AT&T announced the deployment of Commercial LTE-Licensed Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) in parts of Downtown Indianapolis earlier this month, with plans to expand coverage in the coming months.
LAA offers the potential to reach speeds of up to 1 Gbps – earlier AT&T tests hit a peak of 979 Mbps. The technology also figures to be a critical part of the transition to 5G, which is expected to roll out in the next few years and is already being tested on a limited scale in various markets.
AT&T, which has invested at least $350 million in Indianapolis networks from 2014-2016, hailed this announcement as a milestone.
“We’re excited to be the first carrier to commercially deploy LTE-LAA technology for our customers in parts of Indianapolis,” said Bill Soards, president of AT&T Indiana. “Demand continues to grow at a rapid pace on our network. That’s why offering customers the latest technologies and increased wireless capacity by combining licensed and unlicensed spectrum is an important milestone.”
The carrier will continue upgrading cell towers with updated LTE technology, such as 256 QAM, 4×4 MIMO and 3-way carrier aggregation.
AT&T’s announcement comes weeks after competitor T-Mobile declared it would expand its LTE Advanced network to 920 markets nationally and step up deployment of technologies laying the groundwork for 5G.
