Dialog Axiata trials 5G for first time in South Asia

Reaching speeds exceeding 35 Mbps on South Asia’s maiden 5G demo. From left: Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lank Acting Director General Kingsly Fernando, Secretary to President and Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka Chairman Austin Fernando, Dialog Axiata Group Chief Executive Supun Weerasinghe, Dialog Axiata PLC Group Chief Technology Officer Pradeep Almeida, Dialog Axiata PLC Head of Business Mobile Telecommunications Asanga Priyadarshana and Huawei Lanka CEO Shunli Wang

Sri Lanka yet again showcased its dominance as the regional hub for telecommunications with Dialog Axiata demonstrating 5G (Generation) technology for the first time in South Asia, paving the way for next generation wireless connectivity with speeds in excess of 35 Gbps (gigabits per second).

The groundbreaking 5G technology capability trial was carried out by Dialog Axiata with technology partners Ericsson and Huawei at Dialog Iconic in Colombo, in the presence of Secretary to President and Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka Chairman Austin Fernando, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Chairman Dumindra Ratnayaka and Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka Acting Director General Kingsly Fernando. 

The demonstration established the capabilities of 5G technology to deliver throughputs in excess of 35 Gbps on the 5G Radio (air) interface, setting a solid foundation for the future evolution of the nation’s broadband connectivity to a technology generation well ahead of South Asia. 

During the demonstration, invitees were guided through 5G technology solutions including, Massive MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output), cloud radio and included futuristic technology applications such as IoT (Internet of things)-based smart parking, real-time 4K video streaming, industry automation and augmented reality using robots and demonstrations on digital business solutions. 
5G connectivity offers ultra-low latency, which will enable major breakthroughs in areas such as robotics, remote surgery, autonomous transport and next generation entertainment. 

Dialog Broadband in June this year commercially launched 4.5G technology establishing yet another milestone in the region’s broadband technology landscape featuring download speeds in excess of 1Gbps.

In April 2013, Dialog secured the distinction of becoming the first service provider in South Asia to commence commercial operations of mobile 4G-LTE services, having previously introduced 3G to the region as far back as 2006. Dialog’s 4G-LTE networks have since evolved to deliver burst speeds up to 100 Mbps (megabits per second). 

“As Sri Lanka’s leading telecommunication provider, we are excited to conduct the first demonstration of mobile 5G technology in Sri Lanka. As espoused in our signature, ‘The Future Today’, Dialog is committed towards delivering the very latest in technology and connectivity to Sri Lankans and this 5G trial is a yet another milestone in our journey towards offering gigabit speeds with near zero latency that will deliver next generation broadband and enable industrial applications such as autonomous manufacturing and robotics,” Dialog Axiata PLC Group Chief Executive Supun Weerasinghe said.