The 5G test network at İTÜ Ayazağa campus is being built using Ericsson Radio System products and Ericsson 5G standalone core
Ericsson has partnered with Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) and Turkcell with the aim of installing a 5G test network at İTÜ’s Ayazağa campus.
In a release, the Swedish vendor said that the network will showcase the benefits of 5G technology while providing a development and test environment for new and enhanced use cases.
The vendor also said that the 5G test network at İTÜ Ayazağa Campus is being built using Ericsson Radio System products and Ericsson’s 5G Standalone core.
The 5G test network will also create a collaborative environment for academia, industries and telecom ecosystem players to conduct R&D activities, Ericsson said.
Ericsson highlighted that the first use case is an ongoing test run of a fully functioning autonomous bus, powered by 5G, within the university campus.
İsmail Koyuncu, rector at ITU said: “This R&D collaboration with Turkcell and Ericsson brings together the academic expertise of our university with industry and technology, providing unique opportunities for our students and researchers. The 5G Technology Campus expands the boundaries of science by providing an environment where academic research can be translated into real-world applications. The 5G test network established here will serve as a testing ground for our researchers to explore how these new technologies can improve people’s lives.”
Koyuncu said that the facility will also provide an ideal opportunity for students to participate in 5G studies and contribute to the development of innovative information and communication technology solutions.
“The initiation of the 5G Technology Campus at Istanbul Technical University is a step in our joint efforts to build a more connected digital future using emerging technologies. Ericsson and Turkcell have been in a close partnership since the introduction of 2G mobile communication in Türkiye. The two companies have been closely collaborating to establish state-of-the-art mobile telecommunications networks to enhance the quality of life in the country, empower businesses, and support sustainable development. We are delighted to be part of this important collaboration in establishing the 5G Technology Campus at Istanbul Technical University,” said Işıl Yalçın, VP and head of Ericsson Türkiye at Ericsson Middle East and Africa.
Ericsson recently announced two separate developments with Turkish operators to cooperate in different fields including 5G-Advanced (5G-A) and 6G.
Ericsson and Türk Telekom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the recent Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2024 to cooperate on exploring the 6G ecosystem and its application areas.
Ericsson, through its research site and sole center in the Middle East and Africa (MMEA) region, Ericsson Research Turkey and Türk Telekom will cooperate in the development of the future wireless communication technology through joint research and development projects conducted both in Turkey and internationally.
In a separate deal, Ericsson and Turkcell recently announced the completion of a successful 5G Standalone (SA) proof of concept (PoC). Together the companies demonstrated how tailored 5G network slices can be instantiated on demand to meet the connectivity needs of customers, how multiple slices can serve a single 5G device with both enterprise and consumer user profiles and how charging can be differentiated among different slices, the Nordic vendor said.
The PoC demonstrated how “work” and “personal” applications on a 5G device can be associated to different profiles, each linked to dedicated network slices.
The PoC was implemented on a 5G core testbed running on Turkcell’s telco cloud infrastructure deployed in lab environment of Turkcell.
