Telstra hailed continued breakthroughs in 5G data rates after trials conducted in partnership with Ericsson and Qualcomm in late 2020 using mmWave and LTE spectrum delivered a rate of 5Gb/s.

In a blog, group executive for networks and IT Nikos Katinakis explained the operator achieved the rate on its commercial network in a trial conducted at its 5G Innovation Centre. He claimed the speed as a world record and noted it built on a previous test conducted by the trio in September 2020, which delivered 4.2Gb/s using mmWave.

Their latest test involved conducting a 5G data call using eight 100MHz mmWave carriers combined with two 20MHz 2.6GHz carriers, providing a total of 840MHz of spectrum for a single user.

The test used Ericsson’s Radio System base station and a 5G test device powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X60 5G modem-RF chipset.

Katinakis added Telstra expects to deploy mmWave technology this year following an auction of licences and in line with growing availability of compatible devices.

He noted the company continues to work on mmWave and other technologies including standalone 5G, to ensure its customers are among the first in the world to benefit from these “incredible speeds and network capabilities”.

Telstra began mmWave trials in the 26GHz band in February 2020, also with Ericsson and Qualcomm.