The Spanish telco said that the 5G trial hit a top speed of 17 Gbps
Spanish operator Orange and Ericsson have conducted a 5G trial in real-world, outdoor surroundings in Spain, according to local press reports.
During the 5G trial, the two companies said they have reached speeds of 12 Gbps to 17 Gbps at street level.
The trial was conducted outside Ericsson’s Spanish headquarters in downtown Madrid, with the companies using a 5G base station weighing 300 kilograms as well as multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) and beamforming technology to simulate customer experience at street level.
The participating companies also said that average speeds were 15 Gbps while latency was reduced to less than 1 millisecond, compared to 20 milliseconds for 4G and 800 milliseconds for 3G.
In order to carry out this 5G test, the Spanish government granted temporary permission for the companies to use an 800 megahertz in the 28 GHz band.
Last week, Orange Spain said it successfully completed its first end-to-end data session using LTE-M technology, transferring Internet of Things (IoT) data over its commercial network in a trial conducted at its Madrid headquarters.
Orange teamed up with Ericsson, using the vendor’s virtualized packet mobile radio network, and Spanish firm Telnet, which provided the IoT solution for the demonstration, which involved commercial devices.
Parent company Orange opened its first European IoT Open Lab in Chatillon in April to support partners wishing to evaluate how their products or services perform over LTE-M or LoRa networks. During Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the French telecom group said its Spanish and Belgian subsidiaries would be the first units to start deploying LTE-M during 2017.
Dutch government paves the way to award 5G spectrum in 2019
In other 5G news, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs is preparing for a national frequency auction of 4G/5G mobile spectrum in the 700 MHz, 1400 MHz and 2100 MHz bands in 2019.
The Dutch government said the new licenses will be valid for 20 years (2020-2040) and carry coverage obligations specifically for areas of the country where mobile broadband connectivity is inadequate.
“A new, national auction of available wireless communications leads to additional capacity for faster internet services. This will create a basis for the digital economy in the Netherlands to continue to grow in the future,” minister Henk Kamp said.
