Cox Communications has appointed G.S. Sickand as vice president of wireless engineering, a role that he says involves "developing a 5G centric wireless network architecture," and is also building a small Citizens Broadband Radio Service network for public safety in a Las Vegas park. Sickand spent more than 10 years at Ericsson and Nortel, then was Mavenir's technology vice president.

Nokia is introducing AirScale 5G, small cell devices that support C-band frequencies. The hardware uses ReefShark's System-on-Chip technology to provide coverage both indoors and outdoors, and the AirScale micro Remote Radio Heads feature reduced power consumption.

Ericsson has launched a network slicing solution for radio access networks that allows communications service providers to customize 5G services. The technology can operate on a millisecond-by-millisecond level, letting companies support different networks for each service type they offer.

Nex-Tech Wireless took a step toward building a 5G network by deploying Ericsson's voice-over-LTE product that will enable HD-quality Wi-Fi and VoLTE calls and be compatible with future 600 MHz-based 5G platforms in some of its systems, the regional carrier said. Nex-Tech, which operates in Kansas and Colorado, is purchasing Ericsson's virtual IP Multimedia Subsystem gear.

Ericsson is working with China Mobile to test a small cell designed to broaden hot spot coverage with a 13-foot-high panel that contains a base station and customized antenna, the Swedish equipment maker said. Carriers hope that small cells such as Ericsson's City Site can help alleviate the data traffic load on cellular networks. Ericsson said City Site would have a radius of about 160 feet to 650 feet.