DT & Samsung’s first 5G trial could spell danger for Huawei

German Deutsche Telekom and South Korean Samsung announced on Wednesday the successful completion of the first 5G Standalone (SA) trial in the city of Pilsen, Czech Republic.

The two companies verified the performance of 5G SA Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) technologies, demonstrating three times higher spectrum efficiency compared to LTE, a joint statement said.

“Samsung is glad to successfully conduct the first Massive MIMO call on an end-to-end 5G architecture within the DT Group in Europe. This is an important milestone in both companies’ efforts to bring 5G to the next phase,” said WooJune Kim, executive vice president, head of global sales & marketing, networks business at Samsung Electronics. “Leveraging Samsung’s technical capabilities, DT will provide the ability of 5G to deliver unprecedented values to users.”

According to the statement, 5G SA architecture enables mobile operators to have more efficient and simple network operations, while empowering 5G networks to deliver immersive user experiences and new business models for enterprises.

“With Samsung’s 5G Core, mobile operators can easily scale in and out new business models as it can effortlessly create multiple network slices in a single physical network infrastructure,” the statement highlighted.

Samsung’s Massive MIMO radio and Core, used in the trial, have been commercially deployed across the globe. Massive MIMO radio from Samsung has a slim, lightweight, compact design to ensure easy installation and quick deployment.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Samsung to verify the performance of its 5G SA solution,” said Alex Choi, SVP Strategy & Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom. “Together with strong partners we are consistently introducing advanced technical capabilities into our network, and we are very excited about the potential of 5G SA networks to further accelerate the 5G evolution.”

This might spell trouble for Huawei, as Deutsche Telecom’s meeting and 5G trials with Samsung could possibly curb the German operator’s reliance on the Chinese tech titan.

While this the first time both companies meet to discuss the fifth generation of mobile networks, the move to the completion of the first 5G Standalone (SA) trial could indicate that Deutsche Telekom might be growing weary of their long-time partnership with Huawei.

This is mainly due to the German Cabinet’s allowing the Chinese telecoms giant to be part of the country’s 5G deployment efforts but placing it under a tight security noose, which would hamper Deutsche Telekom’s expansion into the fifth generation of mobile networks.

Be that as it may, the German operator is rapidly running out of alternatives to long-time partner Huawei, which would possibly force it to settle for Samsung regardless.