Nokia Siemens Networks and Qualcomm are set to reveal their partnership's new HSPA+ Multiflow technology at the Mobile World Congress next week. The new technology will enhance existing mobile broadband solutions offering up to twice the current speed of 3G HSPA+ by utilizing two base stations simultaneously.

Both companies will demo the new hardware at the MWC, with Nokia using its own commerical base stations and Qualcomm supplying the prototype USB dongles, according to an official press release by Nokia Siemens.

Current 3G HSPA+ devices can only connect to one cell tower at a time, which often causes a frustrating slowdown in network performance as users get closer to the edge of base stations. The solution from the two firms enables handsets to connect to two base stations at the same time, using separate data streams that can offer up to twice the current speeds.

In order to use the new technology handsets will require new hardware, but on the carrier's end, most network operators will be able to offer the new technology to customers after installing a software update to existing infrastructure.

There is no current information on how using two data streams at the same time will affect battery life, but more information is expected as the new solution nears closer to commerical availability.

The new technology is still a little way off production, although the two firms expect it to gain standardization by the 3GPP later this year. Consumers will have to wait until at least the second half of next year before it becomes commercially available but it could however offer a viable alternative to LTE.