Ericsson releases Standalone 5G NR software

Ericsson announced the commercial availability status of its Standalone 5G NR software for 5G mid- and low bands. The software became globally available to all customers in June. Ericsson has completed Standalone 5G interoperability with key ecosystem partners. Standalone 5G devices are expected to become available later in 2020.

Ericsson said its new software enables communications service providers to operate 5G NR without the need for signaling support from an underlying LTE network, effectively removing the dependency on 4G. This will allow service providers to add 5G NR to existing 4G sites with a simpler architecture, or deploy 5G independently in new areas such as factories, to support enterprise applications and services. All Ericsson Radio System equipment deployed since 2015 can support Standalone 5G NR capabilities with a software installation.

Per Narvinger, Head of Product Area Networks, Ericsson, says: “Over the past year, we have worked closely with many customers to successfully deploy Non-standalone 5G. These 5G networks have enabled higher data speeds and new use cases. Now we are taking the next step in the evolution of 5G by making generally available the software to support Standalone 5G NR networks. These standalone capabilities will enable even more use cases and applications.”

T-Mobile and Telstra are long-standing Ericsson partners who have trialed the Ericsson Standalone 5G NR software on their commercial networks.

Abdul Saad, Chief Technology Officer, T-Mobile, says: “Standalone 5G is the next important step for wireless connectivity, with the potential to unleash a whole new range of future transformative applications. We’re proud to be leading the charge alongside Ericsson and other technology innovators and look forward to bringing standalone 5G to our customers later this year.”

Channa Seneviratne, Network and Infrastructure Engineering Executive, Telstra, says: “Standalone 5G is an important milestone in the evolution of 5G and Telstra is pleased to work with Ericsson in the development of new Standalone 5G capabilities. As the first in Australia to enable Standalone 5G, we appreciate the significance of this milestone and how 5G will be a key enabler to create new opportunities for an even better user experience and new business models.”