Wireless carriers in New Zealand are still running their 5G networks as non-standalone, meaning they rely on a 4G LTE core. However, wireless carrier Spark New Zealand is running a series of trials concerning 5G Standalone alternatives. Those are part of the ongoing groundwork it’s undertaking to prepare for the rollout of a 5G SA network at scale in the future.
A 5G SA trial was recently completed using Ericsson’s cloud-native 5G Core running on Red Hat OpenShift, integrated with Spark’s 5G Fixed Wireless Access Network (FWA) to test enhanced wireless broadband. The trial demonstrated how 5G SA technology can deliver the low latency, high bandwidth and reliability that are required for high-performance use cases, such as real-time video analytics, according to a statement by Ericsson.
“The trial was delivered within an impressive three-month timeframe, demonstrating the ease with which standalone cloud-native solutions can be deployed,” Ericsson said.
Last August, Spark trialed what it said was New Zealand’s first end-to-end 5G SA network. Two proofs-of-concept for standalone 5G were created and run with technology providers Mavenir (5G standalone cloud-native core solution) and AWS (multi access edge computing and 5G optimized cloud solutions), and technology partners Nokia (cell site infrastructure) and OPPO (5G devices).
In one trial, Mavenir’s 5G SA cloud-native core solution ran on AWS Snowball Edge, a physically rugged device that provides edge computing and data transfer services. In the other trial, the same Mavenir 5G SA core software ran on AWS Outposts, a managed service that allows a customer to work within the same development environment as the AWS public cloud, but use local storage and compute resources, resulting in lower latency.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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