Dialog first in South Asia to trial most advanced 5G

Dialog Axiata PLC, said yesterday it had become the first in South Asia to successfully trial the most advanced 5G Standalone (5G SA) network.

The latest breakthrough achievement follows Dialog in 2018 becoming the first telecommunications service provider in the South Asian region to demonstrate 5G capabilities.

Dialog said with this successful 5G SA trial, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider had further advanced the nation’s 5G journey and would enable more advanced use cases that required 5G SA support.

While the 5G NSA mode enables ‘Enhanced Mobile Broadband’ for consumers, 5G SA can bring more advanced features in 5G, including ‘Ultra-reliable Low Latency Services (URLLC)’ and ‘Massive Machine Type Communication (MMTC)’, that enable use cases such as autonomous driving and enhanced real-time immersive services such as AR/VR and massive IoT (Internet of Things). It will open up innumerable next-generation opportunities for enterprises and bring forth the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) that will catalyse ground-breaking innovations.

Group CEO Supun Weerasinghe said: “The successful trial of the 5G Standalone network marks a key milestone in the advancement of connectivity infrastructure, not just in the country, but also in the South Asian region. We at Dialog are proud to propel our nation amongst our global peers to achieve yet another region-first in technology, where the evolution of our 5G architecture will enable us to provide even better services to our customers.”

This announcement follows a range of 5G milestones by the company, including the deployment of South Asia’s first 5G trial network in 2020, the demonstration of a fully standards-based 5G mobile service for the first time in South Asia, the first 5G showcase in South Asia, the demonstration of South Asia’s fastest 5G mobile speeds in 2019, and the first standards-based 5G fixed-wireless pilot transmission in December 2018. Implementing 5G will mean faster speeds for end consumers, as well as limitless opportunities to automate industrial and home environments.