Page 107 - SAMENA Trends - April-May 2021

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

EE Switches On 5G in 35 New Locations as it Nears Active Subscriber

Milestone

Mobile network operator (MNO) EE has an- locations as: Aldridge, Alexandria, Ayles- Swindon, Widnes, Wigan, Worcester and
nounced it has switched on its 5G network bury, Ayr, Barnsley, Biggleswade, Black- York. With EE noting that its latest cover-
in 35 new towns and cities across the Unit- burn, Bolton, Brighton, Chester, Colchester, age expansion means that its 5G network
ed Kingdom, while also confirming the ad- Dundee, Exeter, Grantham, Gravesend, Har- is now available in a total of 160 towns
dition of outdoor 5G coverage to ‘some of rogate, Lincoln, Milton Keynes, Norwich, and cities across Britain, it also revealed
the UK’s most popular tourist landmarks, Paignton, Poole, Portsmouth, Rickman- that it expects to achieve the milestone of
historical sites, and coastal locations’. An- sworth, Runcorn, Southport, Stockton- one million active 5G customers – which
nouncing the infrastructure expansion in a on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Stratford-up- it defines as being ‘those that are actively
press release, the MNO identified the new on-Avon, Sunbury-on-Thames, Swansea, able to use EE’s 5G network, as they have
both the right plan and a 5G-enabled de-
vice’ – this month. Commenting, Marc
Allera, CEO Consumer Division, BT, said:
‘We’ve announced that we’ve switched on
our award-winning 5G network in a further
35 towns and cities across the UK, fulfilling
the commitment we set last year to dou-
ble our 5G place count. With the gradual
easing of lockdown restrictions expected
in the coming weeks and months, the in-
creased capacity and faster speeds of our
5G network will ensure our customers stay
connected as footfall starts to increase in
historically busy places.’

TIM Brasil Taps Ceragon for 5G OpenRAN mmWave Trial

TIM Brasil has enlisted Ceragon Networks field trial will take place on the INATEL provision of 5G OpenRAN solutions. For
to participate in 5G testing it is carrying campus, in Santa Rita do Sapucai (Minas the purpose of the trial, TIM Brasil will
out alongside the Telecom Infra-Project Gerais), and will incorporate software and deploy Ceragon’s IP-50E millimeter wave
(TIP) and the National Telecommunication hardware vendors, operators, university (mmWave) solution, which the vendor says
Institute (Instituto Nacional de members and members of the TIP working is capable of delivering capacity of up to
Telecomunicacoes, INATEL). The open groups. The project is focused on the 20Gbps.

Telit Announced the Success of its 5G Data Card for Interoperability Testing

Telit announced that its FN980 5G X55 5G Modem-RF System, the FN980 captured with Sony image sensors and
data card has successfully completed series supports sub-6GHz FDD/TDD and sent in real time to a Sony office in Tokyo
interoperability testing in the sub-6GHz LTE Category 20 – 7x carrier aggregation. where the vehicle was driven remotely
spectrum range on the 5G network of Osamu Sato, country director for Telit, while the operator watched a monitor,
Japanese cellco NTT DOCOMO, having noted that 5G interoperability in mmWave taking advantage of 5G’s low latency, large
previously operated on the 4G network, frequency bands would also be provided capacity and higher-speed connectivity.
enabling original equipment manufacturers in due course. NTT DOCOMO has also A press release stated: ‘In the emerging
(OEMs) to take advantage of Gigabit LTE announced a successful 5G test in age of autonomous mobility, remote
and future-proof their products for 5G, partnership with Sony, remotely controlling operation and monitoring are becoming
suitable for a wide variety of bandwidth Sony’s Sociable Cart (SC-1) entertainment increasingly important. The cross-border
intensive IoT applications, including high vehicle carrying passengers in Guam from operation of vehicles is expected to enable
definition (HD) surveillance video, digital a base 2,500km away in Tokyo, via a 5G global mobility services that benefit from
signage and industrial routers/gateways. network provided by DOCOMO Pacific. personnel working in various time zones.’
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Video of the vehicle’s perimeter was
107 APRIL-MAY 2021