Ericsson Will Demo 5G At 2018 World Cup In Russia

Ericsson will work with Russian operator MTS to demonstrate a 5G network in the country in time for the 2018 World Cup.

The two firms will joint-develop 5G applications, work with regulators to secure the necessary spectrum and deploy various technologies on MTS’s network, such as LTE-U, which makes use of unlicensed spectrum and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT).

A pilot will be launched in 2017 and the partners will work to ascertain the requirements needed be users, evaluate the performance of the network and components. If all goes well, a demo will be constructed in time for the World Cup the following year.

Read More: What is 5G and how is it different from 4G?

5G Russia 2018

“By 2018, we plan to not only conduct research, but also to test and implement key technologies that will improve MTS network performance and application coverage,” said Ericsson’s Jeff Travers. “5G will revolutionize user experiences in mobile technology during the FIFA World Cup in 2018.”

“Next year, we will start to test our key vendor’s developments through a series of pilot projects on the MTS network, in order for both of us to have a complete understanding of the performance of the solutions in our 5G networks,” added Andrey Ushatskiy, Chief Information and Technology Officer at MTS.

“By working proactively throughout the process of 5G standardization, we will be ready to build first stages of the principally new network that will dramatically change our lives and the role of things around us, and will empower people and horizons of knowledge in all fields — homes, schools, medicine, science, transport, entertainment and many other areas.”

Ericsson’s rivals Huawei and Nokia are also working on 5G and it is expected that standardisation of 5G will be completed early next year, allowing the first commercial networks to launch in 2020

The final standards of 5G are still up for debate, but there is a general consensus that next generation networks will offer faster speeds, low latency, more efficient energy use and higher capacity – characteristics that can help support the expected growth in IoT applications.

Ericsson predicts there will be 150 millon 5G subscriptions by 2021.