Ericsson launches new radio product for 5G called AIR 3246

Complementing its global **5G** radio offering, telecommunications service provider **Ericsson** on Tuesday launched a new radio product ‘AIR 3246’. AIR 3246 is the company’s first 5G New Radio (NR) for frequency division duplex (FDD) and supports 4G/LTE. [caption id=“attachment_4011621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm. Reuters[/caption] The product will enable operators to bring 5G to subscribers using present mid-band spectrum and boost capacity in their LTE networks. “The new radio will enable operators to enhance 4G capacity for their subscribers today and be ready for 5G tomorrow, using the same hardware,” said Fredrik Jejdling, Head of Business Area Networks, Ericsson, in a statement. US-based network operator T-Mobile is using the technology as part of its trial in which it could be used to carry commercial LTE traffic using mid-band FDD spectrum. ‘AIR 3246’ will be commercially available as part of the Ericsson Radio System in the second quarter of 2018. Ericsson’s 5G portfolio also includes three previously launched time division duplex (TDD) radios capable of supporting 5G and Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (Massive MIMO) technology.