Telecom operator Telia has set, together with Ericsson, a new 5G speed record in Stockholm: 2.2Gbit/second! This record was measured on the public Telia network which means that this is the real speed customers have in the city center of Stockholm.

The record was possible because of the use of the 3.5GHz frequency. Sweden auctioned this frequency already a while back and now the end-users start to see the benefit of it.

With the use of the 3.5GHz frequency the true benefits of 5G can be explored: ultra high bandwidth and ultra low latency. These 2 elements will be the foundation of complete new digitalization possibilities and business models

 High performance 5G-networks will be the fundament for taking digitalization to the next level and it will create new advanced applications for the industry and the society in wider perspective

Jenny Lindqvist, Director North and Central Europe, Ericsson

Two examples of ‘advanced applications’ are ‘Network slices’ and ‘Edge Computing’. With 5G Network slices you can create dedicated parts of your 5G connection. For instance during a big football match in a sold out stadium the fans want to have a good connection to upload pictures etc, while the police and the emergency services also need bandwidth to do their job. So in this case the police will get a dedicated slice, the fans will get a slice etc.

With 5G Edge Computing you can move the computing power away from your local device and place it at the ‘Edge’ of your network. For instance, an advanced app on a iPad is limited by the maximum calculating power of the iPad. With 5G Edge computing you could connect over 5G to a powerful computer who will do the calculations and sends (over 5G) the results back to the iPad. In this way you take away the device-related boundaries, which opens a world of possibilities.

With the arrival of the 3.5GHz network the innovations around these concepts will accelerate. This is also actively promoted by Ericsson as technology provider as well by Telia as telecom provider:

We hope this will inspire companies to develop complete new digital services which will use the unique capabilities from 5G, like high bandwidth and low latency. We already have seen how 5G can contribute to saver work conditions in mines, easier access to healthcare and smarter public transport. But we only have scratched the surface concerning consumer possibilities.

Staffan Åkesson, network director, Telia

The 5G 3.5GHz network is the toolbox that many Swedish R&D departments, start-ups and scale ups will use to experiment and come up with new innovative solutions and Business models. The IA network in Sweden will keep an close eye on these developments and is looking forward to report on the coming applications.

Source: Innovation Network Sweden & Telia
Featured image by: Unsplash. Credits: Austin Distel