Ericsson, in partnership with Telstra and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., announced a new record-breaking uplink speed of 516 Mbps, surpassing the previous record of 447 Mbps set in October, 2024. This achievement marks the highest uplink speed ever achieved on a live commercial sub-6GHz 5G Standalone (5G SA) network.
This milestone highlights the increasing importance of 5G uplink capabilities as consumer and enterprise applications demand higher upload speeds for activities such as live streaming, video conferencing, and real-time data processing with artificial intelligence (AI).
The record-breaking speed was achieved using a single 50 MHz 5G SA carrier in the 2600 MHz spectrum band, utilizing Uplink Frequency Division Duplexing (Uplink FDD) Single User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (SU-MIMO) technology. Ericsson's RAN Processor 6672 and Radio 4466, along with Qualcomm Technologies' Snapdragon® X80 5G Modem-RF System, powered this achievement.
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Ericsson's collaboration with Telstra goes beyond technical demonstrations to real-world applications. While consumer speeds may not reach the level of this record, consumers with compatible devices in areas where Telstra has deployed the necessary technology will benefit from improved performance. Future technologies such as 3GPP Release 16’s Uplink Transmit Switching (UTS) and Uplink Carrier Aggregation (ULCA) will further enhance this capability, ensuring consistent and reliable uplink experiences across Telstra's network.
Emilio Romeo, Head of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand, stated that this achievement reflects the strength of their latest Radio Access Network hardware and software solutions, emphasizing their commitment to providing superior network performance for communication service providers (CSPs) globally.
Telstra's Wireless Engineering Executive, Sri Amirthalingam, noted that Telstra is dedicated to innovation and delivering enhanced network performance for customers, while Qualcomm Technologies' Senior Vice President, Durga Malladi, highlighted that the advancement in network uplink performance and capacity was achieved through their Snapdragon® X80 technology.
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