In August 2022, Spark had completed what it claimed to be the first end-to-end 5G SA network trial in the country

New Zealand telco Spark, together with Ericsson and Red Hat, announced the successful completion of a 5G Standalone (5G SA) trial in New Zealand.

Spark said in a release that the 5G SA trial was underpinned by Ericsson’s cloud-native 5G core running on Red Hat OpenShift, integrated with Spark’s 5G Fixed Wireless Access Network (FWA) to test enhanced wireless broadband.

Spark noted that the trial demonstrates how 5G SA technology can deliver the low latency, high bandwidth and reliability that are required for high-performance use cases, such as real-time video analytics, when compared to previous wireless technologies.

The trial is part of the ongoing work that Spark is undertaking to prepare for the roll out of a 5G Standalone network at scale in the future.

Nilay Rathod, technology tribe lead at Spark, said: “This proof-of-concept trial with Ericsson and Red Hat demonstrates the potential that 5G standalone technology offers to our Spark network, opening the door on capacity and low latency to help accelerate Internet of Things trends, such as connected cars, smart cities and industrial IoT.  Trialing the solutions offered by Ericsson and Red Hat is an important step for us to identify the optimal combination of vendors and solutions to deliver the benefits we want to achieve, as we work to bring relevant use cases specific to New Zealand’s local requirements.”

“Ericsson’s technology portfolio to support 5G Standalone presents a pathway to 5G maturity and future-readiness for communications service providers, their partners and customers. This trial with Spark and Red Hat clearly demonstrates the range of capabilities and use cases made possible by a network underpinned by Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core technology including ultra-low latency and access to higher data rates for applications such as cloud gaming, immersive video and real-time robotics control,” said Emilio Romeo, head of Ericsson, Australia and New Zealand.

In August 2022, Spark said it completed what it claimed to be the first end-to-end 5G Standalone network trial in the country.

Spark said it created and run two proof-of-concepts to lay the groundwork for 5G Standalone roll out in New Zealand, through a collaboration with Mavenir, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Nokia and Oppo.

Mavenir supplied a 5G Standalone cloud-native core solution, while AWS provided multi access edge computing and 5G cloud solutions. Meanwhile, Nokia and Oppo provided cell site infrastructure and 5G devices respectively.

Spark deployed a Mavenir 5G SA cloud-native core solution on AWS Snowball Edge, which was described by the company as a physically rugged device that provides edge computing and data transfer services. The telco highlighted that this was Mavenir’s first global edge deployment on AWS Snowball Edge.

Spark tested a video analytics tool on the solution, and the results demonstrated low latency to deliver real-time video analytics, with latency reduced by 70% to single-digit milliseconds.

In September 2021, Nokia had announced that it had been selected by Spark to support its 5G rollout, which will provide 5G coverage to approximately 90% of the population by the end of 2023.

In March 2021, Spark and Korean vendor Samsung Electronics launched 5G infrastructure in the city of Christchurch, the most populous city in South Island of New Zealand. The two companies had been working together on 5G trials since 2019.