Nokia and the Saudi Telecom Company (STC) have conducted a test of MulteFire technology, which combines the high-performance of LTE with the simplicity of Wi-Fi deployment in unlicensed spectrum bands such as 5GHz.

The test - which used Nokia's FlexiZone small cells together with MulteFire software - showed how MulteFire can co-exist with Wi-Fi to deliver the high performance, high speeds and security offered by LTE in a densely populated environment. MulteFire complements heterogeneous networks (HetNets), which use a mixture of macro and small cell radios, allowing operators to meet the increased connectivity demands of future smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT).

MulteFire allows the delivery of high-speed services across multiple end-user devices regardless of their mobile operator, allowing anyone with a MulteFire device to access data using a MulteFire access point. The test showed up to 120 Mbps of total download and upload throughput.

Tests showed MulteFire harmoniously co-existing with Wi-Fi when Wi-Fi was turned on in the same frequency and placed very close to a MulteFire access point. The test further showed up to 50% better range and up to 2x better coverage in comparison to Wi-Fi.