Three completes 5G outdoor trials in Hong Kong

3HK, the third largest mobile operator in Hong Kong has completed 5G trials on both the 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands.

The trials have been going on since the operator obtained temporary permits from the government of China’s “special administrative region”, for indoor and outdoor tests on the two frequency bands in May and June respectively. The trial on the 26 GHz band used 400 MHz frequency resources and achieved a downlink peak speed of 3.2 Gbps, while the 3.5 GHz trial used 100 MHz resources, hitting speeds of 2 Gbps. The latter trial was on Massive MIMO technology, which enabled 3HK to claim to be the first to conduct live outdoor broadcast via a 5G network in the 3.5GHz band, although the operator hastened to add a footnote that the “first” claim was made “based on publicly-available information”.

“Three Hong Kong took the initiative to carry out end-to-end trials in various 5G bands in preparation for a new era of mobile communications,” said Kenny Koo, CEO of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong, of which 3HK is a subsidiary. “We welcome the government’s decision to allow various of its premises to accommodate 5G base stations, and we hope the application and approval processes can be simplified and accelerated to help Hong Kong’s 5G development.”

3HK explained the rationale behind trialling out on both 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz. It believed that long-term development of 5G technology requires different spectrum bands to complement one another. The mmWave band (for example the 26GHz and 28GHz bands) delivers high-speed service but the cells’ coverage is limited. To achieve greater coverage the mmWave band needs to be complemented by the 3.5 GHz band. Such an arrangement enables operators to extend coverage and provide a seamless 5G experience and to meet all the various demands on 5G applications.

While China may not be the first country to go live with 5G – its mobile operators are more likely to by-pass the non-standalone mode and go full blown to the standalone mode – Hong Kong is often among the leading markets to adopt the latest technologies, as was the case in 3G and 4G. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and the site of 3HK’s massive MIMO trial, Causeway Bay, is right in the centre of the commercial and business district.