5G is on the way in Oman- but not before 2020

Energy Tuesday 14/November/2017 21:15 PM
By: Times News Service
5G is on the way in Oman- but not before 2020

Muscat: Omantel, the leading telecom provider in the Sultanate, and Ericsson have successfully conducted a live 5G showcase at Omantel’s head office in Muscat, where they displayed 5G capabilities in a real-world environment, including tests on speed, mobility and latency.
Even though these trials are being held, it will still be some time before the wireless technology becomes a reality, as it is still under development and testing, according to Omantel. According to preliminary indicators, this technology will not be officially launched before 2020, and the official protocol is not expected to be completed before 2020.
The 5G showcase also involved advanced 5G features such as beamforming and beam-tracking techniques with full transformation, placing Omantel at the forefront of technology innovation and leadership in the region.
By using a 800MHz of spectrum bandwidth in near millimetre wave frequency band, the 5G showcase system displayed a performance that is much greater than the most advanced available 4G networks.
The showcase also achieved an aggregate site throughput (maximum rate at which something can be processed) of more than 25Gbps, which is significantly better than the current 4G networks.
Talal Said Al Mamari, chief executive officer (CEO) of Omantel, said: “The future of communications is 5G, and we are looking forward to introducing the people of Oman to this innovative smart technology that will change the way we live and do business. This technology will be a change-maker impacting key sectors such as healthcare, mining and agriculture to name just a few.”
The 5G showcase is the first in a series of trials that Omantel and Ericsson have agreed to conduct to prepare the network for the 5G evolution. The technology in itself is under development with Omantel conducting trials on different spectrums and studying the network requirements and costs involved. Tests are underway on various applications and in the areas to be serviced.
Guided by its 3.0 transformation strategy, which has digital transformation and innovation as its pillars, Omantel has undertaken the 5G trial as its latest step to aid the digital transformation process in the Sultanate.
5G will be instrumental in realising the vision of transforming Oman into a sustainable knowledge society by leveraging information and communication technologies to improve services.
5G Technology is expected to offer diverse services and use cases (software modelling techniques) ranging from smart agriculture, flood sensors, industrial applications and control, smart meters, remote training, remote surgery, shipment tracking, fleet management and traffic safety and control. 5G technology will also drive the evolution of mobile broadband to enhanced mobile broadband offering media anywhere, broadcasting and augmented reality.

5G features and functions tests happening now. Witness & experience 5G speed of 25 gigabit/sec