Vodafone NZ has announced a 5G trial in partnership with networking giant Nokia, with the two companies showcasing use cases and implementations in Auckland this week.
The companies trialled a 5G connection at Vodafone NZ's Innov8 Auckland headquarters across the millimetre-wave (mmWave) spectrum band, with CEO Russell Stanners saying they will next experiment with 5G across 3.5GHz.
Nokia -- which is also working with Vodafone Germany to deploy a 4G network to the moon[1] next year -- is providing its AirScale and Airframe platforms for the 5G trial, with the system connected to a device using third-party chipsets.
"As a leading global mobile player, Vodafone has been actively involved in leading and shaping the 5G evolution from the beginning, with trials and partnerships under way across the world," Stanners said.
"Vodafone will continue to be at the forefront of the development of 5G, and with our Kiwi ingenuity we will be working hard to bring our customers the latest developments in 5G as soon as they become available."
The 5G use cases on demonstration by Vodafone NZ and Nokia this week include virtual reality (VR) applications, a League of Legends gaming tournament being broadcast to Twitch across 5G connectivity, and low-latency robots.
Stanners said the exhibition is "about showcasing how we can easily evolve our existing 4G and 4G+ networks to 5G".
"As 5G is an incremental upgrade to our existing mobile network, these services will be deployed throughout New Zealand in both urban and rural settings -- opening up a world of possibility for digital innovation everywhere," the chief executive said.
Nokia Oceania head Zoltan Losteiner told ZDNet that Mobile World Congress (MWC) last month proved that 5G is