back to article We have standards, says 3GPP as group starts to lay groundwork for 5G

The first standards for 5G have been agreed, meaning industry can press ahead with next-gen speeds. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the body responsible for setting the standard, unveiled the 5G New Radio Non-Standalone at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. The introduction of an intermediate standard on the way to …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It would help if they got 4G up and running for everyone in the country and not some selected areas.

    There are those of us that might get 3G if we are lucky and hang out of the window.

  2. Snowy Silver badge
    Joke

    The first line should have said.

    The first standards for 5G have been agreed, meaning industry can press ahead with hyping up 6G/

  3. alwallgbr
    FAIL

    Almost infrared

    Yeah..... but what's the point? The frequencies used will need infrastructure every 50 m

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Almost infrared

      And reliant on fibre backhaul every 50m...let's not forget that.

      The standards include "street light" cells/masts at frequencies that won't easily penetrate metalised glass or metal backed insulation in modern buildings.

      5G is essentially wholly dependent on FTTP deep into the UK's local loop for both control and data throughput and the best way of doing that is "piggybacking" already deployed fixed FTTP to homes/businesses (via commercial contracts from VM, Vodafone/CityFibre and "the drunk blocking the pub doorway" BT if they ever pull their finger out and actually start what is inevitable - pure/full Fibre on alll existing copper carcass lines longer than 500m/250m as the crow flies).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Almost infrared

      They'll be able to go quite a bit further than 50 meters, but they're highly directional and need line of sight. That's great for rural areas, you just need high speed data running down the highway and you can set up little directional antennas that link to a directional antenna on the side of houses.

      It doesn't necessarily have to be fed with fiber either. For one thing, just because it is capable of 10 Gbps or whatever doesn't mean you actually need to provide that much - because no one needs that much. There are other technologies besides fiber being invested - google "air gig" for just one example that AT&T is working on which would be perfect to feed little 5G antennas in rural areas with electric on poles (Air Gig uses the wires as a waveguide so it doesn't actually need to connect to them, they just need to be present)

      The actual 5G frequency used, whether it is 52 GHz or something else, is really irrelevant to the question - because it is directional they can re-use the same frequency over and over and over and over and over again so it isn't like current cellular where spectrum is a scarce resource.

  4. ilmari

    Soon marketing will have made more radio Gs than the storage Gs on the device itself.

  5. bazza Silver badge

    Well if history is anything to go by, the South Koreans will have a nation wide 5G network up and running within the week. Those folk don't hang around on these things.

    1. Roland6 Silver badge
      Joke

      Well if you only need one mast for the whole country....

      1. JetSetJim

        I think you're confusing countries. It's the Norks that only need one mast for the country and it will follow the Dear Leader around

  6. Roland6 Silver badge

    Ovum predicts there will be 400 million 5G users by 2022, ... Of those ... 15 million from the UK.

    Comparing with the takeup of 3G and 4G services, I would say that number is being highly optimistic, unless Ovum are assuming either: One of EE, Vodafone, O2, Three are going to massively upgrade their network by then and force customers to switch from 3G/4G to 5G. Or, they are assuming that phones capable of using the 5G frequency bands will available and networks will be using the 5G bands for 4G/LTE traffic and thus this counts as '5G'.

    1. Not also known as SC

      So will current 4G capable phones work on 5G networks or will users have to upgrade their phones? Isn't the take up of new phones meant to be dropping off according to other analysts?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      There aren't currently a lot of players here.

      Intel, Qualcomm, and Nokia/Huawei/Ericsson to name a few.

      The number of 5G 'system on a chip' manufacturers for use in mobiles is currently Intel and Qualcomm. Both are used by Apple. As soon as Apple or Samsung bring out a reference design in the form of an iPhone X 5G etc / Samsung Galaxy 10, the demand and take up of 5G will be a matter of course, though probably not consumer driven this time round.

      It's likely Apple/Samsung will combine the two key upcoming features 'anywhere biometric on-screen touch and 5G' at the same time, to fuel growth/a step change.

      1. JetSetJim

        Don't forget the Sammy Exynos chipsets, which I'm sure will be 5G capable when the full set of standards actually get defined to allow for a complete system.

  7. Christian Berger

    That seems fast

    Mobile phone generations usually are roughly 10 years appart. GSM came out around 1990 and first design studies have been made in the early 1980s. 3G came out around 2000, based on the ideas of the early 1990s. (that's why 3G standards originally didn't have packet modes, only isochronous streams)

  8. John Crisp

    UK ripoff again?

    So how come my Spanish provider 'upgraded' me to 4G without so much as a murmur, but O2 want me to pay, and/or upgrade my contract (tie me in) for the same?

    Wouldn't mind if they actually could provide more than SMS in the area I use my UK mobe. 50 miles from London.

    My Spanish village, pop 2,700 has had 4G for something like 18 months or more. The rollout was extremely quick. From the nearest large city (25 miles) out through other towns to our village in 4 months. No messing about.

    UK cash cow as ever I guess.

    5G will be more of the same.

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