AT&T, chipset co Qualcomm and telecom network co Ericsson will demonstrate Gigabit LTE with License Assisted Access (LAA) technology at Mobile World Congress Americas 2017.

The demo of the performance of Gigabit LTE will use Ericsson Radio System’s small cell, Samsung Galaxy Note8 smartphone and Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform with X16 LTE.

Mike Finley, president, Qualcomm North America, and Joakim Sorelius, head of product area network systems, Ericsson, are part of the demo.

AT&T earlier this year conducted live LAA field trials. The demo Mobile World Congress Americas will showcase the consumer experience on Gigabit LTE networks with LAA.

Network upgrades like 4×4 MIMO, carrier aggregation, 256 QAM, and LAA technologies are expected to enable increase network capacity, improve download speeds and allow for near immediate access to the cloud.

Gigabit LTE with LAA, an LTE Advanced Pro technology, combines unlicensed spectrum with licensed spectrum through carrier aggregation to increase network capacity, and will play a key role in AT&T’s evolution to 5G.

AT&T will showcase streaming of 3D VR video provided by NextVR, over Gigabit LTE with LAA, communicating with Ericsson’s micro Radio 2205 on the network end.

The demonstration will also feature a file download speed comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Note8, supporting Gigabit LTE with LAA capability, versus another device equipped with Category 12 LTE and no support for LAA.

“This enhanced connectivity allows us to increase download speeds, expand network capacity, and improve spectral efficiency in our network. People are consuming data at a rapidly increasing rate, and LAA will allow our consumers to do things like stream their favorite content on the go and experience virtual reality at faster speeds,” said Gordon Mansfield, vice president – RAN and Device Design, AT&T.