The latest GSA report said 97 telecom operators in 17 countries hold spectrum licences enabling operation of 5G networks using mmWave spectrum.
Of these, 22 telecom operators are already deploying 5G networks using mmWave spectrum while 13 countries have announced formal (date-specified) plans for assigning 5G frequencies above 24 GHz between now and end-2021.
The 24.25–29.5 GHz 5G mmWave spectrum range is the most-licensed/deployed to date, with 123 operators in 42 countries / territories investing in 5G (in the form of trials, licences, deployments or operational networks) across this spectrum range¸ Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) today reported.
The GSA report said there are 84 announced 5G devices explicitly supporting one or more of the 5G spectrum bands above 24 GHz, up from 59 at the end of November 2019. Twenty-seven of those devices are commercially available.
“5G mmWave spectrum offers large amounts of bandwidth to deliver far greater capacity, faster downloads and more subscribers, making it ideally suited for high data throughput applications,” said Joe Barrett, president, Global mobile Suppliers Association.
Over 40 countries are still planning spectrum auctions to sell 5G frequencies before the end of 2020.
The report said high band spectrum is suited to local area hot-spot coverage and supports 5G applications in places where high data throughput is required. High-band spectrum is suited to deployment in-building due to the band’s propagation characteristics. Lower power high-band spectrum can be efficiently deployed in-building to supplement Wi-Fi and provide seamless 5G coverage.
