T-Mobile US claimed it recorded the fastest uplink data rates in the US using two-channel carrier aggregation (2CA) on its standalone (SA) 5G network, throwing a gauntlet down to rival AT&T, which detailed its own work on the approach last month.

In a test data call aggregating spectrum in the 2.5GHz and 1900MHz bands, T-Mobile achieved an uplink data rate of more than 200Mb/s. It conducted the trial with Nokia, using a test smartphone running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF System.

T-Mobile plans to begin deploying 2CA in early 2024.

It claimed the test was the first example of employing 2CA in the uplink of a live SA 5G network in the US.

T-Mobile stole a march on AT&T and Verizon by launching its SA 5G network in 2020.

Last month, AT&T revealed a 2CA uplink field trial run in conjunction with Nokia and MediaTek delivered more than 70Mb/s using 40MHz of C-Band in combination with 850MHz of low-band spectrum.

It achieved a rate of more than 120Mb/s when 100MHz of C-Band spectrum was used.