increase speed. Just as operators enhanced 2G with GPRS and 3G with HSDPA, LTE Advanced is the enhancement to 4G. It is claimed to double the speed of 4G, offering theoretical speeds of up to 300Mbps. In real-world environments, however, speeds of up to 150Mbps are achievable, as opposed to the maximum practical speed of 4G, which is around 75Mbps. Users may see '4G+' on their phone beside the signal strength scale.

Like 4G, 4G+ uses OFMA and MIMO, but these technologies have been further developed to provide a much faster network.

At the heart of 4G+ is carrier aggregation. This involves a carrier sending data wirelessly using two different bands. For example, data could be sent on 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz frequencies. This differs from "Double Speed 4G", where the carrier uses twice as much bandwidth within the same radio band. Here, two different radio bands are used to send the transmission. MIMO in 4G focused on a single band. With 4G+, signals can be sent over any or all available bands.

4G+ is implemented in large urban areas that have both frequencies available. This includes the major cities in the UK. 4G+ is also available in some smaller towns, but not usually in rural areas.

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