Ericsson announced that its Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) solution is commercially available, stating that the new technology is already live in a number of 5G networks around the world.
Ericsson said that its spectrum sharing solution allows both 4G and 5G technologies to be deployed in the same band and on the same radio through a software upgrade – dynamically allocating spectrum based on user demand on a 1 millisecond basis.
Ericsson also noted that dynamic spectrum sharing is the most economically feasible way to deploy 5G on existing bands – enabling wide 5G coverage from day one – making more efficient use of spectrum and delivering superior user performance.
“For the first time, our customers do not have to re-farm spectrum before deploying a new ‘G’ and can quickly get 5G on the same footprint as they have with 4G today. In the next 12 months, more than 80% of the commercial 5G networks we support will use our spectrum sharing solution to achieve broad 5G coverage,” said Fredrik Jejdling, EVP and head of Networks at Ericsson, said:
Meanwhile, Julian Bright, senior analyst at Ovum/Omdia, said: “Spectrum is a scarce and costly resource that should be used efficiently. Ericsson Spectrum Sharing will mean that service providers can rapidly roll out 5G on their FDD bands without the need to re-invest. It means they can use both their new and existing bands for 5G high-speed, high-capacity services. Dynamically allocating spectrum between 4G and 5G is going to be the best way to start deploying 5G.”
The Swedish vendor said that Ericsson spectrum sharing is already live with multiple service providers.
Swiss telco Swisscom was the first communications service provider in Europe to launch commercial 5G services in April 2019. In December 2019, Swisscom achieved nationwide 5G coverage and is upgrading their network with Ericsson Spectrum Sharing.
“Ericsson spectrum sharing is key for a fast adoption of 5G. It’s a win-win approach for customers and operators,” said Christoph Aeschlimann, head of the IT, network and infrastructure group division at Swisscom. “Customers benefit from 5G in no time and operators use their precious spectrum in the most efficient manner. We already reached nationwide coverage with 90% of the population with 5G.”
In May 2019, Telstra launched its commercial 5G network in Australia and has now rolled out 5G coverage in 32 metropolitan and regional cities around the country.
“Ericsson Spectrum Sharing will continue to play a crucial role in helping Telstra pave the way for a faster rollout of 5G, allowing us to serve the needs of 4G and 5G customers in the same location at the same time,” said Channa Seneviratne, network and engineering infrastructure executive at Telstra.
Other operators such Ooredoo and Play are using Ericsson Spectrum Sharing to expand 5G coverage in Qatar and Poland.
Ericsson has been collaborating with Qualcomm Technologies on advancing dynamic spectrum sharing using mobile devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and 765 Mobile Platforms with Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF Systems, as well as MediaTek (Dimensity 1000) and key device makers like Oppo, Sony, Xiaomi, LG, vivo and WNC (Wistron NeWeb Corp.) to scale the solution globally.
