There are many firsts to accomplish amid the advancement to 5G and SK Telecom has claimed a few, including another feat this week. The South Korean operator said it successfully initiated the “world’s first standalone (SA) 5G data session” using equipment from multiple vendors on a commercial 5G network.

SK Telecom added New Radio (NR) software to its existing non-standalone (NSA) 5G base stations and achieved interoperability between equipment from Ericsson and Samsung. The SA 5G data call occurred on Jan. 16 in Busan, the second largest city in South Korea, and the operator also said it applied network slicing and mobile edge computing (MEC) to its SA 5G network.

The operator previously laid claim to the world’s first commercially available standards-based mobile 5G network in December 2018, and successfully used a 5G SA terminal, base station, and network core from Ericsson and Qualcomm in September 2019. SK Telecom said it is on track to deploy the world’s first 5G SA service in the first half of this year. Most of the trailblazing global operators aren’t expected to deploy 5G SA service until later this year or 2021.

“With the successful standalone 5G data call on our multi-vendor commercial 5G network we are now standing on the threshold of launching standalone 5G service, a key enabler of revolutionary changes and innovations in all industries,” said Park Jong-kwan, VP and head of 5GX Labs at SK Telecom, in a prepared statement.

The latest “first” claim from SK Telecom is likely rooted in specifics because it’s not the only operator to have completed a SA 5G data session in a multi-vendor environment. T-Mobile US in July 2019 announced it successfully initiated “the world’s first” SA 5G data session using a network core provided by Nokia and Cisco, an Ericsson radio, and device provided by MediaTek.

Earlier this month, SK Telecom launched a new organization — the Global MEC Task Force — to share what it has learned in 5G and MEC across the Asia-Pacific region. Singtel, Globe, Taiwan Mobile, and PCCW Global are also involved in the effort to drive international MEC standards to support cross-carrier interoperability.

SK Telecom also announced that it has expanded its Project xCloud Preview initiative with Microsoft, which aims to provide a more immersive gaming experience on its 5G network. The companies plan to invite more gamers to the preview starting this week and will be almost tripling the number of titles available on the service.