Japan’s largest mobile operator NTT DoCoMo will launch LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) service offering peak theoretical download speeds of up to 225Mb/s on 27 March.

The operator said the use of carrier aggregation technology will enable it to push the data rate to a maximum 300Mb/s within a year. The maximum uplink speed will be 50Mb/s.

DoCoMo, which has 65 million connections, will offer two mobile WiFi routers and is preparing to expand its lineup of LTE-A-compatible smartphones.

The operator said its LTE-A network will feature advanced C-RAN, a network architecture designed for high-traffic areas that can simultaneously increase radio capacity and the maximum transmission speed.

SingTel, which in August rolled out what it claimed was the world’s first commercial LTE-A network supporting theoretical peak download speeds of up to 300Mb/s, said last week its LTE-A service will cover the entire city-state by the end of March.

South Korea’s SK Telecom announced in June that its new LTE-A service supports speeds of up to 225Mb/s using carrier aggregation. Rival LG Uplus also trialled tri-band LTE carrier aggregation, which it claimed can offer peak speeds of 300Mb/s.