Ericsson, Telstra and Intel completed the first end-to-end 5G non-standalone (NSA) 3GPP data call on a commercial mobile network at Telstra’s 5G Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast Australia in a multivendor setup.
The 5G data call was made over Telstra’s 5G NSA enabled commercial network using the following components:
- Ericsson’s base station comprising Baseband 6630, AIR 6488 and 4G / 5G system software
- Telstra’s licenced 5G Band 42 (3.5 GHz) and 4G Band 1 spectrum (2100 MHz)
- A Telstra retail SIM
- Network connection to an Ericsson virtualized 5G packet core (vMME and vEPG) running on Ericsson’s NFVi – the 5G slice was connected into the existing Telstra mobile network, which supports other functions such as backhaul, user authentication, billing and provisioning
- Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform for the 5G NR UE, running an early 3GPP Rel15 Intel 4G module and a 5G NSA implementation
“Demonstrating this 5G data call end-to-end using my own personal SIM card on Telstra’s mobile network is the closest any provider has come to making a ’true’ 5G call in the real world-environment, and marks another 5G first for Telstra. We continue to work with global technology companies Ericsson and Intel as well as global standards bodies to advance the deployment of commercial 5G capability in Australia,” stated Telstra’s Group Managing Director Networks Mike Wright.