Europe's No.1 Vodafone UK Subsidiary
Successfully Transmits First Commercial 5G Base Station Signal
Samsung Electronics achieved a record high performance with annual sales exceeding 279 trillion won. On the 7th, Samsung Electronics announced that its preliminary consolidated results for last year showed sales of 279.04 trillion won and an operating profit of 51.57 trillion won. The Samsung flag is fluttering in the wind in front of Samsung Electronics' Seocho building on this day. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Samsung Electronics has paved the way for its entry into the European market by expanding its 5G network equipment supply chain to the United Kingdom. Following its partnership with Verizon, the No. 1 telecom operator in the United States, Samsung has successfully made its global debut by also establishing a relationship with Vodafone, the No. 1 telecom operator in Europe.
According to Samsung Electronics and the telecommunications industry on the 24th, Vodafone UK officially transmitted the first commercial signal from a 5G base station installed in collaboration with Samsung Electronics in Bath, Somerset, on the 19th of this month (local time). This marks the first time 5G equipment supplied by Samsung has been commercially operated in Europe.
Vodafone, a multinational telecommunications company based in the UK, is the world's fifth-largest and Europe's largest telecom operator, conducting business in 21 countries worldwide. After selecting Samsung Electronics as a major supplier of 4G and 5G network equipment in June last year, Vodafone has now activated this base station for the first time. To achieve this, Samsung supplied a virtualized base station that offers performance equivalent to traditional hardware-based base stations while enabling flexible and efficient operation.
Andrea Dona, Head of Networks at Vodafone UK, and Julia Lopez, Deputy Minister for Digital Infrastructure at the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, held a video call to commemorate the first signal transmission. Andrea Dona said, "By partnering with Samsung to open the first 5G base station utilizing cutting-edge technology, we can quickly provide new services to our customers."
Following this signal transmission, Vodafone plans to expand the deployment of Samsung-supplied base stations across 2,500 sites in the UK, and Samsung Electronics intends to increase its supply of 5G equipment to the global mobile communications market, including Europe. Thomas Riedel, Head of Samsung Electronics’ Network Business Division in Europe, stated, "Through our accumulated commercial 5G vRAN experience with leading operators worldwide, we look forward to pushing the boundaries of technological innovation and supporting the 5G journey across Europe."
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ network equipment has also been deployed in Verizon’s mid-band 5G commercial service in the United States since the 19th (local time). This service utilizes the 3.7?3.98 GHz frequency band and is evaluated as balancing speed and service coverage, unlike the previously commercialized low-band and ultra-high-band 5G services in the US.
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