Ericsson's "Speed Demon": 1TB/s 5G Network Opens Instantly, Supports 1 Million Concurrent Users

Barcelona — Ericsson is "showing muscles" again.

At MWC 2026, Ericsson and Google jointly demonstrated 1 TB/s (1 terabyte/second) 5G core network — supporting 1 million concurrent users. Is this 5G's limit, or 6G's beginning?

What is 1TB/s?

Simply: 1 second transfers 1TB of data.

"This is equivalent to 1000 HD movies," Ericsson engineer said at demo site. "Or 100,000 people watching 4K video simultaneously."

For comparison: - 4G core network: about 10 GB/s - 5G core network (traditional): about 100 GB/s - Ericsson breakthrough: 1,000 GB/s = 1 TB/s

1 Million Concurrent Users

Besides speed, another metric is more exaggerated: 1 million concurrent users.

"This is 'instant-open' level network," the engineer said. "Any operation is instant response."

Specific application scenarios: - Large concerts - Sports events - Spring Festival Gala/New Year's Eve

"Before such scenarios networks would crash," an operator technical lead said. "Now completely no problem."

Collaboration with Google

This demo runs on Google Cloud.

"We used Google Cloud infrastructure," Ericsson exec said. "This is the future of cloud-network integration."

Specifically: - Core network virtualized, running on Google Cloud - Utilizing Google's global CDN acceleration - AI-optimized network scheduling

"Traditional core network is 'metal box,'" engineer compared. "Now it's 'cloud-native.'"

5G or 6G?

1TB/s already exceeds 5G standard definition. Is this 5G or 6G?

"Technically this is 5G-Advanced," a standards expert said. "But performance is already close to 6G."

This also explains why countries are "racing" for 6G — 5G's limit has been broken.

Who Will Use?

Main customers:

Large event organizers

Smart city operators

Industrial internet

Large event organizers

Smart city operators

Industrial internet

"Ordinary users may not use it," an analyst said. "But professional scenarios are essential needs."

Will Chinese Vendors Follow?

After Ericsson's breakthrough, will Huawei, ZTE follow?

"Technically can achieve," an industry person said. "But needs large-scale investment."

China leads globally in 5G base station quantity, but still has gaps in core network performance.

Epilogue

At the demo site, I experienced "instant-open" speed. Click video — started playing almost simultaneously, no buffering.

"This is the future," a visitor said. "Doesn't matter 5G or 6G — key is 'fast.'"

Perhaps this is the logic of standard setting: first use concepts to guide industry, then products define future.

Reference: Ericsson, TechLoy, Manila Times