5G call in Beijing a milestone for industry

Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson, together with China Mobile Research Institute and US tech giant Intel, completed on Friday a 3GPP-compliant, multivendor Standalone 5G New Radio (NR) call in Beijing, marking another milestone in the commercialization of the fifth generation of communication technology.

The move is also the first multivendor 5G call to meet 3GPP's standalone 5G NR specifications, right after the global mobile industry completed the world’s 5G standard by approving technical specifics for the standalone network of 5G.

"It marks another milestone with our ecosystem partners on the path to 5G commercialization, building on our years of research and standardization," said Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice-president and head of business area networks for Ericsson.

5G, up 10 times faster than 4G, will act as an important platform for new technologies. China is among the first batch of countries to issue 5G licenses in the world, most likely between the second half of 2019 and the first half of 2020.

According to an industry report by Ernst & Young, the number of 5G users in China will reach 576 million by 2025, or over 40 percent of global consumption, and the country will spend 1.5 trillion yuan ($223 billion) on 5G between 2019 and 2025.

Huang Yuhong, deputy general manager of China Mobile Research Institute, said:"The call was an important milestone for the commercialization of 5G standards and will lay a solid foundation for China Mobile in our large-scale 5G trial, enabling the success of the global 5G industry."

Ericsson also noted on Friday that it will cooperate with China Mobile to conduct a 5G field trial in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, later this year, where the demo system will also be deployed and tested.

Together, three companies will demonstrate a standalone 5G NR live call later this month at the Mobile World Congress held in Shanghai.