Page 81 - SAMENA Trends - June-August 2021

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Korea Targets 2028 for 6G Launch

South Korea targeted deployment of the of its 6G research. Formal specifications Organizations in Japan and Finland agreed
world’s first commercial 6G network in for 6G aren’t expected until around 2026, to collaborate on relevant standards earlier
2028, with the government earmarking but momentum accelerated in recent this month, while China’s government and
KRW220 billion ($193.7 million) to develop months as major players look to introduce industry experts outlined a plan in March
the core standards and technologies over commercial service around 2030. to advance 6G between 2021 and 2025.
five years, Aju Business Daily reported.
Science and ICT Minister Lim Hye-sook
reportedly stated the nation should take
a lead because 6G will be a foundation
for digital innovation. Aju Business Daily
reported the ministry outlined a 6G R&D
action plan during a strategy meeting
involving the government, industry
leaders and experts. It recently agreed a
cooperation with the US on 6G standards
and plans for similar partnerships with
Finland and China. A major objective of the
project is to link satellites and terrestrial
networks into a single network. Domestic
vendor Samsung previously demonstrated
an end-to-end 140GHz wireless link using
beamforming in terahertz spectrum as part

Optus Demos NR-DC Technology

Australian mobile network operator (MNO) Optus has completed utilizing both spectrum bands simultaneously, with average and
a demonstration showcasing the use of New Radio Dual peak 5G speeds expected to increase significantly. Optus has said
Connectivity (NR-DC) technology to aggregate its mid-band it expects to roll out this new capability across its 5G network
3500MHz spectrum assets with its recently acquired mmWave ‘later this year’ as commercial mmWave devices begin to hit the
26GHz spectrum. With the demonstration having been conducted market. Commenting, Lambo Kanagaratnam, Optus Managing
in Sydney and carried out in partnership with Ericsson and Director Networks, said: ‘It’s important to us that we look at
MediaTek, the MNO said it had shown the benefits of using NR- innovative ways to amplify our 5G technology assets so that our
DC to extend the mmWave 5G coverage over a greater distance. customers receive the best and fastest 5G network possible. The
Using MediaTek’s M80 test platform and Ericsson’s RAN Compute demonstration of NR Dual connectivity aggregation is another
(basebands) and 5G radios, the demo highlighted the benefits of significant technology milestone that will help us meet this goal.’

Jazz Launches Massive MIMO Upgrade

Jazz, Pakistan’s largest cellco by the upgraded system had achieved peak capabilities. Massive MIMO essentially
subscribers, has deployed a commercial throughput of 960Mbps across eight allows us the freedom to provide more data
Massive MIMO upgrade on its 4G network, handsets via a single Massive MIMO cell at greater speeds, enabling our customers
enabling the operator provide better site. Jazz CTO Khalid Shehzad was quoted to use the enhanced services on their
coverage, improved data transmission as saying of the rollout: ‘We see that our existing 4G devices. Network speeds will
speeds and better service quality. Jazz customers are increasingly using high- be faster than ever, which will significantly
noted that an ‘aggressive’ rollout campaign bandwidth applications which resultantly improve the end-user experience.’
is under way for the technology, and that puts pressure on existing network
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