Ericsson and Telstra claim to complete Australia’s first 5G end-to-end standalone call
Emilio Romeo of Ericsson
The call was conducted over 3.6GHz spectrum using Ericsson’s Baseband 6630, Radio AIR6488 and a 5G SA device based on a MediaTek chipset.
This milestone follows Ericsson’s recent announcement of cutting-edge Standalone (SA) New Radio (NR) software that enables super-fast response times and new capabilities to rapidly extend 5G coverage.
5G Standalone will be the eventual architecture of 5G radio networks, increasing network efficiency and helping develop new use cases. It will be the building block of Industry 4.0 where efficient connectivity characterised by 5G’s low latency, flexibility and speed will drive new technologies and industries.
Emilio Romeo, head of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand, says: “Successfully completing Australia’s and the southern hemisphere’s first 5G standalone call is a vital step in driving industrial productivity and bringing Industry 4.0 to life. 5G is not just another incremental upgrade, but a platform for innovation marking a new era of intelligent connectivity. Together with Telstra – one of the world’s first operators to launch 5G commercially on 5G non-standalone (NSA) – we continue to lead and drive innovation to ensure Australia remains at the forefront of telecommunications technology.”
Channa Seneviratne, Network and Infrastructure Engineering executive, Telstra says: “Telstra has achieved a number of world and Australian milestones on our 5G journey and the successful completion of Australia’s first 5G end-to-end standalone call on Telstra’s network is the latest entry. This continues Telstra’s ongoing participation in global 5G leadership whilst simultaneously driving the deployment of 5G in Australia.”
“To date we’ve already launched 5G in 10 cities, and this will increase to at least 35 cities over the next 12 months. Making this stand-alone 5G call at our 5G Innovation Centre contributes to our ongoing end-to-end 5G ecosystem learnings. This is another example of the ongoing industry collaboration working within the 5G eco-system and technology partners like Ericsson to pave the way for 5G advancements, and the benefits it will bring all Australians.”
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