Nokia, Elisa and Qualcomm achieve 5G speed record in Finland

Press Release

Nokia, Elisa and Qualcomm achieve 5G speed record in Finland

• Combined speeds from two devices hit 8 Gbps on a commercial 5G network on mmWave spectrum
• Supports low-latency, high-bandwidth services such as high-speed video downloads and VR/AR

17 November 2020

Espoo, Finland – Nokia, Elisa and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced that they have achieved the world’s fastest 5G speeds on a commercial network in Finland by delivering 8 Gbps for the first time serving two 5G mmWave devices connected simultaneously. The fast speed, which was showcased at Elisa’s flagship store in Helsinki, Finland, will support a range of new low-latency, high-bandwidth services, such as high-speed video downloads, mission-critical or virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications. The service is expected to be implemented in 2021.

The milestone was achieved by utilizing Nokia’s 5G mmWave technology and Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G smartphone form factor test devices over Elisa’s commercial 5G network. The high speed enables more high-bandwidth and latency-sensitive enterprise services, such as remotely controlled devices for industrial needs or mission-critical applications. The solution will also allow subscribers to enjoy unparalleled VR/AR experiences offered to audiences in massive stadium concerts, downloading 4K video content or triple-A games in a matter of seconds, as well as enabling enhanced capacity fixed wireless access connectivity as a fiber broadband alternative. The move supports Elisa’s pioneering efforts to digitize Finnish society as a global leader in 5G services.

The base station utilized two Nokia AirScale radios, each using 800 MHz of commercial millimeter wave 5G spectrum at 26 GHz. These provided connectivity to two 5G smartphone form factor test devices powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System featuring second-generation Qualcomm QTM525 mmWave antenna modules, with each device reaching 4 Gbps peak speeds from the base station.

Sami Komulainen, Executive Vice President, Production at Elisa, said: “This is an important development and another step in our efforts to bring the fastest speeds and best 5G experiences to our customers. Elisa was the first in Finland and amongst the first in the world to deploy 5G. Reaching 8Gbps is a natural step in our 5G development and we want to explore the possibilities 5G offers and push the technology further to benefit our customers.”