The spectrum sharing software can run on any of the 5 million ‘5G-ready’ radios shipped by Ericsson since 2015 and is live on networks including those of Swisscom and Play.
Ericsson stated that 80% of service providers that are testing the technology intend to deploy it in the coming 12 months
On the same band
The technology allows both 4G and 5G can be deployed in the same band and on the same radio through a software upgrade – dynamically allocating spectrum based on user demand in 1ms.
Julian Bright, Senior Analyst, at Omdia (formerly Ovum), said, “Spectrum is a scarce and costly resource that should be used efficiently. Ericsson Spectrum Sharing will mean that service providers can rapidly roll out 5G on their FDD bands without the need to re-invest.
“It means they can use both their new and existing bands for 5G high-speed, high-capacity services. Dynamically allocating spectrum between 4G and 5G is going to be the best way to start deploying 5G.”
Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks, Ericsson, says: “For the first time, our customers do not have to re-farm spectrum before deploying a new ‘G’ and can quickly get 5G on the same footprint as they have with 4G today.”
ESS is live
Ericsson is Swisscom’s sole mobile network vendor and claims to be the first operator in Europe to launch commercial 5G services in April 2019. In December 2019, Swisscom said it had achieved nationwide 5G coverage and is upgrading their network with Ericsson Spectrum Sharing.
Christoph Aeschlimann, Head of IT, Network & Infrastructure Group division, Swisscom, said, “We are proud to have been part of the [Ericsson Spectrum Sharing] journey from the very beginning. In the meantime, we already reached nationwide coverage with 90 percent of the population with 5G.”
Polish service provider, Play, has also deployed Ericsson Spectrum Sharing on its commercial network. Jean Marc Harion, its CEO, commented, “The 5G network in Legionowo is yet another proof of Play’s technological advancement in 5G and an important milestone in our strategy to continuously expand and modernize our network.
“With Ericsson Spectrum Sharing, we are taking a significant step towards being ready for commercial introduction of 5G when the devices become available.”
It is also live in Australia with Telstra and Doha with Ooredoo
Chip ecosystem
Ericsson has collaborated with ecosystem chipset partners including Qualcomm Technologies, using mobile devices powered based on its Snapdragon 865 and 765 Mobile Platforms with Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF Systems, as well as MediaTek (Dimensity 1000) and device makers like Oppo, Sony, Xiaomi, LG, vivo and WNC to scale the solution globally.