Samsung said on Wednesday that it has partnered with TPG Telecom, a mobile operator in Australia to conduct the country’s first 5G virtualised RAN trial. The trial will be conducted on 26GHz spectrum using integrated mmWave technology for mobile and fixed wireless services.
“Deploying mmWave spectrum on our 5G network together with vRAN architecture will allow us to develop exciting 5G use cases for industry verticals and enable the delivery of even faster speeds and greater capacity for our customers,” said Inaki Berroeta, CEO at TPG Telecom in a statement.
For this trial, Samsung will place its Compact Macro and vRAN solution in TPG’s new innovation lab in Glebe, New South Wales. The company’s recently unveiled Compact Macro combines a baseband, radio and antenna in a single form factor. The vRAN solution uses the company’s independently developed stack that can be operated using commercial-off-the-shelf servers. It is already commercialised in Korea, Japan and US markets is said to have supported muti-gigabit speeds, delivering IT technology efficiencies.
Samsung has been working on 5G mmWave technologies since its Australian market entry in April this year. TPG Telecom, that owns various other telecom and internet brands in Australia has recently tripled its total spectrum holdings after its acquired spectrum in 26GHz band, investing AU$108 million.
