5G Advanced trial clocks 10 Gbps in UAE

The United Arab Emirate’s telecoms regulator says it has completed phase II of its 5G Advanced trials, calling it a ‘paradigm shift in data transfer speed’.

The UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) conducted the trial alongside regional operators e& and du. It utilised the 400 MHz bandwidth of the 6 GHz band, clocking 10 Gbps, and it says in the release ‘the UAE is considered the first country to reach this speed regionally and globally.’

It says this will be of particular use with regards to IoT, smart cities and the metaverse. TDRA calls the trial a ‘paradigm shift in data transfer speed’ and that it will support future projects involving nanotech, remote diagnostics in healthcare, autonomous vehicle projects in transportation, and in management of industrial installations.

“In this trial, we have used cutting-edge technology, through which we were able to make the most out of 5G, and we aspire through the results we have achieved to make a qualitative leap that not only improves the quality of services provided, but also sets the stage for future innovations that contribute to driving digital transformation forward towards realizing the goals of Vision ‘We the UAE 2031’, at the heart of which is the establishment of the most pioneering and superior system, all in support of the future digital knowledge society and economy,” said H.E. Majed Sultan al-Mesmar, TDRA’s Director-General.

“The exponential number of Internet users, and the scientific advances witnessed by the world today require new speeds to accommodate the increasing load on networks and keep up with the high specifications of emerging technologies on the world stage such as metaverse applications, to name a few. Having attained a speed of 10Gbps under this trial won’t become ordinary with time. This new, globally unprecedented speed will lead to faster data transfer, ushering in a new era of high-quality streaming and seamless cloud services. The trial will also enhance the IoT by providing the infrastructure necessary to simultaneously handle multiple connected devices, while ensuring seamless and reliable connectivity.”

Often when the next steps in telecoms technology/standardisation is put on a pedestal – whether it’s 5G standalone, 5G Advanced, 5G mmWave, or 6G – there is the slight issue with what are no doubt worthy, if esoteric, technological milestones, in that all the things they promise (smart cities, metaverse, autonomous driving) were what was promised all along with vanilla 5G.

Whether or not this ends up creating some difficulty in differentiation as the technology moves on from trials, or deposits a fly in the ointment for the marketing departments of firms eventually looking to flog such things, remains to be seen.

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