du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has started deploying multi-carrier aggregation technologies within its commercial wireless network. The new innovation involves aggregating three carriers of 100 MHz each within the C-band and 2.6 GHz bands.
The aggregation of carriers will mean that the network will be capable of delivering three times faster data speeds than what is currently available to users in the UAE.
The mainstay of the multi-carrier aggregation will be home wireless services, a service that was introduced to the UAE market by du in 2021 and instantly became a hit and garnered thousands of users in a short time.
As a next phase of the wireless home broadband service that can support futuristic uses requiring high bandwidth and low latency, such as artificial intelligence, 8K video streaming, metaverse and UHD cloud gaming, du has initiated this multi-carrier aggregation deployment. This innovation will enable du’s subscribers to continue enjoying bandwidth-intensive applications without worry.
Saleem AlBlooshi, chief technology officer, du, said: “Since inception, du has placed immense importance on continuously enhancing the user experience and has been staying ahead of the curve when it comes to connectivity demands of UAE consumers. We anticipate that in the near future, average bandwidth demands of users will increase multi-fold. Multi-carrier aggregation is a proven way to enhance the peak and average throughputs of wireless networks, and thus we embarked on this journey. This deployment shows our unwavering commitment towards UAE’s plan to enable greater use of technology and innovation in every part of our lives in the country.”
du was the first operator in the UAE to introduce 4G-based home wireless services and was also the first to introduce 5G-based home wireless services. With this deployment, du will also soon offer 3CC-enabled advanced 5G home wireless services.
Earlier in February 2023, du announced that it was embarking on exploring technology innovations in 5G-Advanced, and today’s announcement shows that the exploration initiatives of du over the past six months have been successful, and services based on these innovations are being commercially deployed for the benefit of users in the UAE.
