This commercial service expansion by NTT East follows the companies’ ongoing collaboration since the announcement of NTT East’s selection of Samsung as its private 5G network solutions vendor in March 2022. The companies have completed several demonstrations and tests to optimize Samsung’s private 5G network solutions for NTT East customers, leading up to this successful commercialization.

“We are excited to expand our collaboration with NTT East in the buildout of robust and reliable private 5G networks in Japan,” said Satoshi Iwao, Vice President and Head of Network Division at Samsung Electronics Japan. “Samsung’s end-to-end 5G network solutions deliver on the capabilities required to meet the unique requirements of each enterprise. We look forward to continue working together with NTT East to bring enhanced connectivity to power next-generation solutions that help businesses build a smarter future.”

Samsung’s private 5G network solutions provided to NTT East include its indoor and outdoor radios, baseband units and the companies’ advanced core solution — cloud-native 5G Macro Core. These solutions support the mid-band (4.7GHz) spectrum dedicated to private 5G networks (Local 5G) in Japan. With Samsung’s cloud-native 5G Macro Core, operators can build and run applications on cloud-based environments for improved agility and scalability, being able to accelerate time to market in order to respond to customer demands more quickly.

Real-world use cases powered by Samsung’s 5G solutions will span across industries including agriculture, automotive, construction, education, healthcare, manufacturing, telecommunications and transportation. 5G-powered use cases will include: Autonomous Guided Vehicle (AGV) to enhance work efficiency at manufacturing facilities, self-driving tractors to support smart agriculture, multi-angle live streaming to enhance eSports experiences and AI-based visual inspection systems using wearable cameras at construction sites.

Samsung also brought together various industry-leaders for collaboration on this project — including Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) — to foster an interoperable approach. HPE provided its 5G core subscriber data management cloud-native network functions.

“We are excited to collaborate with Samsung and NTT East for Japan’s Local 5G project,” said Tom Craig, Vice President and General Manager of HPE Communications and Technology Group (CTG). “Local 5G is a strategic area of focus for HPE, and we have an extensive 5G and private communications portfolio of software and infrastructure solutions. Our solutions are built to optimize collaboration between service providers, system integrators and enterprises, providing flexible deployment models and simplified operations.”

Beyond Japan, Samsung has taken a key role in the deployment of private 5G networks in other markets across the globe, including Korea and the U.S. In Korea, Samsung supported the launch of the first private 5G network deployment at Naver’s new headquarters and was also recently selected by various government agencies (in energy, water resource management and safety fields) and private institutions (in medical services and education fields) for their private 5G network expansion. In the U.S., Samsung delivered 5G FWA solutions to expand rural broadband coverage and bridge the digital divide and also provided CBRS solutions to enhance connectivity on campuses and other enterprises.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

Earlier this year, mobile operators in Korea and the United States have helped to successfully usher in the 5G era with the launch of commercial service using Samsung Network’s end-to-end 5G solutions, accelerating 5G deployments around the world. The 5G SA Core will help operators offer innovative 5G SA services, such as network slicing, mobile edge computing, AI analytics and ultra-low latency (URLLC) networks. The solution will play a significant role in driving new business opportunities for mobile operators as the industry is focusing on the next generation services spanning autonomous driving, smart factory, smart farm, and AR/VR.

“5G SA Core built on open architecture is a key driver of the innovative services that 5G promises, and it will help mobile operators create new revenue streams and business opportunities,” said Wonil Roh, Vice President and Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is excited to continue building out a robust and open 5G ecosystem with global partners like HPE and Openet.  We look forward to extending our 5G technical leadership around the globe by widening our end-to-end 5G solution portfolio.”

Samsung’s 5G SA Core brings together cloud-native 5G network functions from the three companies to deliver end-to-end 5G SA services. For this multi-vendor interoperability test, Samsung has integrated its control, user plane network function & orchestrator¹ with HPE’s shared data environment and Network Functions (NF)², and Openet’s policy & charging solutions³. The 5G Core also provides multiple simultaneous network slices for a variety of services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) that validate the principles of cloud-native design, virtual network scaling and edge-to-core networks.

“By offering a complete 5G Core that is designed around an open service-based architecture, operators can break out of the single vendor lock-in of previous generation networks,” said Domenico Convertino, Vice President Product Management, Communications & Media Solutions, HPE. “The open architecture also allows operators to have a smooth evolution to 5G with proven co-existence with 4G network technologies.”

“Openness and interoperability are foundations for 5G systems. This demonstration shows the power of taking a multi-vendor partnership approach to providing 5G SA Core and how it can enable network slicing with dynamic policy and charging rules,” said Joe Hogan, CTO and Founder of Openet. “Being able to manage the quality of service for 5G network slicing will allow operators to enter into many new markets with innovative offers and open up new revenue streams.”

With this multi-vendor solution, Samsung’s 5G SA Core enables operators to select innovative network functions offered by numerous IT vendors. Through this approach, combined with the ability to offer advanced telecommunication technologies such as networks slicing and URLLC, the three companies are continuing their efforts in 5G collaboration to bring new opportunities and options to mobile operators.

The 5G SA Core solution from Samsung can be demonstrated either remotely, or on-site at Samsung’s 5G Core Open Lab located in Korea. The lab offers interoperability tests among multiple vendors and shows the robust features of 5G core solutions, while integrating cloud platforms from partners into Samsung’s functions.

¹ Samsung network solutions included in the joint implementation include: Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), etc.

² HPE cloud-native network functions (NF) software products included in the joint implementation include: Unstructured Data Storage Function (UDSF), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Unified Data Management (UDM), and Network Exposure Function (NEF)

³ Openet cloud-native network functions (NF) software products included in the joint implementation include: Policy Control Function (PCF), Binding Support Function (BSF), Charging Function (CHF)

Source: US Newsroom