With this deployment, Etisalat by e& has moved to the next stage of 5G
Etisalat by e& has announced the commercial deployment and service readiness of 5G Stand-Alone for mobile users, a new technology milestone after the successful 5G SA service launch for Fixed Wireless Users (FWA) at the start of 2023.
With this deployment, Etisalat by e& has moved to the next stage of 5G; previously, customers were using a 5G radio access network on an existing 4G LTE network. With this launch, mobile users will be able to use a complete Stand Alone 5G network, providing access to higher uplink speeds, improved device battery life, and faster connectivity to the network.
These benefits can support new applications, including rich Voice over New Radio (VoNR) and Video New Radio (ViNR) calling experience beyond an over-the-top (OTT) solution.
End-to-end 5G solutions
Khalid Murshed, Chief Technology & Information Officer, Etisalat by e&, said: “This is a significant milestone as we look to deliver end-to-end 5G solutions in UAE, providing our customers with the latest in digital innovations, superior experience and laying the foundation for the next generation of technologies on the network. The 5G Standalone network will allow us to offer our customers the latest high-speed and low-latency connectivity. We are proud to lead the way in 5G technology and are committed to continuing our efforts to provide the best services in the industry.”
5G SA will speed up service delivery and innovation cycles due to its software-based service model and its agile, continuous innovation and deployment cycles. The low latency that can be achieved with 5G SA is significant as it will allow for low latency gaming, enhanced AR/VR applications, and improvements to myriad enterprise use cases, also enabling multiple IoT applications, especially those that require massive, constant connections
Etisalat by e& 5G Stand Alone (SA) service will provide customers with ultra-high speed and low latency Internet connection, enabling a much more enjoyable and efficient user experience. Another key advantage of 5G SA is enabling network slicing. Network slicing allows a network to be “sliced” into customised virtual pieces to support specific use cases or users.
5G networks can support a wide range of use cases by fulfilling different types of network requirements, including varying levels of latencies, throughput, capacity, and network reliability. Network slicing is the technique that allows 5G to address all kinds of use cases by utilising the same network infrastructure to serve different service types through virtual network slices within the overall mobile network.
New era
The 5G SA core network will now include edge computing capability, network slicing, 3GPP SA guided network orchestration and service-based architecture. Evolution from 5G Stand-Alone Fixed Wireless Access (5G SA FWA) service to 5G Stand-Alone for Mobile Users will open a new era of 5G SA commercial use cases while enhancing QOE (Quality Of Experience)
The 5G Stand-Alone deployment is based on Service Based Architecture (SBA) and has the capability of network exposure, slicing, edge computing and orchestration based on the latest 3GPP standards.
5G SA coupled with new technologies such as cloud, network slicing, edge computing and AI will open up multiple innovative applications and solutions for enterprise, and consumer subscribers, including different vertical industries (manufacturing, healthcare, real-time surveillance and others).
