5G is the current buzz-word in telecommunications circles with each provider trying to get their product to market first. Today Telstra have taken a step towards being the first with a 5G phone call on a commercial network.
The first end-to-end call occurred at Telstra’s 5G Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast and is “the first end-to-end 5G non-standalone (NSA) 3GPP data call on a commercial mobile network…. in a multivendor setup”. The first call over the 3.5GHz spectrum brought together all the companies required for a commercial 5G network call: Telstra’s 5G NSA commercial network, Ericsson’s commercial 5G NR radio 6488, a personal Telstra SIM card and the Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform.
All companies involved were pleased with the achievement as you would expect with 5G being the future of mobile technology.
Demonstrating this 5G data call end-to-end using my own personal SIM card on Telstra’s mobile network is the closest any provider has come to making a ’true’ 5G call in the real world-environment, and marks another 5G first for Telstra.Mike Wright, Group M.D. Networks, Telstra
Ericsson and Intel had similar things to say emphasising that they are ready for their 5G businesses to expand and they both plan to be a part of Australia’s 5G future. All three companies will continue to work together to conduct further 5G tests ahead of Telstra’s expected 5G commercial network rollout in 2019.
With Telstra hoping to roll out their 5G commercial network next year is it about time we start looking at 5G-enabled mobile phones with our purchases? Or do we think the full rollout will take a long time before it reaches all of us?
The carriers don’t even have universal VoLTE calling, 5G calling is along way off at this rate.