NZ's Spark completes 5G standalone trial

New Zealand telecom operator Spark has completed a trial of 5G standalone technology in collaboration with Ericsson and Red Hat.

Standalone 5G technology uses the 5G network for both voice and data, in contrast to non-standalone 5G which typically offloads voice traffic to 4G networks.

Spark completed the trial using Ericsson’s cloud-native 5G core running on the Red Hat OpenShift operating system, integrated with Spark’s existing 5G fixed wireless access network.

The trial was able to successfully demonstrate that 5G standalone technology can deliver the low latency, high bandwidth and reliability that are required for high-performance use cases, including real-time video analytics, according to Spark Technology Tribe Lead Nilay Rathod.

“This proof-of-concept trial with Ericsson and Red Hat demonstrates the potential that 5G standalone technology offers to our Spark network, opening the door on capacity and low latency to help accelerate Internet of Things trends, such as connected cars, smart cities and industrial IoT,” he said.

“The benefits of this technology include greater opportunities for our partners and better services for our customers. Trialling the solutions offered by Ericsson and Red Hat is an important step for us to identify the optimal combination of vendors and solutions to deliver the benefits we want to achieve, as we work to bring relevant use cases specific to New Zealand’s local requirements.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Rawf8