Intel said its 5G Mobile Trial Platform will begin to support the non-standalone new radio (NR) standard when it becomes available later this year, describing the announcement as “an industry first”.

“We’ll join with operators to take non-standalone NR out of the lab and begin testing it in real world situations. This heightened pace of development means we’ll be able to help the industry meet ambitious targets to deploy commercial 5G services before 2020,” the company said.

In a blog post, Asha Keddy, GM of next generation and standards at Intel, explained 5G NR is the wireless radio standard which will be the foundation of 5G, just as LTE was for 4G.

The non-standalone NR standard is due to be finalised in December, with a goal to accelerate commercial 5G trials and deployments, while the final standalone 5G NR standard is expected at the end of 2018.

Keddy said Intel’s latest announcement: “is a major step forward for 5G, and the energising and catalytic effect it will have on an array of technology and services.”

The platform will allow manufacturers to test interoperability with devices sooner, and let operators take the platform into real world situations earlier.

Since announcing the 5G Mobile Trial Platform in 2016, Intel said it collaborated with companies including Ericsson and Nokia, and participated in trials with operators such as AT&T, Korea Telecom, NTT Docomo and Verizon.