Ericsson has launched the 5G Radio Dot for enhanced mobile broadband, enabling operators to meet the rising demand for superior indoor connectivity. The 5G Radio Dot is a natural evolution of the Ericsson Radio Dot system, an industry-leading small cell solution.
Building on the elegant design of previous generations, the 5G Radio Dot takes less than half the time to instal compared to other indoor solutions, and will support the new 5G mid-bands (3-6 GHz) with speeds up to 2 Gbps. Operators will be able to deploy 5G Radio Dot next to 4G solutions, using the same cabling infrastructure, network architecture and dot locations. This innovative small cell solution provides a simple upgrade path for existing Radio Dot system deployments, adding 5G technology capabilities. It is easy to add frequency, capacity and technologies.
The Radio Dot system has been successfully deployed for many indoor applications used in large areas such as office buildings, shopping malls, hospitals and airports. Over time, the small cell solution will also support 5G industrial applications from connected factories to more extreme cases such as connected mining.
The 5G Radio Dot will undergo trials in late 2018 and will be commercially available in 2019. According to Ericsson ConsumerLab reports, 60 per cent of mobile subscribers are unhappy with their indoor cellular connectivity. In a January 2018 report, smartphone users rate better indoor and outdoor coverage among the top expectations from 5G.
