StarHub, Huawei demonstrate gigabit speed indoor 4G coverage

STARHUB has partnered with ICT (Infocomm) solutions provider Huawei to provide superfast 4G coverage in indoor locations. In conjunction with the SCWS Asia 2016 conference, both companies on Monday showcased "live" the world's fastest one gigabit per second (Gbps) indoor coverage solution at the Pan Pacific, Singapore.

The new 4G LTE-Advanced solution combined StarHub's 55MHz of frequency spectrum across the 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2600MHz bands to deliver gigabit-bandwidth from a small cell base station no bigger than a ream of A4 paper. This milestone comes after StarHub's deployment of Huawei's small cell solution as part of its 4G LTE-Advanced Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) upgrade at Marina Bay last year, to boost indoor network capacity and speeds for customers.

"We are happy that StarHub's 4G LTE-Advanced network attained OpenSignal's 'Fastest Network with LTE' title twice in a row, but there is more we can do to get better mileage out of our existing wireless spectrum," said Mock Pak Lum, chief technology officer, StarHub.

He added that StarHub is closely tracking the development of this new small cell solution, to help enhance network quality quickly and cost-efficiently. "In collaboration with partners like Huawei, we are always on the lookout for the latest available technologies to stay ahead of trends and to meet customer expectations," he added.

David Zheng, Huawei's VP of Small Cell Product Line, Wireless Production Line, said the "continuous advancement of mobile network technologies" offer tremendous opportunities for better service experience over apps on smart devices.

"Indoor digital networks will be just as indispensable as running water and electricity for buildings. Huawei is committed to working with StarHub to deliver innovative services that bring benefits to mobile customers," he added.

Commercial trials of the solution are ongoing, and StarHub aims to deploy it when supported phone models reach Singapore's shores.