Ericsson, U.S. Cellular see 9 Gbps in 5G tests

Ericsson and U.S. Cellular said they’ve achieved peak speeds of 9 Gbps overall and 1.5 Gbps over a mile in 5G testing in Madison, Wisconsin.

Ericsson installed 5G radios on a tower in commercial service with the regional carrier using 15 GHz spectrum through an experimental license from the FCC. The tests were run in a variety of environmental conditions to simulate real-world usage, and the top speed was seen at a distance of 787 feet.

The companies said the tests also included next-generation technologies and strategies such as radio resource sharing, beamforming, beam tracking, peak throughput and multiuser MIMO.

“This latest trial with Ericsson demonstrates incredible 9 Gbps speeds in an environment that was close to a real-world scenario, and we look forward to collaborating with Ericsson on the development of standards for a healthy 5G ecosystem,” U.S. Cellular CTO Michael Irizarry said in a press release. “We are committed to giving our customers the best experience with the latest technology that can enhance their lives or businesses, and a fast, high-quality network that works whenever and wherever they need it.”

Like other telecom gear vendors, Ericsson is moving aggressively in its pursuit of 5G. The company is teaming with AT&T and Intel in a business customer trial of next-generation services in Austin, Texas, and this week it said a partnership with Qualcomm and KPN had produced the first successful trial of Cat-M1 technology in Europe.

And like its rivals, Ericsson is hoping that the coming world of 5G can provide a much-needed lift to the mobile infrastructure market. Ericsson posted a $26 million loss in the third quarter due largely to waning sales in North America, and in October it announced plans to slash 3,000 jobs in its native Sweden in an effort to cut costs.