Vodafone Group collaborates with Qualcomm and Xiaomi to test new 5G uplink technology designed to enable faster upload speeds and greater mobile coverage, making it the first of its kind in Europe Did.
The companies explained in a joint statement that the move involves combining Vodafone’s Standalone (SA) 5G with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and Xiaomi’s next flagship smartphone. By testing advanced uplink technology using three elements, the three were able to record peak upload speeds of up to 273Mb/s.
That’s more than double the average speed of 100Mb/s for “most smartphones and home broadband services today,” and speeds closer to download levels.
The next-generation devices, expected to hit the market later this year, will feature improved uplink capabilities to speed up photo and video uploads to social media and the cloud, the companies said. It will also help increase the demand for VR applications as well as games.
This boost is made possible by using uplink carrier aggregation technology with Tx switching, which blends multiple transmission channels supported by Xiaomi’s smartphone and mobile antennas.
Alberto Ripepi, Vodafone’s chief network officer, said that Vodafone’s customers “want to be able to benefit from this new 5G capability before anywhere else in the world when it becomes available.” “We are committed to promoting a stronger vendor and developer ecosystem.”
Pilot tests were conducted in Spain and Germany, using Vodafone’s commercial SA 5G network in the latter market.
Vodafone Germany launched commercial SA 5G services in 2021 in collaboration with Ericsson and Oppo. The company also plans to introduce this technology to all railway lines connecting major cities in the country by 2025.
