Page 118 - SAMENA Trends - September 2019

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Sunrise Opens 5G Service to Public; UPC to Offer 1Gbps Nationwide

Swiss full-service provider Sunrise has telco’s 5G ‘fiber over the air’ service can According the operator, download speeds
made its 5G services available to the also be bundled with TV and landline of up to 1Gbps will be made available
public, having initially launched a limited telephony services, and subscribers that throughout its footprint ‘all at once.’ UPC
offering in April this year. The operator is are also signed up to a Sunrise mobile plan CEO Severina Pascu explained: ‘From 25
initially focusing on using its 5G network can benefit from the ‘Sunrise Advantage’ September, rural and alpine regions will
to provide high speed broadband services discount scheme, in the same way as its also be able to benefit from Giga speeds
to customers outside of the footprint fibre or copper-based broadband services. for the first time. This is an absolute
of the nation’s fiber-optic networks. As Sunrise’s 5G service is currently available novelty in the Swiss telecommunications
such, Sunrise now offers customers 5G in over 262 towns and cities, covering market.’ UPC is currently the subject of
as an option for subscribers to its home at least 80% of the population in these a takeover bid from Sunrise, though the
broadband plans and will utilize the locations. Meanwhile, cable broadband agreed sale has been challenged by the
technology that provides users with the provider UPC Switzerland has announced latter’s shareholders, and the agreement is
best connection speed based on their that it will launch gigabit broadband awaiting approvals.
location, with no additional cost. The speeds nationwide from 25 September.

DOCOMO to Deploy 4G/5G Multi-Vendor RAN, Claims World First

Japan’s NTT DOCOMO has announced that commercial 5G service it plans to launch coverage by combining 5G networks with
in collaboration with Fujitsu, NEC Corp and on 20 September 2019, concurrent to existing 4G networks using equipment
Nokia, it has successfully achieved multi- which the operator plans to expand 5G from diverse vendors.
vendor interoperability across a range
of 4G and 5G base station equipment
compatible with the international
standards of the Open Radio Access
Network (O-RAN) Alliance. Claiming world
first in terms of the ‘realization of this level
of multi-vendor interoperability in 4G and
5G base station equipment conforming
to O-RAN specifications’, the cellco’s
statement goes on to point out that ‘O-RAN
standards include front haul specifications
and X2 profile specifications’. DOCOMO
will deploy the equipment in the pre-

Claro Begins Testing 5G Technology

Claro, Ecuador’s leading mobile network operator (MNO) by
subscribers, has demonstrated 5G technology at an event
organized by the Ministry of Telecommunications in Guayaquil
to promote its ‘Digital Ecuador’ strategy, reports El Universo. In
a statement, the company said interactive exhibits would enable
users to experience the faster download speeds enabled by 5G, as
well as applications such as virtual and augmented reality, and the
Internet of Things (IoT). The operator, which recently announced
plans to invest USD500 million in network upgrades over the next
three years, also revealed it will soon begin 5G technology tests
in Quito in partnership with hardware vendor Huawei. Ecuador’s
government outlined plans in July to allocate 3.5GHz spectrum in
2020 in preparation for the launch of 5G services.

118 SEPTEMBER 2019