du noted that the trial, which took place in Abu Dhabi, boosted uplink performance by 70% on the telco’s 5G-Advanced network
Emirati-based telco du partnered with Nokia and MediaTek in a tiral in Abu Dhabi that boosted uplink (UL) performance by 70% on du’s 5G-Advanced network, while also expanding indoor coverage for premium customers.
Du noted that the trial demonstrated significant improvements in UL speeds and coverage by leveraging multiple frequency bands and advanced transmission pathways. The faster uplink is particularly beneficial for high-demand applications like video conferencing, live streaming and large data uploads, du said.
Hasan Alshemeili, head of infra technology planning at du, said: “This trial not only accelerates the uplink performance of our network but also aligns with our ongoing commitment to enhance customer connectivity since our initial 5G launch in 2019. Our continuous upgrades to our state-of-the-art network infrastructure ensure an unmatched 5G user experience.”
The Arab carrier highlighted that the trial utilized a pioneering method featuring three transmitter antennas combined with two-component Carrier Aggregation (2CC) across FDD and TDD bands, incorporating TDD UL MIMO. Nokia provided its AirScale portfolio, including baseband, massive MIMO radios and macro remote radio heads, to enhance capacity, coverage and performance. The trial also utilized MediaTek’s T830 5G mobile FWA platform.
Du aims to launch 5G-Advanced (5G-A) technology in Dubai this year, Abdulla Baghoum, head of technology operations at du, said during a recent 5G-A summit organized by Chinese vendor Huawei.
The executive noted that the telco’s 5G-Advanced strategy includes the deployment of this technology in the main cities across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next year and achieving national coverage by 2026.
Baghoum noted that the telco had carried out 5G-A trials in October 2023, which paved the way for the initial commercial launch of the technology in January 2024.
The executive also highlighted that the carrier is already working on the next generation of Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technology using 5G-A. In this field, du aims to reach a market share of 40% within the next three years, which compares with a current market share of 34%.
Baghoum also stated that the telco also plans to utilize the capability of 5G-A technology in both the B2C and B2B segments. In the B2B area, du plans to offer a slicing function and a 5G-to-B suite of services.
Nokia and du had previously announced the conclusion of what it claimed to be UAE’s first 5G-Advanced 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) trial over a commercial network.
The partners said that the RedCap trial showcased the readiness of du’s 5G network for innovative use cases in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), wearables and Industry 4.0 to address 5G monetization challenges.
