5G update February 2017

A busy month for 5G developments and announcements, many arising from the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Policy and standards developments:

Ofcom published an update on 5G spectrum in the UK, setting out its intentions for managing spectrum in support of forthcoming 5G services. The first commercial products are expected to be available in 2020 with pre-commercial deployments from 2018. Three bands have been identified to enable 5G in Europe: low bandwidth spectrum at 700 MHz, 3.4-3.8 GHz which has the potential to allow wider bandwidths and 24.25-27.5 GHz (the 26 GHz band), for ultra-dense very high capacity networks. Also see Out-Law.

Euractiv reported that the European Commission is to urge EU member states and the private sector to get more involved in the development of 5G, suggesting that European industries need to move faster in testing and deploying 5G capabilities. This was borne out by a speech by European Commission Vice-President Ansip at the Mobile World Congress.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced the agreement of key 5G performance requirements for IMT-2020 (International Mobile Telecommunication system for 2020 and beyond), a standard that will underpin the next generations of mobile broadband and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. Also see Ars Technica.

Telecompaper reported that mobile operators and equipment vendors have announced plans to accelerate the rollout of 5G by proposing an intermediary standard which will allow large scale deployments in 2019. The 5G New Radio specifications from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) will now include a configuration called Non-Standalone 5G NR to enable large scale trials and deployments starting in 2019. Also see coverage from Network World.

New 5G trials and research this month:

• AT&T announced its Indigo platform which includes its first “5G Evolution Markets” in Austin and Indianapolis this year, which will deliver peak theoretical wireless speeds of 400Mbit/s or higher.
• Arqiva and Samsung announced the UK’s first 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) trial, which will take place in the second half of 2017 in central London and will involve the deployment of an end-to-end 5G FWA network, operating in the 28GHz band using Samsung equipment.
• Verizon announced it will deliver 5G services to pilot customers in 11 markets across the US by the middle of 2017; Network World reported on how Cisco will support the initiative.
• BT and Huawei announced new research into how “network slicing” (a method of carving out specific “slices” of an IP-based network for dedicated purposes) may be used to support services delivered over tomorrow’s 5G networks. This allows individual services to remain unaffected by bandwidth demands on the network as a whole, and to have specific policies applied to the traffic being carried over that slice, especially relevant when those services are mission-critical. BT also announced collaborative research with Nokia into the use of 5G for future virtual reality applications.
• Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom announced the world's first intercontinental 5G trial network. A proof-of-concept has been implemented and successfully evaluated, featuring the creation and roaming extension of network slices optimized for augmented reality (AR) and maintenance services. Ericsson also announced a partnership with BT and King's College London on the development of 5G projects in support of mission-critical services, commercial and consumer markets. Cable reported on Ericsson’s prediction that the first 5G mobile phones will be available in 2019; the company also announced new 5G initiatives at Mobile World Congress. Ericsson predicts that the 5G industry will be worth $1.23 trillion by 2026.
• Nokia announced it had successfully carried out the world's first connection based on the 5GTF 'pre-standard'. It set out how it will support the development of 5G at the Mobile World Congress and described how its 5G FIRST end-to-end solution will “allow operators to rapidly address the huge demands of connected people and industries”.
• The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) revealed a new logo to be used on new radio and next generation core specifications for 5G.
• Finally O2 published new research suggesting that the economic benefit to the UK of 5G infrastructure will surpass that of fibre broadband by 2026: “National 5G infrastructure will directly contribute an additional £7 billion a year to the UK economy just six years from rollout – in 2026. 5G will deliver this economic impact almost twice as quickly as fibre broadband. 5G will also add an extra £3 billion a year through secondary supply chain impacts, boosting overall UK productivity by a total of £10 billion.”