Samsung Electronics America and Cisco, in partnership with Verizon, this week announced the successful deployment of the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G trial network in the field, which took place in Ann Arbor, a suburb of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan.
Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans for customer trials of 5G technology for home broadband service (Fixed Wireless Access). Five U.S. cities are scheduled to begin trials in the second quarter of 2017, with pilot trials in a total of 11 markets expected by the middle of the year.
Each location offers a unique set of test parameters, including vendors, geographies, population densities and demographics, and the Ann Arbor location is the first to tackle a multi-vendor deployment of 5G.
The solution includes a 5G virtualized packet core as part of the Cisco Ultra Services Platform with Cisco Advanced Services and Samsung virtual RAN solutions (vRAN), paired with Samsung’s 5G Radio base stations and 5G home routers that will deliver broadband services to Verizon’s trial customers.
Based on Verizon’s 5G Technical Forum specification, the three companies followed a series of comprehensive network vendor interoperability tests (NVIOT) that demonstrated seamless interworking between core network, radio edge and user devices that showcased a core principle of next-generation network virtualization via multi-vendor support.
Adam Koeppe, VP of Network Planning, Verizon
We are excited about the rapid progression of 5G technology with our 5G Technology Forum partners. Interoperability, a key milestone towards 5G commercialization, allows for highly flexible network design to meet emerging 5G use cases.
Yvette Kanouff, SVP and GM, Service Provider Business, Cisco
Our collaboration with Samsung and Verizon for the first of many 5G trials, marks an important industry milestone for interoperability and diversified service offerings. We are also making history on the path towards true Network Function Virtualization (NFV), demonstrating it for the first time in a 5G environment.
