• MasOrange and Ericsson tested 6GHz spectrum using active antenna architecture that increases transmitter and receiver elements from 64TR to 256TR
  • The trial also used advanced beamforming, but the companies did not publish measured results for throughput, coverage or energy efficiency

The fact

MasOrange and Ericsson have tested mobile-network technology in the 6GHz band in Spain as the operator prepares for future 6G networks. The trial used advanced active antenna architectures moving from current 64-transmitter-and-receiver configurations, known as 64TR, to 256TR systems. The companies also tested beamforming, which directs radio signals towards individual users rather than transmitting them uniformly across an area.

MasOrange says the combination could improve use of available spectrum and potentially provide four times the capacity of current configurations. That is a stated capability of the architecture, not a measured result disclosed from this trial. Neither MasOrange nor Ericsson published the bandwidth used, throughput, coverage, energy consumption or other performance results. MasOrange expects 6G to begin arriving in Spain around 2030.

The assessment

The trial puts a candidate radio architecture for the 6GHz band into practical evaluation before commercial 6G deployment. Increasing the antenna configuration from 64TR to 256TR provides more radio elements for transmitting, receiving and shaping signals, while beamforming is intended to use those elements to direct capacity more precisely.

What the test does not yet establish is how much benefit that architecture produces in an operating network. MasOrange's fourfold capacity figure describes the potential of the configuration, but without disclosed throughput, coverage or efficiency results it should not be treated as a measured fourfold improvement from the trial.

For BTW readers, the important step is that MasOrange is testing how future 6GHz spectrum could be used before committing the technology to commercial deployment. The next evidence needs to come from measured network performance and the eventual availability of spectrum, not the antenna-element count alone.

What to watch

Watch for MasOrange and Ericsson to publish measured throughput, coverage and energy-efficiency results from further 6GHz trials, together with the amount of spectrum used. Regulatory decisions on upper-6GHz spectrum in Spain and later commercial-network tests will show whether the 256TR architecture progresses towards deployment.