T-Mobile US president of technology Ulf Ewaldsson told Mobile World Live the big effort it takes to push out standalone (SA) 5G is worthwhile given improvements for consumer and enterprise applications, as he teased priorities moving forward including launch of 5G-Advanced features.

During MWC Las Vegas, the expert highlighted its decision to go with SA 5G in 2020 had paid dividends, praising the network for being able to get the most out of the latest smartphones alongside the advanced enterprise use cases outlined during his keynote at the event.

However, he noted the move to standalone was “not trivial at all”, adding “many operators around the world are struggling to go there because it means changing out your core”.

“The core network is the heart of every network and if you go in and change it, that’s a big effort. We did and now it pays off”.

Although not willing to divulge the “surprises” it has in store for 2025 from a network technology standpoint, he claimed T-Mobile would be the first in the US to offer 5G-Advanced features.

It plans to hit the button on some elements by the end of 2024, before increasing these in 2025.

Here, Ewaldsson cited plans to activate L4S technology to “optimise video experiences” and 5G reduced capability (RedCap) technology for compatible IoT devices.

Other areas being worked on include much-hyped satellite services and “interest for starting to optimise the RAN with more AI in it”, though Ewaldsson noted the latter would probably be “a bit further out than 2025, maybe 2026”.