StarHub and Malaysian telco U Mobile to trial 5G roaming in Singapore and Malaysia next year
StarHub and Malaysian mobile service provider U Mobile will conduct 5G standalone roaming trials in Singapore and Malaysia starting in the first quarter of 2020, they said in a joint media statement on Monday.
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The 5G SA roaming trials will be done completely independent of 4G network infrastructure, differing from most other roaming trials which use 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) technology.
StarHub 5G roaming
In this partnership, the duo will be monitoring the performance and gathering insights through the testing process, which will essentially establish key aspects, such as the right network configurations and settings to ensure seamless 5G roaming experience for customers when 5G rolls out commercially.
The telcos will also be looking into aspects such as the right commercial price point for 5G roaming in both countries.
The trials will be conducted in collaboration with Huawei, and will be done independent of 4G network infrastructure. This is unlike many other roaming trials that use 5G non-standalone technology, the telcos said.
StarHub and U Mobile said they will examine aspects such as the “right commercial price point” for 5G roaming in both countries.
The trials will help establish key aspects such as the right network configurations and settings for 5G roaming, and will include use cases such as “live” cross-border holographic calls and multi-party video calls.
In a media release issued on Monday, Chong Siew Loong, chief technology officer of StarHub says, “When 5G arrives, we want to continue delivering to customers the same best-in-Singapore connectivity wherever they may be. There is no better place to start 5G roaming trials than in Malaysia, our closest neighbour and one of our customers’ top travel destinations.”
Woon Ooi Yuen, chief technology officer of U Mobile says, “In our 5G efforts, apart from fully supporting the government’s National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan, we thought it would be beneficial if we took a step further to be one of the first in the world to conduct 5G SA roaming trials.”
U Mobile is already a roaming partner of StarHub, and the 5G roaming trial is the third 5G-related initiative StarHub has announced in December.
Earlier in the month, it announced a partnership with the National University of Singapore to use 5G technologies to design and test virtual reality and artificial intelligence solutions in a net-zero energy building.
It also earlier held a two-day pop-up 5G showcase for the public at its StarHub Green headquarters in Ubi.
