BERN, SWITZERLAND and GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA — Calling it a “data-call-first”, Ericsson and its industry partners Qualcomm Technologies and Chinese smartphone maker OPPO successfully demonstrated on November 29 a 5G data call between Swisscom’s network in Bern, Switzerland and Telstra’s network in Gold Coast, Australia.
The 5G data call was achieved using dynamic spectrum sharing on a 3GPP Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) band. Pre-commercial 5G smartphones from OPPO (pictured), powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System, were used on both ends of the call. OPPO is the first 5G device manufacturer to implement Ericsson Spectrum Sharing technology in its smartphones. Ericsson Spectrum Sharing was deployed in Swisscom and Telstra’s commercial 5G networks at the respective sites.
Ericsson Spectrum Sharing, part of Ericsson Radio System, is a dynamic spectrum sharing solution based on the 3GPP standard that allows the deployment of both 4G and 5G in the same band through a software upgrade, and dynamically allocates spectrum based on user demand. The switch between 4G and 5G carriers happens within milliseconds, minimizing spectrum wastage and enabling best user performance, according to an Ericsson news release.
Swisscom was the first communications service provider in Europe to launch commercial 5G services in April 2019 on the 3.6 GHz band. Swisscom says it is targeting 90% population coverage by the end of 2019.
Telstra went live with 5G commercial services and four 5G devices in May 2019 on the 3.6 GHz band. Telstra now offers six 5G devices, and has some 5G sites in 25 metropolitan and regional cities around Australia, with another 10 cities to be added by June 30, 2020, according to the news release.
“As a leading global tech company, OPPO proactively works to accelerate large-scale commercialization of 5G,” said Andy Wu, vice-president and president of the software engineering business unit for OPPO, in the news release. “Our cooperation with Ericsson, Qualcomm, Swisscom and Telstra to facilitate the commercial use of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology is part of the in-depth collaborations among the five companies in the 5G era. The 5G smartphones that support this technology will provide more stable, seamless, and speedy connections, and hence a better user experience in the future.”
Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice-president and head of networks for Ericsson, added: “This industry-first highlights the value that Ericsson Spectrum Sharing has to communication service providers as they roll-out and ramp-up 5G. With this milestone achieved with our 5G ecosystem partners OPPO, Qualcomm Technologies, and customers Swisscom and Telstra, we’ve shown that our unique solution will not only enable service providers to re-use their 4G spectrum assets for 5G but that it will also support all 5G devices. It is the most economically feasible way to launch 5G on existing bands, enabling nationwide 5G coverage and helping make 5G accessible around the world.”
