Telecom network operator MTS is gearing up for the launch of 5G technology trial zone during the 2018 Football World Cup in Russia.

Ericsson will be the network equipment vendor for the 5G trials. Nokia Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei and ZTE are also active in the rapidly growing 5G space.

According to a 5G agreement between MTS and Ericsson, the two companies will conduct network trials, develop technical requirements for the new telecommunications standard, test solutions and 5G employment as well as launch of 5G.

5G networks promise 10 Gbps speed, 30 times faster than the speeds currently available on 4G LTE networks.

This apart, 5G technology will ensure minimal latency on data downloads and greater network throughput capacity. 5G will comprise a greater number of base stations and various radio-access solutions with smaller broadcast areas operating in the 5GHz to 100 GHz bandwidth.

The International Telecommunication Union plans to implement the new standard by 2020.

Andrey Ushatskiy, chief technology and information officer of MTS, said: “To gain a comprehensive understanding of performance solutions for 5G networks in Russia by 2018, we plan to start testing our key vendor’s developments through a series of pilot projects on the MTS network next year.”

MTS and Ericsson will implement a pilot project in LTE-U (LTE-Unlicensed) / LAA (Licensed-Assisted Access) that involves the use of the LTE radio interface in the unlicensed 5GHz band together with Wi-Fi access points in 2016.

MTS will be testing Ericsson Lean Carrier technology for its use in 5G. The solution optimizes signaling traffic between cells, eliminates interference, simplifies network planning, increases data speed rates and improves coverage.

MTS will pilot the demonstration of new radio interfaces for M2M communications: EC-GSM (Extended Coverage GSM), LTE-M (LTE Machine), NB-IoT (Narrow band IoT LTE based).

MTS will deploy 5G pilot solutions using high-speed data transmission in the 15 GHz band in 2017.

MTS and Ericsson will construct test area for the demonstration of 5G technology solutions during the 2018 football World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Baburajan K
[email protected]