Mobile phone industry gives 2020 timeframe for commercialising fifth generation mobile networks
The EU wants to cooperate with China, Japan and the US on 5G, the fifth generation of mobile network, which operators say could be up and running by 2020.
This follows the European Commission’s pact with South Korea signed last year, with the two sides committing to cooperate on setting 5G technical standards.
“The digital economy is simply becoming the economy. And the future network infrastructure, 5G, will become the infrastructure,” said Günther Oettinger, the EU Commissioner for digital economy and society, speaking at the Mobile World Congress held this week in Barcelona.
Today, the networks that drive smartphones and Internet-connected devices are mostly based on 3G and 4G technology.
There is no shortage of visionary marketing claims for 4G’s successor, which promises faster connectivity and speedier downloads. South Korea’s minister for science has said in the past that it will be possible to download a two hour film in one second, versus up to six minutes with current 4G technology.
It will certainly mean a whole new array of products: existing smartphones and hand-sized computers are not equipped to take advantage of 5G.
But the big selling point is the impact 5G could have on the internet of things, which includes the potentially billions of devices connected to the cloud and to each other. It could support applications like remote surgery, where doctors operate on patients located in different buildings, or enable driverless cars to communicate with one another.
Operators and handset manufacturers hope to commercialise 5G by 2020. In South Korea, which led work on the current network standard 4G, Samsung hopes to launch a temporary 5G trial in time for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. However, 5G is not expected to be a mainstream service until 2025.
Companies such as Sweden's Ericsson, China’s Huawei, Finland's Nokia and France-based Alcatel-Lucent are among those jockeying for position.
R&D drives
There is a slew of research initiatives around Europe making steps towards 5G.
Researchers at Surrey University’s 5G Innovation Centre recently managed record connection speeds, more than 65,000 times faster than average 4G download speeds. This massively surpasses previous testing on 5G by Samsung.
Alongside Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson is investing heavily in 5G research. In Barcelona this week the company announced it would be mining the expertise of several Swedish universities, including the Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology and Lund University, on a 5G project. It will also join traditional rivals Samsung, Nokia and others in cross-industry 5G trials.
Network operators are investing in 5G too. Last September, Vodafone announced a partnership with Dresden University of Technology to develop 5G technologies at a dedicated lab.
While it pursues pacts with the US, China and Japan, the EU is planning to distribute €700 million on 5G research, through its Horizon 2020 research programme, over the next seven years.
Heavy lifting
Laying the foundation for 5G will require a lot of investment in new infrastructure. While the EU is busy coaxing a research effort, the bulk of heavy lifting on investment will have to come from the private sector.
However, 4G rollout has been a sluggish affair in Europe and has led to much political hand wringing over competitiveness. While construction of 4G networks is largely complete in the US, Japan and Korea, the technology is just arriving in much of eastern Europe.
This follows the European Commission’s pact with South Korea signed last year, with the two sides committing to cooperate on setting 5G technical standards.
“The digital economy is simply becoming the economy. And the future network infrastructure, 5G, will become the infrastructure,” said Günther Oettinger, the EU Commissioner for digital economy and society, speaking at the Mobile World Congress held this week in Barcelona.
Today, the networks that drive smartphones and Internet-connected devices are mostly based on 3G and 4G technology.
There is no shortage of visionary marketing claims for 4G’s successor, which promises faster connectivity and speedier downloads. South Korea’s minister for science has said in the past that it will be possible to download a two hour film in one second, versus up to six minutes with current 4G technology.
It will certainly mean a whole new array of products: existing smartphones and hand-sized computers are not equipped to take advantage of 5G.
But the big selling point is the impact 5G could have on the internet of things, which includes the potentially billions of devices connected to the cloud and to each other. It could support applications like remote surgery, where doctors operate on patients located in different buildings, or enable driverless cars to communicate with one another.
Operators and handset manufacturers hope to commercialise 5G by 2020. In South Korea, which led work on the current network standard 4G, Samsung hopes to launch a temporary 5G trial in time for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. However, 5G is not expected to be a mainstream service until 2025.
Companies such as Sweden's Ericsson, China’s Huawei, Finland's Nokia and France-based Alcatel-Lucent are among those jockeying for position.
R&D drives
There is a slew of research initiatives around Europe making steps towards 5G.
Researchers at Surrey University’s 5G Innovation Centre recently managed record connection speeds, more than 65,000 times faster than average 4G download speeds. This massively surpasses previous testing on 5G by Samsung.
Alongside Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson is investing heavily in 5G research. In Barcelona this week the company announced it would be mining the expertise of several Swedish universities, including the Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology and Lund University, on a 5G project. It will also join traditional rivals Samsung, Nokia and others in cross-industry 5G trials.
Network operators are investing in 5G too. Last September, Vodafone announced a partnership with Dresden University of Technology to develop 5G technologies at a dedicated lab.
While it pursues pacts with the US, China and Japan, the EU is planning to distribute €700 million on 5G research, through its Horizon 2020 research programme, over the next seven years.
Heavy lifting
Laying the foundation for 5G will require a lot of investment in new infrastructure. While the EU is busy coaxing a research effort, the bulk of heavy lifting on investment will have to come from the private sector.
However, 4G rollout has been a sluggish affair in Europe and has led to much political hand wringing over competitiveness. While construction of 4G networks is largely complete in the US, Japan and Korea, the technology is just arriving in much of eastern Europe.
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