Ericsson and industry partners advance 5G commercial readiness in North America

• First, public 5G NR over-the-air data call using 39 GHz mmWave band
• Demonstration uses commercially available products: Ericsson Radio System AIR 5331 and the Intel® 5G Mobile Trial Platform
• Successful interoperability tests pave the way for commercial 5G devices and ensures network and ecosystem readiness

As the commercial launch of 5G services rapidly approaches, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Intel, together with AT&T and T-Mobile are showcasing the power of the 5G ecosystem. The partners have successfully demonstrated Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G New Radio (NR) interoperability using 39 GHz spectrum – the frequency band that 5G services in North America will be introduced on.

The demonstration takes place at the Mobile World Congress Americas (MWCA) event and is the first public 5G NR over-the-air (OTA) data call using 39 GHz mmWave band. Commercially available products: Ericsson Radio System AIR 5331 and the Intel® 5G Mobile Trial Platform, offer further validation of the supporting 5G ecosystem.

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks at Ericsson, says: “This accomplishment shows that 5G is ready for business. Together with our partners we are continuing to prove the readiness of both the underlying technology and the ecosystem.”

Asha Keddy, Intel Vice President and General Manager of Next Generation and Standards says: “This public multi-vendor 5G NR over-the-air data call using 39 GHz mmWave band signifies that we have reached a new level of interoperability. This successful over-the-air test using the band that will offer 5G services in North America, also demonstrates the network and ecosystem readiness we have achieved.”

The new mmWave bands have required intense interoperability testing of the 3GPP standard and the demonstration at MWCA is a crucial stepping stone for optimizing performance and ensuring 5G network and ecosystem readiness.

Igal Elbaz, Senior Vice President, Wireless Technology AT&T, says: “We congratulate Intel and Ericsson on their progress in achieving this milestone. The 39 GHz system that will be on display at MWCA shows the continuing industry progress in driving from pre-standard systems to standards-based systems across the range of important mmWave bands.”

Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer with T-Mobile, says: “We’ve been working at a fever pace to get commercial 5G ready, reaching one milestone after another. I’m super proud of the team for achieving a multi-vendor 3GPP-based 5G data call using Ericsson’s commercial radios and Intel’s RF chip.”

Technology background:

• First live public NR data call over 39GHz spectrum OTA using AT&T and T-Mobile spectrum: LTE anchor B66 (2.1Ghz) LTE
• Multivendor operable data call based on 3GPP Release 15 specifications
• Supporting hardware and software include Ericsson Radio System commercial radio AIR 5331, commercial SW track and Intel MTP

This milestone follows on the heels of several significant announcements that are accelerating the deployment of commercial 5G networks including the first end-to-end multi-vendor 5G commercial network data call over licenced 3.5GHz in July 2018.

5G is poised to unlock commercial opportunities for every industry. Ericsson’s 5G business potential report shows that operators can benefit from up to USD 619 billion market opportunity globally in 2026.