Ericsson launched new 5G hardware and software solutions to support network upgrades to standalone 5G New Radio (NR).

Ericsson’s standalone 5G NR software can be deployed on existing Ericsson radio system hardware, enabling operators to launch standalone 5G with a simple software upgrade. It supports network slicing, ultra-low latency and better coverage than the non-standalone (NSA) version, Ericsson said in a release.

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Verizon, which is an Ericsson customer, began installing the future-forward equipment early so that it could move from pre-standard 5G to standardized equipment with a software upgrade.

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Ericsson has also launched what it calls inter-band NR carrier aggregation, which is software that extends the coverage and capacity of NR on mid bands and high bands when combined with NR on low bands. Ericsson claims the software can help improve speeds in areas with poor coverage and in indoor environments.

“Ericsson’s latest 5G offerings equip service providers with an even broader 5G portfolio by adding the standalone NR option,” said Hugh Ujhazy, vice president of IoT and telecommunications at IDC’s Asia Pacific division, in a statement for Ericsson. “The series of solutions being added to the Ericsson 5G platform will allow service providers to deploy 5G sensibly and address new business opportunities with full flexibility.”

The company has also added two new Massive MIMO radios and a network functions virtualization infrastructure solution to its end-to-end 5G platform portfolio for operators. Ericsson said the new additions to the portfolio can enable optimized performance, total cost of ownership, and new consumer and enterprise services such as augmented reality, content distribution and gaming.