TPG Telecom will conduct Australia’s first 5G virtualized RAN (vRAN) trial on 26GHz, using integrated mmWave solution, for mobile and fixed wireless services.
Samsung announced that it will place its vRAN solution in TPG Telecom’s Innovation Lab in Glebe, NSW. Additionally, Samsung’s latest 5G mmWave product—Compact Macro—will be deployed in the wider Glebe area.
TPG Telecom owns Australia’s second-largest fixed voice and data network, with more than 27,000 kilometres of metropolitan and inter-capital fibre networks and a leading mobile network comprising more than 5,600 sites and covering over 23 million Australians.
Recently, TPG Telecom announced its investment of AU$108 million to acquire spectrum in all available license areas in the 26GHz band – tripling its total spectrum holdings.
For the trial, Samsung will provide its Compact Macro and vRAN solution. Samsung’s latest 5G Compact Macro brings together a baseband, radio and antenna in a single form-factor. This compact and lightweight solution can be easily installed on the sides of buildings, as well as on utility poles, for the build-out of 5G networks.
Samsung has deployed its vRAN solution in wide scale for global Tier 1 operators’ networks in markets outside of Australia, and recently expanded its capability to support 3.5GHz Massive MIMO radio, which many industry voices had said would be hard to support with vRAN.
Samsung’s 5G vRAN on mmWave, already commercially deployed in global markets, including Korea, Japan and the U.S, has the capacity to support multi-gigabit speeds, delivering IT technology efficiencies and deployment advantages, while offering transformational 5G mobile experiences.
Inaki Berroeta, CEO at TPG Telecom, said: “Deploying mmWave spectrum on our 5G network together with vRAN architecture will allow us to develop exciting 5G use cases for industry verticals and enable the delivery of even faster speeds and greater capacity for our customers.”
“Through a combination of our powerful 5G solutions and ongoing efforts in 5G development, Samsung looks forward to helping TPG Telecom gain the full benefits of 5G to reshape the value of mobile experiences for users and enterprises,” Woojune Kim, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics, said.
