Telia Sweden has switched on a trial 5G network at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. The network, which has been deployed in conjunction with Ericsson, is designed to act as an ‘innovation arena’ which can be used by KTH for testing 5G applications with industry support. Telia says the move is ‘an important step towards a commercial launch of 5G in Sweden by 2020’.
Separately, Sweden’s sale of spectrum in the 700MHz band got underway yesterday (4 December), with telcos bidding for a total of 60MHz of spectrum which is suitable for future 5G services. The auction, which is being conducted by the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (Post & Telestyrelsen, PTS), includes one 2×10MHz block, two 2×5MHz blocks and four unpaired blocks of 5MHz, with a reserve price of SEK50 million (USD5.6 million) per 5MHz.