Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) yesterday said it plans to set up an indoor 5G trial field next month at Neihu Technology Park (內湖科技園區) for 100 enterprises or research organizations to run three-month free trials, a day after the telecom won the first approval to install a 5G-based Proof of Business network.
The telecom said it plans to offer the trials in collaboration with Ericsson Taiwan (台灣愛立信) at the Neihu Sports Center on a commercial 5G network using the 3.5 gigahertz band.
As part of the trials, the telecom is to supply free 5G SIM cards, routers and an application enablement platform, allowing firms to utilize it to test Internet of Things (IoT) business opportunities from this month to December.
The average download speed of the 5G network is at least 10 times faster than a 4G LTE network, the company said.
“We hope the trials help upstream and downstream companies transit to 5G technology more smoothly,” Far EasTone vice president Philip Tseng (曾詩淵) told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference in Taipei.
The telecom is teaming up with Taipei’s Smart City Project Management Office, Department of Information Technology and Department of Economic Development, as well as the Taiwan IOT Technology and Industry Association (台灣物聯網產業技術協會) to launch the 5G trials.
Notebook computer maker Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) and smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) are to provide the testing ground, the telecom said.
The announcement came after the National Communications Commission on Thursday approved Far EasTone’s plan to deploy a 5G proof-of-business network.
The commission has approved six 5G proof-of-concept trials and is still reviewing other applications, it said, adding that it welcomes more applications to explore business opportunities or business models on 5G networks.
Telecoms that win 5G spectrum licenses are expected to launch commercial 5G services in July next year at the earliest, the commission said.
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