The test call was completed using commercially available Nokia AirScale base stations and a mobile smartphone form-factor test device fitted with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem.
5G technology has come knocking at our doors. Just a few days after Oppo announced its achievement in successfully making a video call over 5G network, Qualcomm and Nokia have completed over-the-air (OTA) 5G NR data calls in both the mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands. In February this year, it was these very companies which completed a key 3GPP-compliant 5G NR interoperability testing in the 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz spectrum bands using a commercially available Nokia AirScale base station and device prototypes from Qualcomm Technologies.
The companies say that compliant with the global 3GPP 5G NR Release 15 specification in NSA (Non-Standalone) mode, the interoperability testing milestones were completed at Nokia’s 5G center of excellence in Oulu, Finland. The test call was completed using commercially available Nokia AirScale base stations and a mobile smartphone form-factor test device which was fitted with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem and antenna modules with integrated RF transceiver, RF front-end and antenna elements.
“These successful data calls are a significant step in making 5G a commercial reality in early 2019, and this milestone with Nokia will help enable 5G network deployments across various operators and regions around the world,” Durga Malladi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies, said in a statement. For Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, the milestone tests “show the flexibility and capabilities of our AirScale radio access technology to deliver on the promise of commercial 5G.”
These OTA calls are key steps in enabling the launch of commercial 5G networks and mobile devices from early 2019 onwards, in developed countries like the US, Korea, Europe, Australia, Japan and China. India could feature among the early adopters as the government is said to be planning to initiate 5G spectrum auctions starting with bands over 3,000 MHz. The fifth generation of connectivity has been a priority and major tech companies have already tested the waters in India.
Ericsson has already demonstrated its first live 5g end-to-end demonstration in India. The company used their own test bed and 5G NR (New Radio) for the test, which boast of delivered a throughput of 5.7Gbps and latency of 3 millisecond. The demo showcased 5G use cases and live demonstration of 5G tech like Gigabit LTE with License Assisted Access (LAA) technology. Consumers will start reaping the benefits of the 5G technology from second half of 2019.
Earlier this year, market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) predicted that consumers will start seeing 5G on their smartphones in the second half of 2019, with a steady rise in regional availability all the way till 2020. It also predicted that roughly 7 percent of all smartphones will be 5G-enabled by 2020. 5G, as a technology standard, will offer faster internet speeds and more reliable connections. It is expected that 5G will see an average download speed of 1Gbps.
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