UAE-based telecommunications service provider ‘du’ – from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), today announced that it has conducted the first-ever Live 5G data call on its production 5G network while rolling-out 700 5G sites across the United Arab Emirates. du reaffirms its strong position in the region with non-standalone (NSA) 5G Access network launch. Moreover, du launched a native cloud unified 5G core network solution with capability to accommodate 5G NSA and 5G standalone (SA) evolutions. The announcement coincides with Mobile World Congress 2019, being held this year from 25 February till 28 February, 2019.

The deployment will allow du’s customers to enjoy extreme broadband services. The 5G NSA deployment provides a wider bandwidth and lower latencies to support enhanced mobile broadband services such as virtual reality, augmented reality and 5G cloud gaming. The cloud-native and distributed 5G network will provide du’s data network with the capability to implement a variety of 5G use cases. The 5G deployment will enable du to provide seamless 5G data services across different verticals from individual to business customers by providing data services over native distributed cloud across the UAE. Huawei and Nokia are du’s strategic partners in the 5G roll-out.

Saleem AlBlooshi, Chief Infrastructure Officer, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), said: “We are delighted to modernize and expand our network to latest state of the art 5G NSA including access network and native cloud 5G core network that supports NSA and SA. We are proud to make this technology commercially available in the UAE.”