Home5G & BeyondT-Mobile Austria launches pre-5G in Innsbruck

T-Mobile Austria launches pre-5G in Innsbruck

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T-Mobile has introduced a pre-standard version of 5G to the Austrian city of Innsbruck in a first for the country.

Working with Huawei, the Deutsche Telekom-owned operator installed two radio cells in the city which transmit in the 3.7GHz range using specifications similar to 3GPPโ€™s 5G New Radio (5G NR) standard.

The cells, which use fibre for backhaul, have delivered speeds of 2GBps and latency of 3ms.

T-Mobile is using a virtual reality (VR) demo to showcase the technology, with a 360-degree camera transmitting a feed of ultra-HD video to a set of VR goggles.

The operator has also demonstrated how a drone can be controlled using the network.

Rรผdiger Kรถster, CTO of T-Mobile Austria, said: โ€œWe chose Innsbruck back in 2009 as the pioneering city for the fourth-generation mobile communication and rolled out the first test network of the then new technology LTE on air.

โ€œNine years later we are showing in Innsbruck the next evolutionary stage of mobile communication: 5G live in the city centre rather than in the laboratory. Our tests are a vital milestone toward rapidly rolling out 5G in Austria.โ€

Kรถster emphasised the importance of the countryโ€™s upcoming frequency auction in ensuring a fast rollout for 5G, calling for an auction design that โ€œreduces complexityโ€ and for national licenses with adjacent spectrum to be issued.

The Austrian auction of spectrum in the 3.4 to 3.8 GHz band, expected to be a key band offering both broad coverage and high bandwidth for 5G, is set to take place in autumn 2018.

Erich Manzer, Vice General Manager of Huawei Austria, said: โ€œHuawei has been investing the lionโ€™s share of its research capacities in developing 5G technology for many years now.

โ€œToday, we are at the forefront of the field and are delighted to showcase ourselves as 5G pioneers together with T-Mobile. 5G supports significantly higher speeds than 4G, thus opening up brand-new opportunities as we move towards a super-networked world.โ€

Gรผnther Platter, Governor of the local Tyrol region of Austria, said: โ€œOur bandwidth initiative has laid the groundwork for building out the 5G network going forward. I am particularly pleased that Innsbruck will be a first pilot region. Looking ahead, Tyrol plans to launch a task force with all operators to further accelerate the 5G rollout.โ€

The 5G NR standard was ratified by 3GPP in December, allowing operators to push ahead with early trials and launches.