Samsung Electronics America, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, and Cisco, in partnership with Verizon, announced the successful deployment of what is believed to be the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G trial network in the field, specifically in the Ann Arbor suburb of metropolitan Detroit in Michigan.
The companies noted that earlier in the year, Verizon announced that it planned to conduct customer trials of 5G technology for home broadband service via fixed wireless access. Under this program, Verizon is planning to launch trials in five U.S. cities in the second quarter of 2017 and expects to be conducting pilot trials in a total of 11 markets by the middle of the year.
The partners stated that each trial location presents a unique set of test parameters, including in terms of equipment vendors, geographies, population density and demographics. Ann Arbor is the first location to address a multi-vendor deployment of 5G, leveraging a solution that includes a 5G virtualised packet core based on the Cisco Ultra Services Platform with Advanced Services and Samsung's virtual RAN (vRAN), combined with its 5G Radio base stations and 5G home routers, to enable the delivery of broadband services to trial customers.
Based on Verizon's 5G Technical Forum specification, the three companies have completed a series of network vendor interoperability tests (NVIOT) that demonstrated seamless interworking between core network, radio edge and user devices. The tests also served to demonstrate a core principle of next-generation network virtualisation via multi-vendor support.
The Verizon multi-vendor trial is designed to showcase the readiness of key 5G technologies and prepare the way for the deployment of commercial 5G networks in the future. The trial also demonstrates that service providers can implement 5G networks to address specific market requirements by selecting network infrastructure components from a range of vendors.
Early ecosystem development has become a core focus for 5G, with IT and telecom pioneers alike working to build alignment and stability around next-generation R &D. Verizon’s 5G Technical Forum, to which Cisco and Samsung are strong contributors, has set out to establish early direction for commercial 5G technologies and services, with the goal of establishing a body of experience that is already being used to inform global 5G standards development efforts and ensure a smooth transition to commercialization.
- Verizon announced in February plans to rollout 5G pre-commercial services to select customers in 11 U.S. markets by mid-2017. The company noted that the trials would encompass hundreds of cell sites and several thousand customer locations, with pilot markets to include Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Bernardsville (New Jersey), Brockton (Massachusetts), Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Sacramento, Seattle and Washington DC.
