Singapore’s StarHub has successfully concluded trials of Dual Carrier technology on its HSPA+ network, in co-operation with China’s Huawei as its vendor partner. The planned upgrade will double StarHub’s peak downlink rates to up to 42 Mbps. Dual Carrier technology is based on the principle of bonding two carrier channels, allowing an doubling of transmission rates compared with the current maximum of 21 Mbps. StarHub has also commences technical trials of LTE technology.

StarHub, together with its technology partner Huawei, has successfully concluded tests of its HSPA+ network using Dual Carrier frequency technology to achieve a peak data downlink speed of up to 42.2Mbps. An upgrade of the HSPA+ network is now being implemented progressively to further enhance the overall efficiency of the network.
This announcement has made StarHub the first mobile operator in Southeast Asia to have successfully deployed the Dual Carrier technology on its HSPA+ network to achieve up to 42.2Mbps in peak download speeds. Dual Carrier technology is based on the principle of bonding two carrier channels, which allows the increase of the transmission to double the current maximum value of 21Mbps.

Commenting on this exciting development, Mr Peter Cook, Vice President, Integrated Network Engineering at StarHub, said: "The deployment of 42.2Mbps HSPA+ Dual Carrier technology is a straightforward upgrade of our current HSPA+ network that will double our current downlink peak rate of 21Mbps. We are basically installing new software into current network equipment, with minimal hardware upgrade required. StarHub is excited that it will soon be able to manage even larger volumes of data traffic and continue to support the highest HSPA speeds available in Singapore, to meet the growing demand for broadband access on the move."

Huawei Singapore Managing Director Mr He Rong said Huawei’s HSPA+ solution with dual-carrier technology makes the best of an operator’s spectrum resources, enhances spectral efficiency and results in capacity gains of up to 20%. "We would like to congratulate StarHub for achieving this important milestone. The enhanced HSPA+ network is set to give mobile broadband customers a higher level of user experience, thus truly enriching lives through communication," commented Mr He.

StarHub has also commenced technical trials of LTE technology. The company believes that LTE will provide further enhancement of its mobile broadband data services in future.

"LTE deployment is in our roadmap for mobile broadband, and we are now diligently testing the new technology with plans for a rollout in future," Mr Cook added.

Today, StarHub boasts the highest mobile broadband network experience in Singapore at a nationwide deployment, of up to 21Mbps (downlink). It also offers the market's fastest mobile broadband service - MaxMobile Elite - that gives individual and business users up to 21Mbps for downloading. In addition, StarHub offers the most comprehensive range of mobile broadband products for both its post-paid and pre-paid customer groups.
For more information on StarHub’s mobile broadband services, please visit www.starhub.com/mobile.