e& UAE lifts 5.5G speeds with 1024QAM

e& UAE has activated 1024QAM modulation on its live commercial 5.5G network, achieving a download speed of 4.58 gigabits per second and marking the first deployment of the technology on an operational mobile network in the region.

The Abu Dhabi-based operator recorded 4,587 megabits per second during a live speed test using the Huawei Pura 90s, one of the first smartphones designed to support the higher-order modulation scheme. The activation represents another step in e& UAE’s transition from conventional 5G towards 5G-Advanced, also marketed as 5.5G.

Quadrature amplitude modulation, or QAM, determines how much information can be carried by each radio signal. Moving from 256QAM to 1024QAM allows a network to encode more data within the same spectrum, raising spectral efficiency and potential transmission speeds without requiring an equivalent increase in bandwidth.

The technology can increase spectral efficiency by about 25 per cent compared with 256QAM under suitable radio conditions. Its strongest performance is generally achieved when a compatible device is close to a base station, with a strong signal and limited interference. Actual customer speeds will vary according to coverage, network traffic, spectrum availability and handset capability.

e& UAE said the higher capacity would support ultra-high-definition streaming, cloud gaming, large file transfers, real-time translation and artificial intelligence applications that depend on fast links between smartphones, edge-computing systems and cloud platforms.

The company is positioning the activation as a customer-facing advance rather than a laboratory trial. However, access to the peak performance will initially depend on the availability of smartphones containing chipsets and radio components capable of processing 1024QAM signals.

Tamer Eltoni, senior vice-president for devices and future growth ventures at e& UAE, said the performance of an advanced network depended on the ecosystem of equipment connected to it. He said pairing the technology with the Huawei Pura 90s demonstrated how multi-gigabit connectivity could support everyday artificial intelligence and immersive digital services.

AbdulRahman Al Humaidan, senior vice-president for access network development at e& UAE, said the activation was intended to improve practical customer experiences, including high-definition content, gaming and AI-enabled services. He said the network would help provide the foundations for connected homes, businesses and digital lifestyles.

The milestone follows a series of 5G-Advanced deployments by the operator. e& UAE commercially introduced four-carrier aggregation combining frequency division duplex and time division duplex spectrum in selected areas during 2025, allowing devices to use several frequency bands simultaneously to improve speed, capacity and coverage consistency.

The operator has also deployed commercial network slicing for enterprise customers, giving organisations dedicated virtual sections of the 5G network with defined performance levels. Reduced Capability technology has been enabled on its standalone network to connect wearables and lower-power devices without the cost and energy demands of full-scale 5G equipment.

Other network advances have included a 600Mbps uplink test using aggregated spectrum and three-transmit-antenna technology. The company has also expanded 5.5G coverage within high-profile buildings, including Burj Khalifa and Ciel Dubai Marina, where indoor systems must handle dense traffic and complex structural conditions.

5G-Advanced is the next stage of the 5G standardisation cycle and is based initially on specifications developed under 3GPP Release 18. It is designed to improve speed, mobility, positioning accuracy, energy efficiency and network management while supporting technologies such as extended reality, industrial automation, connected transport and large-scale internet-of-things systems.

Operators across the Gulf are investing in 5G-Advanced as data consumption rises and governments pursue artificial intelligence, smart-city and digital-economy programmes. The technology is also expected to help carriers manage demand in airports, business districts, stadiums and residential developments where thousands of devices may compete for capacity.