Nokia and leading Japanese operator KDDI have conducted a country-first trial simulating future 5G network demands, providing high-speed, one gigabit-per-second connectivity inside an apartment block using Nokia radio technology on the 28GHz band.

The trial, conducted between the KDDI Research Building and an apartment approximately 100 meters away, achieved speeds in excess of 1Gbps on the 28GHz band, demonstrating how 5G technology can be used inside apartment blocks to meet demand for wireless ultra-broadband in megacities such as Tokyo, the most densely populated metropolitan area in the world.

The trial took place in Fujimino City of Saitama Prefecture and marks the first in a series of 5G collaborations between Nokia and KDDI following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last year to develop technologies for a new, faster generation of wireless communications.

Akira Matsunaga, Senior Director, Mobile Network Technical Development, KDDI, said: “The speeds achieved in this trial show great potential for us to deliver high-quality services. Working with Nokia, we want to develop the use of technologies that deliver on the promise of 5G to meet our subscribers needs.”

Jae Won, head of Nokia Japan, added: “This trial is an important milestone both in our collaboration with KDDI and in our development of technology to meet the ever-growing demands of the large populations of megacities. 5G promises to deliver the ultra-low latency, capacity and high speeds for these types of deployment, and this trial is a great example of how it can be applied to transform the entertainment experience as one of the many use cases 5G has to offer.”

About the technology

• Nokia AirScale Base Station, part of Nokia’s 5G FIRST end-to-end solution, provided coverage and connectivity to the apartment block
• Nokia AirFrame offered a commercial platform to enable cloud RAN and allow the transmission of streaming data