Japan’s NTT DoCoMo in December activated a 5G Standalone (SA) network using both mmWave and mid-band frequencies. Users with compatible devices can now use 5G NR Dual Connectivity (DC) capabilities which aggregate the high- and mid-band frequencies providing a boost to download and upload speeds.
NTT DoCoMo worked with NEC to deploy the 5G SA network, migrating 5G NonStadanlone basestations to SA mode via a software update. The compatriot firms have also gone through interoperability testing for 5G SA centralized and distributed units that conform to O-RAN Alliance specifications.