Voice Bearing Technology for Multi-Operator Shared 5G Network

Jointly building 5G network and sharing network infrastructure is carrying out by a few network operators in the world actively and is regarded as a practical means to expedite the roll-out of commercial 5G with seamless coverage and user experience guarantees but significantly reduced investment. As of 2020, China Telecom and China Unicom have achieved more than 60% of joint construction and sharing gains, saving more than 10 billion yuan in investment. In such a background, and in the process of NSA network evolution to SA, how to bear 5G voice services in the shared network infrastructure gets quite a few technical options. This paper investigates the technical details of 5G network sharing schemes adopted by network operators in China and presents a voice-bearing technology designed for the co-built and shared network. Performance results from a few field tests prove the technical feasibility of voice bearing in the co-built and shared network, which further illustrates the technical competitiveness of the co-built and shared 5G network.