MONTREAL – Bell said Thursday that its LTE wireless network is now the first in North America capable of delivering Quad Band LTE Advanced (LTE-A) service, offering customers access to the fastest mobile data speeds available.
Also known as 4-carrier aggregation, Quad Band technology leverages multiple bands of wireless spectrum to boost top Tri Band LTE-A mobile data speeds from 335 Mbps (expected average download speeds of 12 to 100 Mbps) to 550 Mbps (expected average 18 to 150 Mbps). Combined with enhanced 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) technology, Bell's Quad Band LTE-A network can now deliver mobile data speeds of up to 750 Mbps, with expected average speeds of 22 to 174 Mbps.
"Bell has built a strong reputation for leading innovation in Canadian broadband communications, enabled by a great team and the highest levels of investment in network infrastructure and Canadian R&D," said Bell CTO Stephen Howe, in the news release. "Bell delivered North America's first Tri Band LTE-A mobile service in 2015, and we're proud to announce today that we're first to successfully implement not only Quad Band LTE-A but also the further 256 QAM enhancements that take Canadian mobile speeds to unparalleled new levels."
The new Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones, available from Bell starting Friday, will be the first devices able to take advantage of this new network capability, the company added. In coming months, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ device software will be automatically upgraded to operate on Bell Quad Band 256 QAM LTE.
