The term ‘world first’ has been stretched pretty thin over the last couple of days and patience is bound to be pushed when we arrive at Mobile World Congress, but Vodafone and Huawei have teamed up to have a crack.

In the test, a dual connectivity, starting on 4G and finishing on 5G, live data call was completed using a test device, which the pair claim is the first demonstration of all end-to-end 5G elements. A 5G NR end-to-end test network was built to undertake the trial and used 3.7GHz spectrum. When you combine all these factors, the sweet spot of never been done before is found. And there you have it, nuance discovered and ‘world first’ claim justified.

“This is a significant milestone for Vodafone towards the introduction of 5G,” said Santiago Tenorio, Vodafone’s Group Head of Networks Strategy and Architecture. “The credit for this must go to the engineers in Huawei and Vodafone who have worked tirelessly since December. This successful test will enable us to move forward with further trials of 5G across Europe during 2018.”

“Huawei is fully committed to the further development of this end-to-end 5G network technology,” said Yang Chaobin, President of Huawei’s 5G product line. “This test result shows the maturity of 5G based on the 3GPP standard. We are ready to continue our collaboration with Vodafone and enter commercial trials.”

The call will be demonstrated throughout Mobile World Congress on the Vodafone stand with engineers wearing different coloured t-shirts each time so a new world first can be claimed every call.