EE demos 400Mb/s 4G+ at Wembley Stadium

Mobile network EE, formerly known as Everything Everywhere, has demonstrated the performance of its next-generation 4G+ mobile network with a trial demonstrating 400Mb/s throughput in a controlled environment.

EE's demonstration of what it claimed to be 'Europe's fastest live mobile speeds' took place at Wembley Stadium this week in partnership with Qualcomm and Huawei. The demonstration required a client device equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 with X10 Long Term Evolution (LTE) modem, the latter of which combined three different radiofrequency spectrum allocations - 20MHz chunks from 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz plus a further 15GHz chunk from the latter - into a single tunnel for 400Mb/s throughput.

'We have established ourselves as the most advanced and innovative network in Europe, and we will continue to stay ahead of the curve, in terms of both speed and capacity. Smarter devices with more data intensive video and audio demands are launching all the time, and it’s trials like these at Wembley Stadium that allow us to ensure EE customers continue to get the very best experiences from their mobile network now and in the future,' crowed EE chief technology officer Fotis Karonis at the event. 'This is a showcase of what a truly amazing 4G network can do, and is a big step in our ambition to make Wembley Stadium the most connected stadium in the world.'

The trial included installation of an audio-visual system featuring multiple Ultra HD and Full HD resolution displays streamed live over the 4G+ network. For those attending the venue in the future, the 4G+ network will be available in the seated stadium bowl from late March and expand to the rest of the venue in the near future. For the rest of the country, the wait will be a little longer: EE expects the 4G+ network to have reached only 20 UK cities by 2017. Speeds will also be a little smaller than the three-band trial: EE has indicated it will combine only two of its bands, taking 20MHz each from the 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz bands, to offer real-world peak speeds of up to 150Mb/s.

EE claims to reach 80 per cent of the UK's population with its current 4G network, and has committed to invest £1.5 billion in expanding its network over the next three years.