Etisalat completes standalone 5G call

Etisalat successfully completed the first end-to-end 5G standalone call in the UAE and has become the first operator in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region to achieve the milestone.

Yesterday’s announcement is a result of the test conducted in the 3.5GHz carrier with a spectrum of 100MHz. Using a Standalone (SA) smartphone, throughput of over 1.5Gbps was achieved in download speed and 200 Mbps on the upload speed.

Standalone 5G does not use 4G LTE for any control functions of 5G, unlike nonstand-alone (NSA) 5G. The major advantages of standalone 5G will be in the enterprise arena as lower latencies can be achieved and network slicing is possible.

Saeed Al Zarouni, Senior Vice-President, Mobile Network at Etisalat, said: “The launch of 5G standalone will enable the application of 5G use cases across industry verticals optimising the capabilities of the network. This will also enable provisioning of the 5G network for automated and AI based technologies.”

Milestones

Etisalat became the first telco in Mena in May 2018 to launch the commercial 5G network in the UAE. This was followed by a partnership with Expo 2020 as the first major commercial customer in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region to access 5G services.

In May 2019, Etisalat was the first telecom operator in Mena to enable its customers to experience the power of the 5G network and release the first 5G handset before many others.

Etisalat also became the first telco in Mena to provide indoor 5G coverage in selected buildings in the country. Abu Dhabi Airport became the first international terminal to be powered with indoor ultra-high speed 5G connectivity.