Samsung and TPG to trial Australia's first 5G vRAN

Samsung Electronics has announced the company will conduct Australia’s first 5G virtualised RAN (vRAN) trial on 26 GHz, using an integrated mmWave solution, for mobile and fixed wireless services with TPG Telecom.

In the trial, which is the first in Australia, Samsung will place its vRAN solution in TPG Telecom’s Innovation Lab in Glebe, NSW. Additionally, Samsung’s latest 5G mmWave Compact Macro will be deployed in the wider Glebe area.

TPG Telecom operates a number of mobile and internet brands in Australia including Vodafone. Recently, TPG Telecom tripled its spectrum holdings in all available licence areas in the 26 GHz band. With the mmWave spectrum, TPG Telecom will be able to offer high-speed data services and immersive use cases for its mobile and home users. TPG Telecom’s extensive fibre assets combined with a network of small cells will enable the deployment of vRAN architecture.

For the trial, Samsung’s 5G Compact Macro brings together a baseband, radio and antenna in a single form-factor. This solution can be installed on the sides of buildings, as well as on utility poles, for the swift build-out of 5G networks. Samsung’s commercial vRAN solution is built on the company’s independently developed stack and runs on commercial-off-the-shelf servers. It has the capacity to support multi-gigabit speeds.

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