Ericsson and Swisscom demonstrated carrier aggregation (CA) across TDD and FDD in a trial of standalone (SA) 5G voice and data calls, claiming milestone progress toward deployment of the technologies in Europe.

Voice over New Radio (VoNR) tests were conducted using Ericsson network kit and Oppo’s Find X2 Pro handset running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipset.

The aggregation element used Ericsson equipment and a mobile test device based on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 888 platform.

In a statement, Ericsson president of Europe and Latin America Arun Bansal described the work as “an important step towards unleashing the full potential of 5G”.

Swisscom CTO Christoph Aeschlimann explained SA 5G would bring “new opportunities” including “network slicing and dedicated on-premises” deployments.

Ericsson noted all 5G networks in Europe are currently non-standalone, though it expects operators in the region to begin moving to SA in 2021.

Qualcomm and Ericsson demonstrated CA across TDD and FDD in a SA 5G trial in August, explaining at the time the capability would boost coverage and data rates.

Enrico Salvatori, SVP and president of Qualcomm Europe, stated the demonstrations Swisscom “show how close we are to bringing those benefits to people, and industries, across Europe”.