Movistar and Ericsson Bring First 5G Trial to Argentina

Telefónica-owned operator Movistar and Ericsson have brought the first 5G test system to Argentina, allowing telecom operators and ecosystem partners such as academic institutions and industry representatives, to test 5G capabilities in a live network.

Trial was conducted during launch of the first 5G lab in Argentina. Ericsson’s 28GHz mmWave 5G Test Bed was used for the trial that showed a record speed of 20Gbps. This live 5G trial is seen as a first step in preparing Argentina for the next-generation technology.

Base stations and device prototypes were used to show advanced 5G technologies, including Massive MIMO, massive beamforming, Distributed MIMO, Multi-user MIMO, and beam tracking. Those components together offered multi-gigabit data rates and ultra-low latency that are key requirements for future consumer mobile broadband and industrial use cases.

“Ericsson and Movistar are already working in a coordinated way to test the design of this 5G network and training the teams so that when it is deployed, that process is already complete. It should be noted that the city of Buenos Aires was chosen as the venue for this trial because it has the geographical, building, population density, and high radio electric characteristics that enable an efficient test of this technology for the future,“ said Federico Rava, Executive President of Telefónica in Argentina.

“With 5G consumers can enjoy applications such as augmented reality and 4K video streaming, while industries will benefit from innovative Internet of Things applications such as smart transport and remote healthcare, creating significant business opportunities. We expect 5G to be introduced around 2020 globally, and this trial is the first step in Argentina to prepare for the next-generation mobile technology,“ added Nicolás Brancoli, President of Ericsson in South America.