Orange, Ericsson and Qualcomm successfully complete world's first live demo of supplemental downlink technology on L-band frequencies

FRANCE: Orange, Ericsson and Qualcomm Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., have successfully used L-band frequencies to demonstrate the use of supplemental downlink technology on a mobile network, thereby confirming the potential of this approach to increase mobile broadband capacity and enhance user experience.

The demonstration was carried out on Orange's network in Toulouse, France, on 21 February 2013. The performance and benefits of this technology will be unveiled during the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, on Ericsson's stand.

This initiative was achieved in the context of the recent decision from the CEPT (European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administration) to harmonize use of the L-band (1452-1492 MHz), reserving it specifically for supplemental downlink technology.

The trial system, which uses L-band frequencies for testing, was authorized by the French telecoms regulator, Arcep, in June 2012. The system combines L-band frequencies in the downlink mode with traditional 2.1 GHz frequencies owned by Orange to boost downlink capacity. The trial network uses radio base stations supplied by Ericsson and devices equipped with Qualcomm chipsets.