Swisscom in partnership with Ericsson has completed Europe’s first end-to-end, multivendor 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) data call on 3.5 GHz band in the Swiss city of Burgdorf.
The end-to-end 5G data call was made over Swisscom’s 3GPP-compliant network using Ericsson Radio System radio, baseband and transport solutions, as well as the Ericsson Cloud Packet Core operated on a system-verified Ericsson NFVi solution. Data transmissions were carried out using Intel’s Mobile Trial Platform (MTP) device and Swisscom’s 5G-subscribed SIM card.
Swisscom aims to be the first mobile operator in Switzerland to offer 5G services, pending the definitive outcome of commercial spectrum in the country. The operator plans to roll out 5G services in selected locations by end of 2018.
The latest trial follows a joint project between the two companies in February on end-to-end network slicing for critical communications to deploy and explore new use cases for 4G and 5G.
Heinz Herren, CIo and STO, Swsscom
The experience that Swisscom gains with the 5G network in Burgdorf is very important for our coming launch of 5G services.
Fredrik Jejdling, EVP and Head of Business Area Networks, Ericsson
We’ve raised the bar on our strategic partnership with Swisscom with these new milestones. By achieving an end-to-end data call on the 3.5GHz band and kick-starting the 5G network rollout, we are helping Swisscom bring 5G services quicker to its customers.
