Nokia, TPG Telecom set new 5G uplink speed record in Australia

Claiming a 5G milestone for uplink, Nokia and TPG Telecom have revealed that they have hit a 5G upstream speed of 2 Gigabits per second (Gbps) using the Australian consumer and business internet service provider’s 5G mmWave spectrum.

The uplink milestone was achieved during a live demonstration at the Nokia 5G Futures Lab in Sydney. The demonstration involved a commercially available Nokia AirScale 5G mmWave base station utilising TPG Telecom’s 26GHz spectrum to connect, over the air, to a 5G device powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5G modem-RF system featuring fourth-generation Qualcomm QTM545 mmWave antenna modules.

Also, Nokia deployed its carrier aggregation (CA) technology to fully leverage the available spectrum assets. The CA setup included four component carriers of 100MHz each in the 26GHz band. The demonstration also used Nokia’s 5G Core to provide the speed, intelligence and security for testing the delivery of new advanced 5G services.

This follows on from a number of Australian 5G speed records announced by Nokia earlier in the year. At the end of October, the national broadband network (NBN) of Australia announced that it had deployed Nokia 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) mmWave customer premise equipment (CPE).

“Super-fast uplink speeds are critical to fully realise the huge benefits of 5G networks, particularly as we look to emerging technologies like augmented intelligence, machine learning, advanced sensors and robotics that are set to transform industries and economies with huge safety, productivity and efficiency outcomes as we move towards the metaverse era,” said Robert Joyce, chief technology officer at Nokia Oceania.

“For consumers and industries alike, the future is exciting. Pushing the boundaries of 5G with innovative customers like TPG Telecom in Australia is a big part of this journey forward.”

Nokia believes that, once deployed, 5G mmWave technology will create new service opportunities for consumers and industries. For consumers, it says it will allow real-time multi-user 8K ultra HD bidirectional video streaming, and augmented reality content for smartphones or wearable devices for immersive experiences. For industries, it suggests such connectivity will enable streaming of massive amounts of data directly from embedded IoT sensors and industrial robots over 5G, allowing the real-time control of industrial processes using 5G connected edge compute nodes.

This concept of processor offload across 5G was also demonstrated at the demonstration using Spot, the 5G connected robot dog developed in conjunction with academics at the University of Technology Sydney.

The project is also designed to show how Nokia can enable its customers, such as TPG Telecom, to offer ultra-high-performing, low-latency services for industrial and IoT applications that are heavily reliant on high-speed uplink connectivity. The system is expected to be fully deployed next year as devices that support this capability become available.

“We are very proud of this achievement and other mobile technology innovations we continue to develop with Nokia,” said Giovanni Chiarelli, chief technology officer at TPG Telecom. “This demonstration is important as it shows the huge potential of 5G mobile technology and gives a glimpse of the high-speed services that will one day be available to customers and businesses right across Australia.”