The 3GPP TSG RAN Plenary Meeting held in Lisbon has successfully completed the first implementable 5G NR specifications. Major global telecom and communication companies present at the event made a statement about how the completion of the first 5G NR standard has set the stage for the global mobile industry to start full-scale development of 5G NR for large-scale trials and commercial deployments as early as in 2019.
The specifications release event was supported and attended by experts of almost all of the major telecommunication companies including AT&T, BT, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Intel, KT Corporation, LG Electronics, LG Uplus, MediaTek, NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Qualcomm Technologies, Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Sony Mobile Communications, Sprint, TIM, Telefonica, Telia Company, T-Mobile USA, Verizon, Vodafone, and ZTE.
Back in February 27, 2017 in Barcelona, global mobile industry leaders had announced their support to accelerate the standardization of 5G NR, which introduced an intermediate milestone to complete the first implementable specification for Non-Standalone 5G NR operation. As a result of this announcement, the schedule acceleration was agreed at the 3GPP RAN Plenary Meeting on March 9 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This first specification was completed as part of 3GPP Release 15.
This standard completion is an essential milestone to enable cost-effective and full-scale development of 5G NR, which will greatly enhance the capabilities of 3GPP systems, as well as facilitate the creation of vertical market opportunities. 3GPP plans to continue to develop Release 15, including the addition of support for Standalone 5G NR operations also agreed upon by 3GPP in Dubrovnik. The 5G NR lower layer specifications have been designed so that they can support Standalone and Non-Standalone 5G NR operation in a unified way, to ensure that 3GPP benefits the global industry with a large-scale single 5G NR ecosystem.
Speaking on the event, China Mobile commented that the first version of 5G NR not only provides a NSA solution for 5G deployments but also completes the common part of NSA and SA, which lay a solid foundation for a global unified 5G system with global market scale. The company believes that the next important milestone is SA standard providing end to end 5G new capability that could be completed by June of 2018, and is very crucial to enable the operators to explore the enterprise and vertical markets. China Mobile is actively working with industry partners for 5G commercialization by 2020 and providing various services to customer.
According to Erik Ekudden, CTO at Ericsson, 3GPP has done a tremendous job to complete the first 5G specifications according to industry demand and expectations. As a prime contributor to 5G standardization, Ericsson has worked with industry partners in the evolution of mobile technology to a global network platform for consumers and enterprises. The open contribution-driven specification work and the rapid completion of the first 5G standards for global deployment demonstrate the strength of the 5G eco-system.
Qualcomm Technologies, another major company progressing towards 5G future, said that it is excited to be part of this significant milestone, and to once again be at the forefront making the 5G vision a reality by 2019. The company is now looking forward to continue working with its mobile industry peers to bring 5G NR commercial networks and devices in 2019 in smartphone and other form factors, for both sub-6Ghz and mmWave frequency bands, and to continue developing 5G technologies to connect new industries and enable new services and user experiences in the years to come.
