Australian telecommunications operator Telstra has achieved uplink speeds of 516 Mbps in collaboration with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies. This record surpassed the previous speed of 447 Mbps in October 2024. Ericsson noted that this is the highest uplink speed achieved on a live commercial sub-6GHz 5G Standalone (SA) network.
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Importance of High Uplink Speeds in 5G
Uplink speeds play a crucial role in delivering a seamless consumer experience. This achievement supports the importance of 5G uplink capabilities, as consumer and enterprise applications require higher upload speeds for live streaming, video conferencing, and real-time data processing with AI.
The speed performance was achieved using a single 50 MHz 5G SA carrier in the 2600 MHz spectrum band, leveraging Uplink Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) Single User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (SU-MIMO) technology. Ericsson's RAN Processor 6672 and Radio 4466, combined with the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System from Qualcomm Technologies, powered this demonstration.
Consumers Will Benefit from These Advancements
"While actual consumer speeds won’t reach the level achieved in this new record, consumers with compatible devices in areas where Telstra has the necessary technology deployed will benefit from enhanced performance off the back of these advancements," Ericsson noted.
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Enhancements in Telstra's 5G Network
Furthermore, future implementations of technologies such as 3GPP Release 16 Uplink Transmit Switching and Uplink Carrier Aggregation will complement this uplink capability across Telstra's network.
"Telstra and Ericsson together are actively pushing boundaries of improving the uplink experience, not just pushing the upload speeds," the companies said in a statement on February 10, 2025.
