During the current 5G trials, Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Ericsson have achieved a significant technological milestone by exhibiting a peak download speed of 5.92 gigabits per second, as per the company. The new speed record was accomplished by Vi on a single test device while the company was conducting its own 5G trials in Pune, Maharashtra.
These trials were done on both mid-band and high-band (mmWave) 5G trial spectrum using Ericsson Massive MIMO radios, Ericsson cloud native dual mode 5G core for Standalone architecture, and NR-DC (New Radio-Dual Connectivity) software. A few months back, Vi demoed 5G VoNR in 5G trials in Gujarat with Nokia.
Once it deploys 5G on its commercial network, Vi will be able to deliver latency-sensitive and high-performing applications such as AR/VR and 8K video streaming thanks to its 5G Standalone NR-DC software. Additionally, the company will be able to offer cutting-edge new use cases for both consumers and businesses.
Earlier, in its 5G testing and use cases’ display in Pune, Vi had exhibited speeds of over 4 Gbps. The new record speed is 5.92 Gbps, and it was reached by using the 5G spectrum that the government had set aside for testing.
According to the November 2021 Ericsson Mobility Report, 5G will account for 39% of all mobile subscribers in India by 2027. By 2027, 5G will be the leading mobile access technology by subscriptions. By 2020, 5G is expected to make up about half of all mobile subscriptions around the world, reach 75% of the world’s population, and carry 62% of all smartphone traffic.
Commenting on this achievement, Jagbir Singh, Chief Technology Officer, Vi said:
The trial demonstrates how Vi is constantly testing and preparing its network for new 5G based applications that will rely on the low latency, reliability and high speeds of 5G. Given the growing consumer demand for immersive media and video streaming services, the 5G speeds that we have demonstrated will help us prepare for the mobile broadband speeds and greater network capacity requirements of customers, as we ready for ‘5G for a Better Tomorrow’ in India.
Amarjeet Singh, Vice President and Head of Customer Unit Vi at Ericsson, said:
Achieving this technology milestone of 5.92 Gbps download speed by leveraging Ericsson’s 5G Standalone NR-DC software and cloud-native dual-mode 5G Core represents a milestone in India’s evolution to 5G Standalone with mmWave. Based on our global 5G deployment across 121 live networks, we are confident we can help our customers like Vi seamlessly evolve their network to 5G.