ARCEP grants Orange's request to conduct LTE Advanced trials 

Paris, 19 February 2014

ARCEP grants a request from the company Orange to perform trials on an ultra high-speed mobile system based on LTE Advanced technology - the next generation of the LTE technology currently used by mobile operators.

The trial, which will be conducted in Bordeaux in a very densely populated urban environment, will allow Orange to test the performance of a network using this technology, including in mobile situations, and to identify the possible benefits to future services that will be sold to customers.

Thanks to a 2x20 MHz channel in the 2.6 GHz band, aggregated with an identical channel in the 3.5 GHz band, the LTE Advanced system should be capable of supplying a maximum theoretical throughput of 300 Mbits/s, which is double the maximum theoretical speed that operators' 4G networks can achieve today.

This trial is the first of its kind to be authorised in France. ARCEP will welcome all requests to conduct trials whose aim is to enable and accelerate the development of ultra high-speed mobile access.