In July 2021, Three Austria had started trials of a 5G standalone network in Vienna
Austrian telco Three (Drei) launched its 5G Standalone (SA) network in the country, the telco said in a release.
The new 5G SA network was launched under the 5G+ brand and will initially provide coverage for 1.3 million households and companies across the country.
Rudolf Schrefl, CEO of Drei Austria, said: “Since the beginning of 2019 we have set up a completely new network for 5G. Today we are going live in our core network. With 5G+ we are now offering mobile Internet with bandwidth guarantee – not only for corporate customers, but also for private customers at home. This means that our customers in Austria, but also in Europe and even worldwide are the first to fully benefit from the latest technology standard in everyday life. “
“With 5G+ we are multiplying the capacity in our network and can now bring it to the customer in the best quality. As of today, our Austria-wide network is fully equipped with a 5G core network. All of our existing 5G transmission sites are activated for 5G+. This is a real game changer for the Internet in Austria,” said Matthias Baldermann, CTO of Drei Austria.
The Austrian carrier also said that the possibilities of the new 5G SA technology standard are already being used in some countries for some professional applications such as live TV broadcasts, for tests with autonomous vehicles and drones or for controlling robots and automated factories.
In May, Qualcomm Technologies, Three Austria and ZTE had successfully executed a 5G network demonstration using a Standalone (SA) coverage layer based on 700 MHz (n28) and 1.4 GHz (n75) bands. At that time, ZTE highlighted that the demonstration will help accelerate 5G expansion in suburban and rural areas with enhanced downlink speeds and coverage for customers.
In July 2021, Three Austria started trials of a 5G Standalone network in Vienna. The telco had claimed to be the first of the three telecommunications providers in Austria to start tests for this technology. For the commercial launch of 5G standalone, the Austrian carrier bought its own 5G licenses for 700 and 1.5 GHz frequencies last year, which the company will fully use for 5G Standalone.
