Chinese vendor ZTE partnered with Advanced Info Service (AIS), Thailand’s largest mobile operator, and Qualcomm Technologies to complete the trial of mmWave 5G Standalone technology at the AZ center in Bangkok, ZTE said in a release.

During the trial, ZTE noted that 5G mmWave SA technology achieved downlink speeds of 7.04 Gbps, uplink speeds of 2.12 Gbps under and end-to-end latency of less than 4 milliseconds. The company added that these results were achieved using a single CPE prototype powered by Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System from Qualcomm Technologies, along with ZTE’s latest mmWave AAU network infrastructure equipment.

The vendor noted that the high throughput and minimal data transmission delay offered by this technology enable users to experience immediate responses during critical applications such as online gaming, virtual reality and autonomous vehicles.

Wasit Watansap, head of the nationwide operations and support business unit at AIS, said: “The success achieved in the testing of mmWave SA technology will empower the 5G network with capabilities and intelligence that will lead to various solutions, such as controlling machinery in factories and manufacturing, autonomous driving and remote surgeries.”

“We remain committed to advancing the development of 5G mmWave as this will further enable an intelligently connected world benefitting not only enterprises, but also everyday experiences of end users,” said ST Liew, VP at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Asia-Pacific.

In October 2022, AIS’ head of mobile and consumer products, Saran Phaloprakarn, had said that the telco was planning the deployment of millimeter wave spectrum in the country in 2023, once compatible devices were available in the market. AIS’s 5G network already covered all 77 provinces of Thailand as of the end of last year. AIS launched 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) service in February 2020 using the 700 MHz, 2.6 GHz and 26 GHz bandwidth that it won in the spectrum auction, followed by 5G SA in July 2020 in cooperation with Huawei.

AIS’ customer base reaches nearly 46.1 million subscribers, including 6.8 million 5G subscribers as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. AIS had deployed around 26,000 5G base stations nationwide as of December 2022.