Australia's Telstra and Huawei are conducting LTE trials using 1800MHz spectrum in Victoria. 

The 1800MHz evaluation will include tests of throughput using MIMO antenna configurations, Inter Cell Interference Coordination to reduce radio network interference and improve throughput, and Self Organising Networks.

Earlier this month Telstra & Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) had announced to have achieved a peak download speed of 100Mbps and upload speed of 31Mbps over a 75km distance using LTE.

Michael Rocca, Telstra chief operations officer said that exploring LTE’s performance across a variety of frequency bands is critical to creating deployment options that will bring the best outcomes for operators and customers.

“Our trials with Huawei are giving us valuable insights into the potential of LTE technology at 1800MHz and helping Telstra understand how we can make best use of both existing and potential future spectrum assets to continue to deliver a world class mobile broadband service,” Mr. Rocca added. 

“Working with Telstra is a great opportunity for Huawei to show the flexibility of its advanced technology solutions and industry-leading LTE feature set. We look forward to ongoing co-operation with Telstra in the years ahead,” said Peter Rossi, CTO of Huawei Technologies Australia.

Globally, 1800MHz spectrum is used for 2G GSM services and is an integral part of the world standards for LTE technology. As operators move to deploy LTE networks, it is expected that this spectrum will complement 2600MHz spectrum and the 700MHz band anticipated to be made available through the digital dividend.  

Telstra had chosen Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei to conduct trials of LTE. The LTE trial is expected to run for three to six months.