The pre-standard 5G network has been deployed on Deutsche Telekom’s commercial network in central Berlin, offering speeds of more than 2Gbps and latency of just 3ms using a 3.7GHz spectrum band.
The sub 6GHz connection supports mobility, wide area and indoor coverage with multigigabit throughput speeds. It is powered by Huawei’s equipment, which uses the most up-to-date 3GPP specifications for 5G New Radio (NR).
“5G new radio will be critical for meeting our customers’ ever-increasing connectivity requirements that are steadily growing with more and more network connections,” said Claudia Nemat, Deutsche Telekom board member for technology and innovation. “Our achievement demonstrates the feasibility of our plans to deliver a superior, new customer experience.”
The implementation in a live real-world setting in central Berlin is based on pre-standard 5G that closely tracks the 3GPP global standard for so-called ‘Non-Standalone New Radio’. The first set of standards for 5G are not due to be finalised until December, although these have been accelerated.
Huimin Zhu, Huawei VP for 5G, said: “As long time partners, both Deutsche Telekom Group and Huawei have joined hands to successfully test 5G NR equipment in field environments based on latest 3GPP R15 standards.
“These achievements highlight the capabilities of the 5G NR equipment to meet operators’ requirements for addressing new business opportunities for end users. Huawei is confident that the partnership with Deutsche Telekom can fully prepare the commercial launch of 5G NR services in Europe by 2020 thanks to 3GPP standardization efforts.”
