81 telecom operators in 42 countries are testing, conducting trials or received license to begin field trials of 5G enabling and candidate technologies, according to Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA).
“We have been able to identify a wide range of operators usually working in close cooperation with GSA Member companies that have announced over 140 separate demonstrations, tests or trials. Key pre-standards 5G technologies are being explored operating in spectrum bands not previously used for mobile telecoms services; 28 GHz has been the spectrum band most often utilized,” said Joe Barrett, president of GSA.
Trials have demonstrated network slicing to support delivery of services tailored to specific types of customer or service; combinations of technologies such as massive MIMO, or complex beamforming that are needed to achieve very high speeds; or backhaul, cloud and edge computing arrangements to support very low latencies.
GSMA on 5G
GSMA, in a recent note said that 5G continues to occupy thought space as the next big thing in mobile. 4G, however, will dominate in volume terms for at least the next 10 years. Between 2016 and 2025, a net 3.6 billion 4G users will be added, versus 1.2 billion 5G users.
Emerging markets are driving growth: India, Indonesia and Brazil will represent 35 percent of the 4G increase, underscoring the geographic shift in internet users. Though most LTE auctions happened 4–6 years ago, 4G still only accounts for around a quarter of mobile phone users worldwide, with 3G and even 2G servicing the vast featurephone and low-end smartphone market in large emerging markets such as India.
By 2025 the situation will have reversed: 63 percent of the global base will be on 4G speeds. 5G, for its part, should come online around 2019/20 but will not significantly impact 4G, in part because the proposed use cases for consumers are not yet sufficiently different.
Early 5G deployments will focus on dense city centres using small cells. National rollouts will happen at a slower pace than 4G; by 2025, about 40 percent of the global population will be covered by 5G.
