T-Mobile US announced the results of two separate 5G trials with Nokia and Ericsson, following partnerships made with both vendors in February.

With Nokia, the US operator concluded preliminary 5G testing using 28GHz spectrum and Nokia’s supposedly ‘5G-ready’ AirScale radio platform.

This resulted in connection speeds and throughput rates of several gigabits per second, as well as real-time latency of 1.8 milliseconds while streaming four simultaneous 4K videos.

Nokia said in a statement it is planning further network testing and application validation with T-Mobile, putting into place the necessary steps for standardising 5G technology.

Neville Ray, CTO at T-Mobile US said: “We’ve now brought 5G out of the lab and into the field. With Nokia’s partnership, we’re seeing the kind of astounding data speeds and low latency that are hallmarks of 5G and set the standard for future network performance.”

Ericsson
Meanwhile, T-Mobile US and Ericsson revealed the results of a test that included a voice call between 4G and 5G networks.

The demonstration showed it was possible to achieve connection throughput of over 12 Gb/s for 5G downloads and ultra-low latency connections of less than 2 milliseconds; more impressive speeds than other operator trials to date.

The trial took place last month and included test demonstrations of two-directional beam steering and operation of multiple simultaneous 4K video streams.

According to Arun Bansal, senior VP and head of business unit network products at Ericsson, “smooth handover between 5G and advanced LTE networks will be critical to delivering a robust user experience especially with new media applications”.

Ericsson has already announced more than 25 agreements to test 5G with operators worldwide.

T-Mobile US’ 5G drive, meanwhile, started in February after it followed rivals Verizon and AT&T by revealing plans to hold field trials for the technology.

At the time, the news had come as a surprise in light of comments made by outspoken CEO John Legere, who had hit out at Verizon for claiming it would launch 5G in the next few years.

In July, Verizon hailed a “key milestone” after completing its 5G radio specifications, claiming to be the first US operator to do so.

Earlier in the week, Ray said T-Mobile’s network now “covers nearly everyone Verizon reaches”, as it announced some impressive preliminary Q3 customer figures.