BT Group, Nokia and MediaTek have announced that they have completed trials of 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) technology with RedCap devices.
The trial, which was conducted at the BT Group’s Adastral Park facility, made use of MediaTek’s RedCap testing platform, EE’s 5G Standalone (SA) network and Nokia’s AirScale RAN portfolio. RedCap is a technology introduced in 3GPP Release 17 that brings 5G to devices that do not require its full capabilities. It has the potential to broaden the IoT ecosystem and accelerate its adoption across industries. RedCap is being evaluated by BT Group to support new 5G use cases that could benefit both EE’s business and consumer customer bases.
5G devices, such as smartphones, frequently have complex hardware and power-hungry features, resulting in increased cost, size and power consumption. RedCap technology focuses on simplifying 5G devices, particularly small IoT devices for consumers such as wearables or health trackers, as well as ruggedized routers and other condition-based monitoring sensors. These devices have lower battery life and bandwidth requirements. RedCap ensures that their performance is maintained and that their power efficiency is optimized. Together with the telecommunications industry, Nokia has played a critical role in advancing RedCap IoT functionality.
Chief Networks Officer at BT Group, Greg McCall, said, “This trial with Nokia demonstrates the potential of RedCap technology in unlocking a new wave of innovation within the 5G services ecosystem. This is especially the case as we move towards the arrival of 5G SA, bringing with it enhanced reliability, responsiveness, security and speed which – through 5G RedCap – promises to benefit a host of new IoT devices and use cases.”
Deputy Director for Europe Mobile Business Development at MediaTek, Robert Moffat, shared, “Our collaboration with Nokia and BT Group for this trial of 5G RedCap technology aligns with MediaTek’s commitment to driving innovation and expanding the potential of 5G SA to include a wider ecosystem of devices and use cases.”
“The introduction of RedCap will unlock new 5G opportunities for many industries, with potentially billions of new devices connected with 5G. Our field tests with BT Group show that Nokia 5G Standalone networks are ready to support RedCap devices,” according to the CEO, UK and Ireland at Nokia, Phil Siveter.
