Ericsson, Telstra, Intel Complete First 5G Data Call

A collaborative group consisting of Ericsson, Telstra, and Intel announced on Monday the first end-to-end, multi-vendor 5G commercial data call, which occurred at Telstra’s 5G Innovation Centre on Gold Coast, Australia.

The completion of the data call proves that 5G is applicable outside of the lab. The call was conducted on Telstra’s 5G NSA network, using licensed 3.5GHz spectrum. Ericsson’s commercial 5G NR radio, Intel’s 5G Mobile Trial Platform, and a personal Telstra SIM card were used.

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“Demonstrating this 5G data call end-to-end using my own personal SIM card on Telstra’s mobile network is the closest any provider has come to making a ’true’ 5G call in the real-world environment, and marks another 5G first for Telstra,” said Telstra’s managing director, Mike Wright.

It is a quick achievement for the team, which completed its first lab-based called on July 6 in Stockholm. Ericsson did not say if the completion of the data call would lead to more adventurous real-world environment trials on the 5G network, like video streaming or video calls.

“We’re quickly moving towards 5G commercial reality,” said Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice president and head of networks at Ericsson. “Achieving the first commercial data call with our partners Telstra and Intel shows the progress we’ve made from testing the technology in a lab to a 5G commercial network environment. 5G is open for business and Ericsson is helping customers get it done.”