Integration and Performance Evaluation of 5G NR Band 71 (600 MHz)

This paper presents the results of a proof-of-concept (POC) trial conducted for the integration of 5G NR Band 71 (600 MHz, N71) cells into a live commercial network in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The trial site XYZ was equipped with Nokia AirScale Dual RRH (AHLOA) modules supporting Bands 12 and 71, alongside CommScope FF-65CR1 low-band antennas. Drive test campaigns and static measurement tests were performed using calibrated measurement equipment to assess radio frequency (RF) performance across key indicators including Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), Block Error Rate (BLER), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and both downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) throughput. Comparative analysis was carried out against the incumbent N28 (700 MHz) deployment and between 2x2 MIMO and 4x4 MIMO configurations of N71. Results demonstrate that N71 with 4x4 MIMO achieves average DL throughput of 156.9 Mbps — a 225% improvement over N28 — and peak speeds of 272 Mbps DL- 115 Mbps UL under camping conditions, with SgNB addition success ratios of 100% across all bands. The network-level KPI analysis confirms that all 5G performance indicators are within acceptable operational ranges, validating N71 as a viable lowband complement for enhanced coverage and capacity in the STC 5G network.