Why wait for 5G? T-Mobile's CTO is now claiming the operator will deliver near-gigabit downloads over its 4G LTE network.

"Just last week we reached nearly 1 Gbps (979 Mbps) on our LTE network in our lab thanks to a combination of three carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM (and an unreleased handset). This is the fastest speed possible on a mobile device today and T-Mobile will absolutely be first to Gigabit speeds!" wrote T-Mobile US Inc. 's CTO Neville Ray in a blog Thursday.

Three-carrier aggregation refers to the use of three radio channels bonded together to increase mobile speed and capacity. 4X4 MIMO is a multiple input and output antenna array, while 256-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is the most efficient signal modulation scheme currently available for boosting throughput on available mobile spectrum.

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Oh, and the secret handset is probably from Samsung Corp. .

"Ever advancing LTE will continue be the technology that powers wireless into the next decade – and there will be major advancements to come, well beyond 'just' Gigabit speeds," Ray notes.

While the CTO says he is "excited" about 5G he also notes: "It will take several more years for 5G to be meaningful for mobile."

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading