Telstra, in partnership with Ericsson, has announced the launch of Ericsson's Cloud RAN (Radio Access Network) infrastructure on Telstra's commercial 5G network. This development marks a major milestone in Telstra's ability to deliver advanced 5G services to customers across Australia.
According to the statement, the Cloud RAN technology has already been deployed and is fully operational at multiple sites, including the Gold Coast in Queensland.
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Migrating Carrier Frequencies to Cloud RAN
As part of this deployment, Telstra and Ericsson have migrated two carrier frequencies, 2600 MHz and 3600 MHz, to the Cloud RAN infrastructure, enabling the delivery of the latest capabilities and services of 5G. As a result, Telstra can leverage the dynamic scalability, increased flexibility, enhanced capacity, and faster service delivery that Ericsson's Cloud RAN infrastructure offers.
Cloud RAN Virtualization
According to Ericsson, virtualization of crucial network segment represents the final step in achieving complete automation and orchestration capabilities for Telstra's end-to-end network at scale. These cloud-native architectures adhere to the latest Cloud and Network (3GPP) standards, setting the stage for future technologies like 6G.
Telstra and Ericsson also remain committed to enhancing deployment and operational practices.
The commercial deployment follows a technology trial conducted in December, where Telstra and Ericsson completed the World's first Ericsson Cloud RAN 5G data call on Telstra's commercial network, making a significant breakthrough in the southern hemisphere, as reported by TelecomTalk.
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According to the statement, Telstra's implementation of Ericsson's Cloud RAN technology involves the virtualization of the RAN baseband, a process that decouples the Centralized Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU) functions from the base station site and centralizes them. This move optimizes compute resource utilization, resulting in improved capacity, resilience, and automation capabilities.
Telstra as the World's First Operator to Utilize Cloud Native Infrastructure
With this deployment, Telstra becomes the first in the World to utilize Ericsson's Cloud Native Infrastructure solution (CNIS) for Cloud RAN on a live commercial 5G network.
CNIS, a bare metal infrastructure specifically optimized for hosting cloud-native 5G applications, empowers Telstra to ensure the best mobile network performance for its customers. The combination of Ericsson's Cloud RAN running on CNIS significantly reduces deployment and operational risks.
According to Telstra, this deployment enables them to roll out network capacity and new features faster while making the networks more intelligent, automated, flexible, reliable, and secure. This holds particular significance in high-demand areas such as large events and seasonal hotspots, ensuring Telstra customers receive a consistently high standard of service. Telstra's ongoing partnership with Ericsson continues to support its commitment to delivering a world-leading 5G experience to the Australian public.
Ericsson highlights the flexibility of Ericsson's Cloud RAN technology, which delivers an open network architecture independent of hardware solutions and easily scalable to meet evolving customer demands.
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Delivering Superior 5G Performance and User Experience
With Ericsson's Cloud RAN infrastructure hosting data traffic on Telstra's 5G commercial network, Telstra's customers can fully experience the immense capabilities of 5G, including low-latency and high-bandwidth performance, resulting in an improved user experience.
The virtualization of the RAN opens doors for the introduction of new network features and services that require low latency, edge computing, and robust security measures.
