T-Mobile said that it achieved the world’s first six-carrier aggregation call using sub-6 GHz spectrum on its live production 5G network.

Working with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies Inc., T-Mobile exceeded 3.6 Gbps in the test. The carrier described this speed as fast enough to download a two-hour HD movie in less than 7 seconds.

Higher speed and increased performance are the result of the 5G carrier aggregation in which T-Mobile combined multiple 5G channels. In this test, the carrier merged six 5G channels of mid-band spectrum: two channels of 2.5 GHz Ultra Capacity 5G, two channels of PCS spectrum, and two channels of AWS spectrum, creating an effective 245 MHz of aggregated 5G channels.

This test furthered recent progress T-Mobile has been having with carrier aggregation, increasing the number of channels that it uses with carrier aggregation in recent months:

• In March of last year, the company reached a download speed of 3.3 Gbps on a commercial device operating on the company’s standalone 5G (5G SA) network using four-carrier aggregation

• In May, the company focused on using carrier aggregation for the uplink

• In July 2023, T-Mobile began implementing four-carrier aggregation across its entire network

T-Mobile isn’t the only wireless provider tapping carrier aggregation. AT&T has been working on using two-carrier aggregation for its uplink.

Verizon, meanwhile, has said that it has used seven-channel carrier aggregation in at least one market.

“We are pushing the boundaries of wireless technology to offer our customers the best experience possible,” Ulf Ewaldsson, T-Mobile president of technology, said in a prepared statement.