MCI Tests 4.5G Internet, Achieves Speeds of 650Mbps

Iran’s largest mobile phone network, Mobile Communications Company of Iran (MCI) or referred to locally as Hamra-e-Avval (First Network), said it has successfully tested 4.5G internet in a ceremony, attended by the Telecoms Minister Mahmoud Vaezi, on February 4.The so-called 4.5G service tested by the operator is called LTE-WLAN (LWA) in technical terms and is seen as the next step in mobile communications and can ideally offer speeds of up to 1 terabit per second. According to the MCI representatives at the event, the speed recorded in its initial test was 650Mbps and it will be rolled out in the coming weeks, ICTNA reported. The report notes that the company is actively upgrading over 25,000 mobile phone antennas in the country to offer the new generation service. A similar 4.5G service was launched late last year by MCI’s biggest competitor, the partly South African-owned MTN Irancell. That company registered speeds of beyond 1 terabit per second in recorded YouTube promotional videos using the new service.