Samsung today announced the deployment of the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G trial network in the field. The trial took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in partnership with Verizon and Cisco. This is part of Samsung's focus on early ecosystem development with IT and telecom partners in order to build alignment and stability around the next-generation platform.
Verizon previously announced plans for 5G customer trials for its home broadband service. The trial is going to begin in five US cities in the second quarter of this year. By Q3, this trial will be expanded to a total of 11 markets in the United States.
Ann Arbor is the first location where a multi-vendor 5G solution has been deployed. It includes a 5G virtualized packet core as part of the Cisco Ultra Services Platform with Cisco Advanced Services and Samsung virtual RAN solutions (vRAN) coupled with Samsung's 5G Radio base stations and 5G home routers which will deliver 5G broadband services to Verizon's trial customers.
The three companies performed several comprehensive network vendor interoperability tests which demonstrated the seamless interworking between the core network, radio edge and user devices which showcased a core principle 5G network virtualization through multi-vendor support. The tests were based on Verizon's 5G Technical Forum specification.
