Nokia and Elisa set 8Gbps 5G speed record

Nokia 5G
(Image credit: Nokia)

Nokia and Finnish operator Elisa are claiming a new 5G speed record, achieving 8Gbps on a commercial network using millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum.

5G will use a mixture of low, mid, and high-band spectrum, each of which offers a combination of range and capacity.

Most European deployments to date have focused on the former two bands, but mmWave delivers massive capacity over a short range, making it ideal for high bandwidth applications that require a guaranteed level of throughput.

5G speed record

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband services in the US are powered by mmWave, with other revolutionary applications such as Virtual Reality (VR) and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) also set to benefit.

The test was conducted at Elisa’s store in Helsinki and was achieved by combining two Qualcomm smartphone form factor devices, both of which reached 4Gbps thanks to the use of 800MHz worth of commercial 26GHz spectrum. Elisa plans to launch a commercial 5G mmWave service in 2021.

“This is an important development and another step in our efforts to bring the fastest speeds and best 5G experiences to our customers,” said Sami Komulainen, Executive Vice President, Production at Elisa.

“Reaching 8Gbps is a natural step in our 5G development and we want to explore the possibilities 5G offers and push the technology further to benefit our customers.”

Steve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade's experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media.