MediaTek and Ericsson unveils advanced mobile technology for ‘underserved’ consumers at low cost

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safaricom 4G/LTE

MediaTek has unleashed LTE- Advanced features to ensure the affordability of devices to a large number of consumers currently using “ low end” devices.  The collaboration between the technology company and multinational telecommunication companies promotes development and social empowerment through digital connection.

LTE-A Category 6 Carrier Aggregation allows consumers to experience a network download speed of up to 300 Mbps and a 50 Mbps upload speed.  It improves coverage quality, provides enhanced HD video capabilities, offers faster data access, and reduces packet latencies.

Additionally, the same segment of devices will be capable of supporting Voice over LTE (VoLTE), Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi), Wi-Fi calling and Video calling over LTE (ViLTE), to provide operators a way to seamlessly move to all-IP connectivity on 4G networks and use their spectrum for advanced technologies.

”By collaborating with Ericsson, MediaTek can offer a superior mobile broadband experience at an affordable price. This is another step toward MediaTek’s goal of democratizing technology – making world- class leading technology more accessible to everyone.” Finbarr Moynihan, General Manager, Corporate Sales International.

This collaboration will ensure the availability of devices to users in the region transitioning from feature phones to smartphones. According to Ericsson Mobility Report, there will be 720 million mobile subscriptions in the region by 2016. That number is predicted to grow to over a billion by 2022. With about 300 million mobile internet subscribers throughout the continent, it is clear consumers rely on their smartphones to enhance how they live, work and play.

“Today, most mobile broadband devices are, and will continue to be, smartphones. Many consumers in sub-Saharan Africa first experience the internet on a smartphone. This ability to enhance accessibility to advanced devices by making them more affordable makes this partnership even more exciting.” Ajay Sood, Head of Network Products, Ericsson,

At the end of 2015, there were 72 live LTE networks in 32 countries across Africa. Most -, if not all -, can expect to evolve to LTE Advanced between 2017 and 2020. Enabling these capabilities on MediaTek devices will bring a new broadband connectivity experience to millions of users, while simultaneously adding network capacity to handle increased network traffic.

Article Categories:
TECHNOLOGY

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