China Unicom, together with Ericsson, has commercially launched a Gigabit LTE network in China, allowing subscribers to “enjoy the services and benefits available with high-speed mobile broadband data,” an Ericsson statement said.
Singapore has been ranked number one in a test of broadband speeds across 189 countries. The data was collected across 12 months ending May 10, 2017, by Measurement Lab (M-Lab), a partnership between New America’s Open Technology Institute, Google Open Source Research, Princeton University’s PlanetLab, and others.
SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest telecommunications provider, announced that it has successfully developed a 5G repeater, a means of boosting 5G signals, and applied it to its 5G trial network deployed near Gangnam Station in Seoul.
Singtel announced plans to deploy Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology commercially on its LTE-Advanced mobile network, to enhance mobile data speed experience by up to 200% at special events for its customers. A precursor to 5G technology, Massive MIMO is an advanced solution used to boost network capacity in highly dense environments.
Globe Telecom, one of the Philippines’ largest telecommunications providers, has launched the US$250 million Southeast Asia-United States (SEA-US) submarine cable system, providing direct links between Davao City and the United States. The 14,500-kilometer cable system uses 100Gbps transmission technology to deliver 20 terabits per second capacity (Tb/s).
Singapore’s Singtel is launching in phases, near-gigabit speeds on its LTE-Advanced network at selected high-traffic outdoor locations across the island. At 800Mbps, it is Southeast Asia’s fastest Gigabit-class LTE mobile data peak speed, delivering up to 60 percent faster download speeds than prevailing LTE services.
Huawei officially released its 5G-oriented mobile bearer solution X-Haul on August 14. The solution has four core values: providing flexible access capabilities that can match the scenario of any site; implementing agile network operations based on a cloud architecture; enabling new service innovation through end-to-end network slicing; and supporting smooth evolution from 4G bearer networks to 5G bearer networks.
Spark New Zealand announced that it has commenced the development of a nationwide low power wide area (LPWA) network to enable the Internet of Things (IoT). “At Spark our Ventures team has been working on the exciting possibilities of the internet of things and what it could mean for New Zealand,” said Spark’s GM for IoT, Michael Stribling.
75 percent of end-user organizations would be willing to pay more for 5G mobile capabilities, according to a Gartner study in which over 200 IT and business leaders from the Gartner Research Circle participated in a survey conducted in the second quarter of 2017. The objective of the survey was to understand how demand for 5G is growing and to learn about adoption plans for the technology.
Nokia and WorldLink are upgrading 650-km-long backbone network with Nokia's 1830 PSS (Photonic Service Switch) DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology to support bandwidth-hungry entertainment and enterprise services across Nepal. The intercity network stretches from Kathmandu to Bhairahawa and Birgunj, and provides international connectivity between Nepal and other countries including India.
