Omantel, Ericsson showcase 5G capabilities
Omantel and Ericsson have conducted a live 5G showcase displaying capabilities in a real-world environment including tests on speed, mobility, and latency. The demonstration was held at Omantel headquarters as part of the event ‘Technology Days’ from November 12-14.
It involved advanced 5G features such as beamforming and beam-tracking with full transformation placing Omantel at the forefront of technology innovation and leadership in the region. Omantel said that by using a 800MHz of spectrum bandwidth in near millimetre wave frequency band, the 5G showcase system displayed a performance that is much greater than the most advanced available 4G networks.
It also achieved an aggregate site throughput of more than 25Gbps, which is significantly better than current 4G networks.
Talal Said al Mamari, CEO, Omantel said, “The future of communications is 5G. We are looking forward to introducing the people of Oman to this innovative smart technology that will change the way we live and do business. This technology will be a change-maker affecting various key sectors such as healthcare, mining, and agriculture to name just a few.”
The 5G showcase is the first in a series of trials that Omantel and Ericsson have agreed to conduct to prepare the network for the 5G evolution.
The technology in itself is currently under development with Omantel conducting trials on different spectrums and studying the network requirements and costs involved. Tests are under way on various applications and in the areas to be serviced.
Guided by its 3.0 transformation strategy which has digital transformation and innovation in offerings as pillars, Omantel has undertaken the 5G trial as its latest step to aid the digital transformation process. The company said 5G will be instrumental in realising the vision of transforming Oman into a sustainable knowledge society by leveraging information and communication technologies to improve services.
The 5G technology is expected to offer services and use cases ranging from smart agriculture, flood sensors, industrial applications and control, smart meters, remote training, remote surgery, shipment tracking, fleet management and traffic safety and control. It will also drive the evolution of mobile broadband to enhanced mobile broadband offering media anywhere, broadcasting and aug- mented reality.
Even though these trials are being held, it will still be some time before the wireless technology becomes a reality as it is still under development and testing. According to preliminary indicators, this technology will not be officially launched before 2020 and official protocol is not expected to be completed before 2020.