A coalition of companies including Nokia, Elisa and Qualcomm Technologies has delivered world record network speeds on a 5G network in Finland by breaking the 8Gbps barrier serving two devices connected simultaneously while companies try to secure the last few contracts for 5G networks in Europe.
5G
This was achieved by linking Nokia's landmark 5G technologies with a Qualcomm smartphone form factor test device over an Elisa 5G connection.
The new speeds, which were showcased at Elisa's flagship store in Helsinki, are set to provide high-speed, high bandwidth, low-latency connections for commercial use with video downloads, VR and augmented reality applications.
It will allow users to enjoy the kinds of VR/AR experiences provided in stadium venues and will allow for easy streaming for 4K video services or extremely low latency during online gaming.
The base station utilised two Nokia AirScale radios, each using 800 MHz of commercial millimetre wave 5G spectrum at 26 GHz.
Sami Komulainen, Executive Vice President, Production at Elisa, said: “This is an important development and another step in our efforts to bring the fastest speeds and best 5G experiences to our customers.
"Elisa was the first in Finland and amongst the first in the world to deploy 5G. Reaching 8Gbps is a natural step in our 5G development and we want to explore the possibilities 5G offers and push the technology further to benefit our customers.”
Nokia has recently taken their place as the de facto leader for European 5G services following a US-backed company conglomerate attempting to rouse Chinese telecoms company Huawei from contracts over concerns about security leaks.
All companies using Huawei technology will have until 2025 to remove it from their systems and infrastructure networks.
Huawei and its technology were recently banned across the border in Sweden for similar reasons, which they are hoping to appeal in the coming weeks.
Tommi Uitto, the president of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “We are proud to work with our partners on this important and significant achievement that will deliver incredible 5G experiences to people and businesses in Finland. This is another milestone in the development of 5G services and demonstrates the capacity of our commercially deployed 5G solutions.”
Enrico Salvatori, Senior Vice President and President, Qualcomm Europe, said: “We are incredibly proud of this collaboration on this landmark event, which represents a significant milestone for 5G mmWave.
"Qualcomm Technologies’ research and development efforts to drive the next generation of wireless connectivity, along with our work with Elisa and Nokia, has made this milestone a commercial reality.
"The throughputs achieved today show the true potential for mmWave deployments and we are excited to continue collaborating with industry leaders to make 5G mmWave a commercial reality.”
Early last month it was announced that Nokia would be the company tasked with providing their home nation with 5G networks as the world looks towards increased connectivity in line with concepts such as Industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0.
Shortly before, they were also commissioned by British Telecom (BT) to provide 5G services to Britain following the company severing its ties with Huawei.
The service is planned to be made commercially available in 2021.
Ericsson's CEO Borje Ekholm has commented on the Swedish government's decision to ban Huawei and their technologies saying it's "important that those types of decisions are reviewed."
He has stipulated that keeping trade open and encouraging free trade are important for healthy markets.
Sweden's ban is unusual in that it was explicitly stated as to why Huawei was banned in the country, as opposed to the more vague reasons many national governments gave, such as the UK, for removing their services.
Ekholm has argued Sweden have deviated from the EU's guidelines to secure 5G networks.
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