In this episode of Wireless Week Live we discuss the topic of carrier aggregation. As we saw recently with the FCC’s Auction 97, spectrum is going at a premium right now. It’s a finite resource that needs to support data traffic loads that that continue to grow exponentially. Carrier Aggregation has emerged as one of the more interesting features of LTE-Avanced. It’s one of the technologies that operators are banking on to make the most efficient use of the spectrum they do have. Today we’re going to look at the challenges and opportunities associated with deploying carrier aggregation, including testing and the use of 3- and 4-carrier aggregation. We look at which carriers have portfolios best suited to leverage carrier aggregation, as well as the status of current trials. 

Joining us today are Bill Chotiner, Head of Mobile Broadband Solutions Sales and Support for Ericsson, Phil Kendall, Executive Director of Global Wireless Practice at Strategy Analytics, and Richard Bellairs, Product Marketing Manager at Anritsu. 

Some of the aspects of carrier aggregation that we’ll cover include:  

• Is CA a viable solution to easing data congestion?
• What are some of the challenges to deployment of this feature?
• Which operator portfolios are best suited to leverage CA? 
• What’s the status of current carrier trials, and what are the benefits of implementing CA?
• What are challenges and benefits of using 3- and 4-component-carrier aggregation (3cc/4cc)?