Ericsson, China Broadcasting Network Corporation (CBN) and Unisoc say they have have successfully completed a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) downlink speed test showing the enhanced network capability of the 700 MHz frequency band for 5G.
The demo used Ericsson wireless equipment and downlink four-stream technology to achieve an average cell downlink rate of more than 600 Mbps on Unisoc’s commercial customer premise equipment (CPE) with four receive antennas, setting a record for downlink data rate of commercial 5G systems in the sub-1 GHz frequency range.
Following this test, CBN is well-positioned to rapidly deploy 5G and now has a solid technical foundation to expand the innovative applications of 5G into the low frequency bands, the Swedish vendor said.
The 700 MHz frequency band will improve connectivity in rural areas thanks to its ability to support better coverage in open spaces. Moreover, with its wide territorial reach and good penetration in buildings, the 700 MHz band will help service providers meet the rising consumer demand for audiovisual content and other broadband services over wireless networks, Ericsson noted.
“CBN always extensively cooperates with domestic and international industry partners with innovation-driven, open and win-win concepts in mind, promoting continuous maturation of the global industry chain of 5G 700 MHz network and committed to building a high-quality nationwide 5G network in China,” said Li Shuang, deputy director of the department of technology development at CBN. “The successful test by Ericsson based on the 3GPP 5G standards contributed by CBN, including the 700 MHz technology standard and n28 band terminal enhancements standard, has improved the 700 MHz network capability efficiently, which is of great significance to the innovation of low-band 5G networks in various scenarios.”
“The 70 0MHz network capability test based on CBN’s innovative technology standards validates the new capability of 5G low-band networks, while demonstrating Ericsson’s strong cooperation with chipset and device partners. It also demonstrates the high performance and adaptability of Ericsson’s low band 5G systems. We have expanded the 700MHz ecosystem from smartphones to a wider range of terminal form factors including CPE, leveraging efficient technology to provide more usage scenarios for the commercialization of the 700Mhz network in China and the world,” said Peng Junjiang, GM of Northeast Asia R&D at Ericsson.
This Interoperability Development Testing (IoDT) was carried out at the Ericsson Beijing Lab using a 5G CPE with an embedded 5G chipset and Ericsson’s 700 MHz 4T4R wireless network equipment.
China Broadcasting Network was established in October 2020 in Beijing, becoming the country’s fourth mobile operator.
The operator said it will provide 5G services in partnership with China Mobile, and is also expected to offer 4G services in the future.
China Broadcasting Network currently has 80 megahertz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band and 100 megahertz in the 4.9 GHz band.
The Chinese operator has committed to invest CNY250 million (currently $38.6 million) to launch services in 16 cities across China. In May 2020, the company announced plans to deploy a nationwide 700 MHz 5G network in cooperation with China Mobile.
