Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched what it calls a ācomprehensiveā commercial 5G Standalone (SA) network. Having introduced a Non Standalone (NSA) 5G service in 2018 using a combination of 4G and 5G infrastructure, the operator says the switch to a full 5G network will offer āa significant improvementā for its business and residential customers. The 5G SA system is also āessential for innovative use cases,ā Etisalat adds, including Industry 4.0, industrial IoT, commercial augmented and virtual reality, and large-scale digital sensing. Services have initially been made available for fixed wireless access (FWA) rather than true mobility, and the companyās press release adds that its new ānationwideā network can āserve as an alternative broadband option for businessesā, ācomparable to fibre-optic connectionsā, by leveraging the advantages of 5G SA FWA.
EtisalatĀ UAEĀ deployed a multi-vendor 5G Dual Mode core network designed to co-exist efficiently with existing networks. The 5G SA network is based on Service Based Architecture (SBA) and provides capabilities including network slicing (allowing it to be partitioned into multiple, logically isolated networks for different customers based on their needs) and edge computing (bringing computing resources closer to users, reducing latency and improving the performance of applications).
Khalid Murshed, Chief Technology & Information Officer at EtisalatĀ UAE, said: āWe are pleased to announce our successful investment in 5G Standalone technology. This is a significant milestone as we look to deliver end-to-end 5G solutions inĀ UAE, providing our customers with the latest digital innovations and superior experience and laying the foundation for new revenue streams.ā
Original article can be seen at: