Ericsson’s standalone (SA) 5G New Radio (NR) software for low- and mid-band spectrum is now commercially available. The development follows the vendor’s release of a dual-mode 5G core with cloud-native infrastructure earlier this year. 

The software will allow operators to move beyond 5G’s current underlying dependency on 4G LTE and better distinguish operations of both networks, respectively. All 5G networks are currently running in non-standalone (NSA) mode, therefore riding on aged 4G LTE network cores that can’t fully support key 5G features.

As such, with the world’s first standards-based mobile 5G networks now up and running for 18 months, the race is now on to formally separate 5G as an independent offering.

“Now we are taking the next step in the evolution of 5G by making generally available the software to support standalone 5G NR networks. These standalone capabilities will enable even more use cases and applications,” said Per Navinger, head of product area networks at Ericsson, in a statement. 

The SA 5G software will also allow operators to add 5G NR gear to existing 4G LTE sites or deploy 5G radios in specialized environments like factories, according to Ericsson. The vendor said all of its radios dating back to 2015 can support SA 5G NR capabilities via software upgrade.

Devices that support SA 5G NR can connect to a 5G network six-times faster than a device operating in NSA mode, Ericsson claims. It also paves the wave for applications that require low latency, including mixed reality, industrial environments, and connected vehicles.

Ericsson also noted that it has completed SA 5G interoperability with various infrastructure and software vendors and it expects compatible devices to be commercially available later this year.

Telstra and T-Mobile US each previously announced trials of Ericsson’s SA 5G NR software. The Australian network operator launched limited 5G services on Ericsson equipment in May, and claims it deployed the first cloud-native and container-based evolved packet core for 4G and 5G services. 

T-Mobile US in May 2020 announced the successful completion of a series of tests using SA 5G equipment and services from Cisco, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, and Qualcomm. 

SK Telecom has repeatedly claimed it will be the first operator to deploy a 5G SA core, and initially said that will happen in the first half of 2020, but hasn’t provided any updates on that timeline. The company said it successfully tested and used a 5G SA terminal, base station, and network core last summer.

T-Mobile US, which activated its nationwide 5G network running on a non-standalone core a full year after SK Telecom, says it plans to activate its 5G SA network later this year.

“Standalone 5G is the next important step for wireless connectivity, with the potential to unleash a whole new range of future transformative applications,” T-Mobile US CTO Abdul Saad, said in a statement.

The first wave of 5G SA deployments are still expected to arrive before the end of 2020, but analysts and industry executives caution that 5G SA activity won’t gain momentum until next year.