Ericsson and Airtel demo mmWave 5G functionality; achieve peak speeds of 4.7Gbps

Indian telco Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and Ericsson today announced the successful demonstration of mmWave (millimetre wave) 5G functionality on Airtel's network, reaching peak speeds of 4.7Gbps.

Commenting on this milestone, Randeep Singh Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, says, "The peak throughput experienced during the testing gives us the confidence to deploy mmWave for FWA application. Using FWA customer premises equipment (CPE) supported with 5G mmWave will not only help in delivering greater speeds but will also enable us to cover the large number of users that are not connected so far due to inaccessible fiber connections. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is an efficient and scalable alternative to wired connections."

The 5G high-band or mmWave spectrum, above 24 gigahertz (GHz), is ideal when targeting densely populated urban areas with large a number of mobile devices, homes, and business areas. The high-band offers an opportunity for the operator to offer unprecedented peak rates, low latency, and high capacity.

With Ericsson's purpose-built hardware and innovative software co-design, Airtel can fully maximize the potential of the high-band. Ericsson's mmWave portfolio for macro and street macro levels offers the telco the opportunity to seamlessly bring high-capacity connectivity to urban dwellers using FWA solution.

"With 5G demonstrations on the 26GHz band now underway, this is a significant step in showcasing how mmWave can be scaled and integrated into a commercial mobile network. Our extensive investments in R&D have produced in-depth knowledge, experience, and multiple 5G mmWave patents. We possess a leading portfolio in the global 5G mmWave patent landscape and fully own the technology we use," says Nunzio Mirtillo , Head of Ericsson Southeast East Asia , Oceania and India