M1, Huawei Plan Live 5G Trials

Singapore's M1 has announced plans to embark on the first end-to-end 5G live trials in the market in conjunction with Huawei.

The companies plan to jointly showcase 5G use cases including live 360-degree virtual reality content broadcasting by the end of the month.

The demonstration at M1's MiWorld building in Jurong will use Huawei 5G equipment operating on the 28-GHz millimeter wave frequency band.

Potential applications for live virtual, augmented and mixed reality broadcasts over 5G networks include training, education, corporate communication, marketing campaigns, public events and virtual tourism.

In future classrooms, teachers could use 5G networks to stream 360-degree video to a classroom of students for a more immersive and interactive learning experience.

M1 and Huawei are planning a number of key initiatives over the next 18 months to validate 5G specifications as they are developed.

The companies plan to conduct the first 3.5-GHz non-standalone standards compliant field trial in Southeast Asia by the end of the year, and a 28-GHz and 3.5-GHz standalone field trial by mid-2019.

“This live demo is a small but significant step in our journey towards next generation 5G mobile networks. With the advancement in 5G and media technologies, immersive communication experience will continue to be enhanced and this will definitely have a profound impact on the way we work, learn, live and play in a future smart city,” M1 CTO Denis Seek said.

“Singapore’s mobile networks are widely acknowledged as amongst the most advanced worldwide, and M1 is committed to staying at the forefront of 5G technology to ensure our consumers enjoy the best experience and latest smart applications. We look forward to working closely with Huawei to harness 5G for developing new innovative and demand-driven use cases and applications in Singapore.”