In the past, Samsung has collaborated with several network providers like Orange to develop new telecommunication infrastructure in various parts of Europe. Now, it has teamed up with Virgin Media to build several new 4G and 5G network towers by leveraging Virgin Media O2’s Open RAN (Radio Access Network) infrastructure.
Field tests showed that Samsung's new hardware could work seamlessly with O2's existing legacy networks (3G/2G). It also served as a proof of concept for Samsung’s Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) capabilities, which allows the existing 4G infrastructure to be used as a 5G radio. Samsung's equipment is versatile enough to work with both proprietary and Open RAN networks.
Samsung's 5G 64T64R Massive MIMO radios were used to work with O2's network, which is mostly based on the 3.5GHz spectrum. The 64T64R is one of Samsung's flagship 5G radios and is used in several 5G infrastructures worldwide. Other bands tested included 800MHz, 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz. Francis BJ Chun, President and CEO, Samsung Electronics U.K said the following:
Samsung is excited to extend our network collaboration with Virgin Media O2 in the U.K., advancing from lab trials to now delivering 4G and 5G in commercial networks out in the field. We look forward to playing a major part of the diversification of the network equipment supply chain in the U.K. market.
Although 5G smartphones are quite mainstream in the here and now, 5G network infrastructure is yet to reach many parts of the planet. Samsung is working together with several governments and network service providers alike to get 5G up and running in far-flung areas of the plant.
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