Road to 5G: How Elisa is bringing 5G to the streets of Helsinki

Elisa took yet another giant step towards 5G networks, when the 5G network was tested for the first time in a moving car simultaneously with two 5G terminal devices in Pasila, Helsinki.

The test made use of the network built by Elisa and Huawei, which is the first network in the world to meet the 5G network standards. Last week’s successful tests were done carried out using virtual reality, augmented reality and game applications, among others.

The test was done by driving in a car from Elisa headquarters in Eastern Pasila to the other side of the railway tracks in Western Pasila. When data was transferred from the devices to the network at the speed of 400 megabytes (MB), the data speed recorded in the test was 1 gigabyte (GB )per second between the network and the terminal devices.

"We made history today, because this is the first time that 5G was used in a moving car in an urban environment. Up until now, tests have been done in laboratory conditions, but now the 5G network was used in the real world," Elisa’s Head of Department Eetu Prieur says cheerily.

The 5G test network operated at the 3.5 GHz frequency, which is the most important 5G frequency band.

"New advances are vital if Finland is to become the leading country in 5G technology. The test in question is made possible by the test permit issued by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority, FICORA. We are encouraging companies to test 5G and to innovate," says Kirsi Karlamaa, Director-General of FICORA.

The test was done using Huawei’s pre-commercial terminal devices for home use. The first commercial terminal devices will be launched in 2018 and 2019.

"We are one of the global pioneers in the development of 5G technology. 5G networks and services based on them are being rapidly developed all over the world, and they will enable faster and more reliable network connections in the future," Prieur says. "We’re eagerly waiting for the 3,5 GHz frequency to be distributed for 5G use in 2018. This will give us the conditions we need for planning and building a commercial 5G network in Finland." He adds on.