Japan’s SoftBank plans to work with Ericsson to conduct a joint trial of 5G in the 4.5-GHz band in dense urban areas of Japan.
The end-to-end trial will involve two 5G new radios, a virtual RAN and EPC, beamforming, Massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) functionality and test support services.
The trial is set to commence once Softbank obtains an experimental 5G license, Ericsson said.
In March, SoftBank and Ericsson also teamed up for a 5G trial in the 28-GHz millimeter wave band, which followed more basic tests in the 4.5-GHz and 15-GHz bands in Tokyo in 2016.
SoftBank aims to be one of the first operators to deploy 5G services once the standardization process is complete and seeks to position itself as a pioneer of 5G.
The operator also recently announced plans to deploy Ericsson’s Radio Dot system across Japan to improve indoor coverage in high-density urban areas. Softbank has been testing the technology since 2015.