- Swisscom, with Ericsson as its 5G vendor launched commercial 5G services in April of this year
- Ericsson and Qualcomm had done 5G data call using Ericsson Spectrum Sharing in the past
Ericsson, Swisscom and Qualcomm teamed up to carry out the first over-the-air spectrum sharing 5G data call with a service provider, at Swisscom’s digital lab. The call was enabled by Ericsson Spectrum Sharing (ESS).
Patrick Weibel, head of 5G program, Swisscom, said, “Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) allows Swisscom to best leverage the existing frequency spectrum and infrastructure for 4G and 5G customers, depending on their needs. Spectrum sharing will ensure that Swisscom can provide extensive 5G coverage to its customers as soon as possible.”
Ericsson and Qualcomm had done the first 5G data call
Previously, Ericsson and Qualcomm had done the first 5G data call using Ericsson Spectrum Sharing on a 3GPP Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) low band claims Ericsson. Swisscom, with Ericsson as its 5G vendor launched commercial 5G services in April of this year on a 3.6 GHz band. Swisscom is targeting 90 percent population coverage by the end of 2019.
Upgrade to 5G within existing 4G carriers
Ericsson says Spectrum Sharing, a part of Ericsson Radio System, enables a quick, flexible, and cost-effective upgrade to 5G within existing 4G carriers. Based on traffic demand, the solution dynamically shares spectrum between 4G and 5G carriers, making the switch within milliseconds to minimize spectrum wastage as per Ercisson.
Hannes Ekström, head of product line 5G radio access network, (RAN), Ericsson, said, “With Ericsson Spectrum Sharing, service providers can reuse their Ericsson Radio System investments on bands currently used for LTE to support a fast introduction of 5G. This first ESS 5G data call by Swisscom, on commercial platforms, is an important step toward enabling cost-efficient, nationwide 5G coverage and services.”