Qualcomm has partnered with various tech and communication companies including Telstra to develop a Gigabit LTE compatible device.
The product is said to be a mobile hotspot which will run using Telstra's current LTE networks. The device will hit the market by the end of the year. Gigabit LTE is a wireless technology which is theoretically capable of offering superfast speed of up to 1 Gbps.
Apart from Telstra, the consortium comprises Netgear and Ericsson. Telstra is currently building and testing the Gigabit LTE network. The software and equipment for the project are being provided by Ericsson. The project aims to offer high-speed internet without fiber cables. It involves the use of the Netgear Mobile Router MR1100, which was powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, WTR5975 RF transceiver, and Wi-Fi solution.
While the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem comes with gigabit connectivity, the real speed is likely to be lower than it is theoretically. Qualcomm has carried out simulated testing of the modem. The test showed an average speed in the range of 112Mbps and 307Mbps. The highest speed recorded was 533Mbps. This is a vast improvement over the current speeds.
Qualcomm announced its latest collaboration at the 2016 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong. The company also made other announcements including the introduction of the company's first 5G modem called Snapdragon X50. The modem will initially work on a 28GHz millimeter-wave spectrum. However, it will be able to access 800MHz of the spectrum, up from theX16 LTE modem's capacity of 80MHz. The modem will come with PMX50 power management IC to support fixed wireless use