Qualcomm and Ericsson Prepare Next Phase of 5G Commercialization with 5G Data Connection in Standalone Mode

Sep 12, 2019 SAN DIEGO

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, and Ericsson today announced a new milestone between the companies in the advancement of 5G after they completed a 5G New Radio (NR) data connection compliant with global 3GPP 5G NR Release 15 specifications in Standalone (SA) mode of operation.

The connection was achieved on band n41 at Ericsson's lab utilizing 5G commercial base stations from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio, its standalone NR software and its Cloud Core solution for 5G with a mobile smartphone form-factor test device powered by the Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System.

The demonstration showcases both companies' readiness to support the second phase of 5G commercialization with SA deployments that utilize a new 5G core network to provide more 5G capabilities - including guaranteed quality of service and network slicing, which are essential to support new emerging business models in areas such as Industrial IoT (IIoT) and enterprise-grade cloud services.

"€œThe global rollout of 5G is exceeding expectations in both its speed and scale," said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "€œQualcomm Technologies is proud to work with industry leaders like Ericsson in playing a key role in this journey to support global OEMs and operators to quickly rollout commercial 5G this year using non-standalone architecture, and now working together to drive a smooth transition to 5G standalone starting in 2020."

"Together with Qualcomm Technologies, we have reached another important milestone that supports the transition to standalone 5G,"€ said Per Narvinger, head of product area networks, Ericsson. "€œThis demonstrates that 5G network technologies continue to mature and that we are strengthening the 5G ecosystem. Service providers are already able to deliver the benefits of 5G technology, and now we are taking further steps to release the full potential of 5G, serving users and industries alike."