Telia has announced plans to trial 5G Standalone (5G SA) in Lithuania.

The carrier claims it will be the first test of 5G SA in the country.

Telia will test a 5G SA network at the Baltic Sea port of Klaipėda, one of the biggest ports in the Baltic region.

5G SA is not reliant on older mobile generations and solely uses a 5G core network, as opposed to 5G Non-Standalone (5G NSA), which utilizes a 4G core.

According to the telco, the trials will enable the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority and companies operating in the port to utilize private 5G networks, while paving the way for rollouts at critical infrastructure sites across the country.

Telia notes that the dedicated 5G core allows the Klaipėda network to function independently of external infrastructure and covers an area up to 10 kilometers.

The carrier claims that this can reduce latency to less than 10 milliseconds, compared with the 15-18 milliseconds achievable with non-standalone 5G.

“The architecture makes the port’s network more resilient to hybrid threats, while ensuring even faster data transmission. This pilot will allow us to prepare for wider deployment across industries where uninterrupted connectivity is essential. We’re opening a new technological chapter in Lithuania," said Giedrė Kaminskaitė-Salters, head of Telia Lithuania.

Telia notes that 5G SA can increase operating efficiency at the port through use cases such as smart container identification, coordination of autonomous truck movement between quays and container yards, and remote operation of heavy equipment. It also enables network slicing, where capacity is reserved for specific services.

Employees at the port will also use a 5G-based Push-to-Talk (PTT) system to communicate instead of walkie-talkies.

To date, network testing firm Ookla reports that only 10 percent of mobile operators globally have deployed commercial 5G SA networks.