Chinese networking giant Huawei is continuing its 5G network tests with Singaporean mobile carrier M1, with the two working to complete an end-to-end live broadcast of virtual reality (VR) content over a 5G network.
The trial, which will make use of the 28GHz millimetre-wave (mmWave) spectrum band, will take place at the end of June in M1's MiWorld building in Jurong. It constitutes the first live end-to-end 5G trial of Huawei's equipment in Singapore in that frequency band, the companies said.
"This live demo is a small but significant step in our journey towards next-generation 5G mobile networks," M1 CTO Denis Seek said. "With the advancement in 5G and media technologies, immersive communication experience will continue to be enhanced, and this will definitely have a profound impact on the way we work, learn, live, and play in future smart city."
M1 said the use of VR, along with augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality, will become use cases across smart classrooms, corporate communications, training, marketing campaigns, public events, and virtual tourism -- and will rely on a low-latency 5G network with theoretical throughput speeds of 20Gbps.
Huawei International CEO Lei Hui said the company would "continue to invest heavily in the research and development of 5G key technologies and products, cooperate with global industry partners, and promote the implementation of 5G commercial deployments and a healthy industry ecosystem worldwide".
Huawei and M1 are planning to conduct a non-standalone 5G field trial by the end of this year using the 3.5GHz band, and then a standalone 3GPP standards-compliant trial using both 28GHz and 3.5GHz bands in mid-2019.
The two had announced attaining speeds of 35Gbps[1] during a trial of 5G network technology in January last year, at