Iran’s major mobile operator and Internet service provider MTN-Irancell is swapping subscribers’ WiMAX modems which are mostly used at homes for TD-LTE ones, which will translate into increased connectivity, higher speed and lower latency, and all for free.
According to the firm’s website, users have until May 21 to replace their modems before Irancell stops offering services to owners of WiMAX modems.
WiMAX which is short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access is a family of wireless communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards. In Iran, the services are mostly used at homes which are not served by landline ISPs.
TD-LTE is one of the different standards of 4G LTE technology. TD-LTE uses a single carrier frequency for both uplink and downlink, dividing the radio frame into sub-frames that can be allocated to either uplink or downlink as per the immediate user need. This dynamic approach is well suited to the changeable data profile of today’s users, who for the most part download more than they upload, but will occasionally upload data like photos or videos.