Australia’s first mmWave 5G network powered by vRAN will use Samsung’s solutions

Samsung has announced that it will conduct Australia’s first 5G vRAN (Virtualized Radio Access Networks) trial with TPG Telecom. The trial 5G network will use Samsung’s 5G solutions, including the Compact Macro and vRAN. TPG Telecom owns various telecom and internet brands in Australia, including Felix Mobile, iiNet, Internode, TPG, and Vodafone Australia.

The 5G vRAN trial will be conducted on the 26GHz spectrum using the mmWave technology. Samsung will place its vRAN solution in TPG Telecom’s Innovation Lab in Glebe, New South Wales. The South Korean firm’s Compact Macro will be used for the wider Glebe area. The Compact Macro solution was recently unveiled by Samsung Networks, and it combines a baseband, radio, and antenna in a single form factor that’s compact and lightweight. It can be easily installed on the side of buildings and utility poles, leading to faster rollout of mmWave 5G networks.

Samsung’s 5G vRAN uses the company’s independently developed stack that can be operated using commercial off-the-shelf servers. It is already being used by various network carriers across the world. The company recently expanded its solution to support 3.5GHz Massive MIMO radio, which is said to be hard to achieve.

Iñaki Berroeta, CEO at TPG Telecom, said, “We are very pleased to partner with Samsung as part of our new Innovation Lab to drive product and technology innovation by trialing virtualization. Deploying mmWave spectrum on our 5G network together with vRAN architecture will allow us to develop exciting 5G use cases for industry verticals and enable the delivery of even faster speeds and greater capacity for our customers.”

Samsung Networks entered the Australian market in April 2021, and it is currently exploring more clients. TPG Telecom recently tripled its total spectrum holdings after it acquired spectrum in the 26GHz band with an investment of AUD 108 million. The telecom firm aims to offer high-speed data services for its mobile and home broadband users.