MWC 2010: Huawei boasts 600Mbit/s data transfer

Telecoms provider Huawei has claimed a world record for the fastest data transfer in a demonstration of its new LTE-Advanced technology at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The 600Mbit/s speeds are 20 times faster than existing commercial 3G networks, and are expected to meet the bandwidth requirements of data-heavy applications. Huawei said that a 4GB DVD could be downloaded in one minute.

Huawei's LTE-Advanced technology includes features such as worldwide roaming, interoperability with other radio access systems and enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications, according to the firm.

The technology also uses multi-carrier aggregation and high-order multiple input and multiple output technology to increase spectrum efficiency by up to five times and reduce transmission costs, the firm said.

Wan Biao, president of wireless at Huawei, suggested that the speeds are a milestone for the industry as it begins to move towards an era of gigabit speeds for mobile broadband. He added that the technology would help operators leverage revenue from networks.

"We are committed to accelerating the commercialisation and adoption of LTE technology to reduce the per-bit cost and improve profitability for operators worldwide," he said.

The technology is currently being standardised by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as an enhancement of 3GPP LTE, and Huawei has already deployed 60 LTE networks including lab and field trials and commercial networks.

Other telecoms companies also have plans to demonstrate LTE technology at MWC. Ericsson said last week that it will show off 84Mbit/s High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology at the event.