The trial is part of the UAE efforts to have a leading position in the 5G Advanced field

Emirati-based operator etisalat by e& said it has achieved 10 Gbps throughput on the 6 GHz band, a milestone which, according to the company, positions the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the forefront of 5G-Advanced network capabilities.

The telco said that the trial focused on “unlocking the full potential of the 6 GHz frequency range and utilizing the 400 MHz bandwidth to achieve the unparalleled 10Gbps speed while enhancing the user experience.”

“The collaboration between etisalat by e& and the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) resulted in the ground-breaking achievement of 10Gbps on the 6 GHz band, which stands as the highest ever achieved on this frequency worldwide,” the Arab telco said.

Khalid Murshed, chief technology and information officer at Etisalat UAE, said: “etisalat by e& is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of technological innovation to provide transformative solutions to our customers. Our recent achievement of 5G-Advanced speeds reaffirms our commitment to delivering high-quality and fast connectivity. The collaboration with TDRA emphasizes our joint commitment to enhance the UAE’s technological leadership and global recognition.”

The executive also noted that this technology advancement would enable the growth of IoT applications and metaverse technologies. “The increased speeds support complex applications such as remote healthcare diagnostics, autonomous vehicle projects, and advanced industrial installations, contributing to a more innovative, interconnected society,” he said.

3GPP Release 18 marks the start of 5G Advanced, which builds on the 5G baseline defined by 3GPP in previous Releases 15, 16, and 17. There is a wide consensus in the industry that 5G Advanced technology will bring new enhancements to current mobile network capabilities and use case-based support to help mobile operators with 5G commercialization, long-term development of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) and network energy savings for a fully automated network.

Also, 5G Advanced will also bring system-level enhancements to the 5G NR standard, while also optimizing capabilities for specific vertical industries and applications. Some of these innovations include AI-enabled end-to-end communications, support for new spectrum bands, wide-area IoT evolution, private networks and more.

5G Advanced will also provide stepping stones in areas that will influence the future 6G systems, expected to be launched around 2030 and thus bridge 5G with 6G.