T-Mobile is currently showcasing 5G in the city of Innsbruck, in Austria, while Vodafone has tested the technology in Ireland’s capital Dublin
A pair of 5G trials, in Innsbruck and Dublin, are helping operators test out latency, spectrum characteristics and other factors that will inform commercialization of next-generation mobile networks.
T-Mobile is currently showcasing 5G technology in the city of Innsbruck, Austria, through the deployment of two radio cells. Using the preliminary version of the final 5G standard, T-Mobile’s network in Innsbruck delivers transmission rates of 2Gbps and a latency of 3ms.
“Our bandwidth initiative has laid the groundwork for building out the 5G network going forward. I am particularly pleased that Innsbruck will be a first pilot region. Looking ahead, Tyrol plans to launch a task force with all operators to further accelerate the 5G rollout,” said Tyrol governor Günther Platter.
T-Mobile, part of the Deutsche Telekom group, is using the frequency spectrum in the 3.7 GHz range coupled with equipment from Huawei and fiber-optic infrastructure of Innsbruck’s municipal companies for its first live 5G operations in Innsbruck.
“We chose Innsbruck back in 2009 as the pioneering city for the fourth-generation mobile communication and rolled out the first test network of the then new technology LTE on air. Nine years later we are showing in Innsbruck the next evolutionary stage of mobile communication: 5G live in the city center rather than in the laboratory,” said Rüdiger Köster, CTO at T-Mobile Austria.
T-Mobile is using a virtual reality (VR) demo to showcase the technology, with a 360-degree camera transmitting a feed of ultra-HD video to a set of VR goggles. The operator has also demonstrated how a drone can be controlled using the 5G network.
The Austrian government had announced plans to award 5G spectrum during this year. “The upcoming frequency auction will determine just how fast 5G can be rolled out in Austria. A simple auction design that reduces complexity, the national award of licenses with adjacent frequency spectrum, and support for collaborative ventures are essential to delivering 5G rapidly in Austria,” said T-Mobile CTO Rüdiger Köster.
In related news, mobile operator Vodafone has completed what it claims to be the first live 5G test in Ireland. During the test, carried out in partnership with Ericsson, speeds exceeding 15 Gbps have been achieve, with latency of less than 5ms. The telco said it had also tested pre-standard 5G across its recently acquired 3.6 GHz spectrum.
Vodafone said it plans to rollout 5G services for its customers in Ireland within the next 24 months. In December 2017, Vodafone U.K. and Ericsson successfully tested standalone pre-standard 5G using a prototype device in a central London 3.5 GHz spectrum field trial.
The two companies said the 5G trial was carried out in partnership with academics at King’s College London. During the trial, engineers were able to showcase a number of technologies at King’s College London, including massive MIMO.
In June last year, In June, Vodafone U.K. selected the Swedish vendor for the provision of 5G Radio technology to pave the way for the introduction of 5G in the region. Under the terms of this agreement, Ericsson will also to use technologies such as Massive MIMO and carrier aggregation to upgrade Vodafone’s 4G networks in London and southern England.
