Conducted at the BICS 5G Lab – itself launched in June – the trial enabled a 5G data session for outbound roamers and demonstrated roaming interoperability between two network providers. BICS said this was a "critical element" for the communications ecosystem to be able to meet the international needs of roaming devices and end users.
The trial also established connectivity between the visited and home network via secured gateways (SEPP), hosted on BICS’ IPX network.
Mikaël Schachne (pictured), VP Mobility and IoT, BICS says: “BICS is perfectly positioned at the heart of the communications system to facilitate 5G Standalone readiness, ensuring operators and enterprises are fully prepared for roll-out. The insights BICS provides, harnessed from our unparalleled expertise in carrying over half the world’s data roaming traffic, can help businesses to accelerate their 5G strategies and provide first-class offerings to their customers.”
The BICS 5G Lab provides a test environment for operators and enterprises to test their readiness for next-gen services deployment of 5G Standalone, independently of the 4G core network. It follows BICS’ previous initiatives in promotion of 5G adoption, including the recent addition of borderless 5G connectivity to its SIM for Things solution earlier this year.
Geert Standaert, CTO, Proximus says: “5G represents a revolution of mobile communications and will accelerate the advent of the Internet of Things. The conclusion of this trial marks a major advancement in Proximus’ 5G Standalone rollout, which will bring unprecedented advantages to both end users and businesses.”
BICS said the trial marked a "milestone" in its "commitment to enabling the international readiness for 5G adoption necessary to meet and capitalize on this growth opportunity".
