Telstra, Ericsson and Intel complete 1st end-to-end 5G non-standalone 3GPP data call

Telstra, Ericsson and Intel have claimed the successful completion of the first end-to-end 5G non-standalone (NSA) 3GPP data call on a commercial mobile network at the telco’s 5G Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

Telstra flagged the call as the first of its kind over 3.5GHz spectrum, combining the core components from several firms needed to stage a commercial 5G network call.

“It included Telstra’s 5G NSA commercial network, licenced 3.5GHz commercial spectrum, Ericsson’s commercial 5G NR radio 6488, baseband and packet core for 5G EPC, a personal Telstra SIM card and the Intel® 5G Mobile Trial Platform for the 5G NR UE,” said Telstra.

The news follows the July 6 lab-based data call by Ericsson and Intel, together with Telstra and other early-moving 5G service providers at the Ericsson Lab in Stockholm.

“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,” said Telstra’s outgoing Group MD of networks Mike Wright.

“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,” he said.

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

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