BROWSING: EMEA

Samsung to launch 4G/5G trials with Virgin Media O2 in the UK

Samsung Electronics announced that the company will carry out 4G and 5G trials with Virgin Media O2 in the U.K. During the trials, the two companies will verify the capability and performance of Samsung’s 4G and 5G network solutions in Virgin Media O2’s commercial network. The...

Deutsche Telekom, ONF launch SD-RAN trial in Berlin

German operator Deutsche Telekom and the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) announced the launch of a software-defined RAN trial in Berlin. The partners noted that the Berlin trial is the first field trial implementing fully disaggregated open RAN solutions using ONF's RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) software...

GSA reports 180 mobile carriers have already deployed 5G in 72 countries

A total of 180 operators in 72 countries had already launched one or more 3GPP-compliant 5G services as of the end of September, according to the latest update from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). Also, 465 operators in 139 countries were investing in 5G,...

France ends September with 29,327 authorized cell sites for 5G

France had a total of 29,327 5G authorized sites as of October 1, of which 18,689 were declared technically operational by the local mobile operators, according to the latest information provided by France’s spectrum agency ANFR. ANFR said that the number of authorized 5G sites...

Telefonica to reach 50% of Germany’s population with 5G by end-2022

German operator Telefónica Deutschland/O2, controlled by Spanish telco Telefonica, said it expects to reach 50% of the country’s population with its 5G service by the end of next year. By the end of this year, the carrier aims to reach 30% of Germany’s population with...

BT selects Oracle to accelerate delivery of 5G services

U.K. telco BT Group has selected Oracle Communications Cloud Native Converged Policy Management to optimize its network resources and bring new 5G offerings to market. In a release, Oracle noted that the solution will enable BT to test and implement 5G services—such as live streaming...

China accounts for over 40% of 6G patents: report

China is responsible for 40.3% of global 6G patent filings, followed by the U.S. with 35.2%. Japan with 9.9%, Europe with 8.9% and South Korea with 4.2%, according to a report by Nikkei. Nikkei worked with Tokyo-based research firm Cyber Creative Institute to survey nearly...

Telia Norway deploys over 1,000 5G sites across the country

Nordic carrier Telia Norway has already installed over 1,000 5G sites in Norway with the aim of reaching nationwide coverage by 2023, Ericsson said in a release. The vendor, which is Telia Norway’s 5G partner, said that 1.5 million Norwegians already have access to the...

Orange selects Amdocs to support 5G SA Open RAN test network

Amdocs announced that it has been selected by French telecommunications group Orange to provide the business support systems (BSS) for the latter’s 5G Standalone experimental cloud network launched in July in Lannion, France. The data- and AI-driven software-enabled network is a two-year project that aims to...

Telecom Italia expands O-RAN footprint in Italy

Italian operator Telecom Italia (TIM) announced the activations of Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) systems in the cities of Matera and Turin following its first use of the technology in Faenza earlier this year. The European operator said the aim is to accelerate the...

NEC, AWS expand collaboration to include 5G, digital government

Japanese tech giant NEC Corporation has expanded its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in areas that include global 5G and digital government, in support of accelerating digital transformation for customers. In November 2020, NEC and AWS concluded a corporate-level strategic collaboration agreement, and have...

Masmovil 5G network reaches 553 towns and cities across Spain

Masmovil is using 3.5 GHz for its 5G offering Spanish telecom operator Masmovil is currently offering 5G service in 553 towns and cities in 39 provinces across Spain for the customers of its Yoigo brand, the company said in a release. The carrier’s 5G service is...

France ends August with 28,821 authorized cell sites for 5G

France had a total of 28,821 5G authorized sites as of September 1, of which 17,559 were declared technically operational by the local mobile operators, according to the latest information provided by France’s spectrum agency ANFR. ANFR said that the number of authorized 5G sites...

Deutsche Telekom to launch 5G SA in 2021 or 2022: CTO

German operator Deutsche Telekom expects to launch its 5G Standalone (SA) network in the country depending on the use cases for the technology as well as the availability of devices, the company’s CTO Walter Goldenits said in a blog post. “If the first use cases...

GSA reports 176 mobile carriers have already deployed 5G in 72 countries

A total of 176 operators in 72 countries had already launched one or more 3GPP-compliant 5G services, according to the latest update from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). By mid-August 2021, 461 operators in 137 countries were investing in 5G, including trials, acquisition of...

NEC, Fujitsu begin 5G base station O-RAN interoperability testing

Japanese companies NEC and Fujitsu have begun developing technologies for interoperability testing between 5G base station equipment conforming to O-RAN specifications at NEC's U.K. laboratories and Fujitsu's U.S. laboratories. Both companies are expected to build a verification environment using these technologies in their respective laboratories,...

Vodafone continues to expand its 5G footprint in the U.K.

U.K. telecommunications operator Vodafone currently offers 5G services in 123 towns and cities across the country. In mid-June, the carrier had said, its 5G coverage had reached 100 markets in the U.K.; it has expanded that by 23 in the time since. According to the...

UK universities launch virtual research center to focus on 6G technology

A virtual research center, called 6G Futures, has been recently launched in the U.K. by the University of Bristol and King’s College. The new virtual hub groups over 400 world-renowned experts in telecommunications networks, artificial intelligence, social sciences and the arts from these two universities. “The...

Free Mobile claims largest 5G network in France in terms of cell sites

French mobile operator Free Mobile, a subsidiary of Illiad, said its 5G network continues to be the largest in terms of cell sites, which results from its rollout on 700 MHz frequencies. The carrier also uses those airwaves to provide LTE services. The operator's...

Vodafone Germany expands 5G footprint, adds new 5G devices

Vodafone Germany said that the number of 5G-capable devices on its network has more than doubled in the last six months, with around 1.3 million customers now using a 5G smartphone on the Vodafone network, the carrier said in a release. The telco said that...

GSA sees acceleration in 5G private networks globally

The industry organization Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) said that it is tracking at least 370 companies around the world that have been or are investing in private mobile networks, with 5G deployments beginning to gain momentum. The number includes trials and pilot deployments, commercial...

France reaches over 28,000 authorized 5G sites nationwide

France had a total of 28,018 5G authorized sites as of August 1, of which 16,517 were declared technically operational by the local mobile carriers, according to the latest information provided by France’s spectrum agency ANFR. ANFR said that the number of authorized 5G sites...

Virgin Media O2 selects Ericsson for 5G Standalone deployment

Ericsson said it has been selected by U.K. carrier Virgin Media O2 provide the core kit for its Standalone (SA) 5G network, with the infrastructure expected to support a range of advanced applications including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and other immersive media...

Spanish government raises $1.3 billion in 700 MHz spectrum auction

The Spanish government raised a total of 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in the 700 MHz spectrum auction, with local operators Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange securing these key frequencies to expand 5G services. The Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs detailed that the government raised around...