Europe a Hive of 5G Activity, Though Many Don't Know What the Technology Is

Europe is humming with discussions about possible 5G technologies, standards and spectrum requirements, even as many don't know what the technology is, experts said in recent interviews. Industry groups, researchers, telecom regulators and standardization bodies have launched a flurry of 5G-related projects five years before the technology is even expected to be deployed (see 1506030055), Real Wireless Technology Director Simon Saunders said. It's striking that people are so excited about 5G, he said. LTE is still 10 years away from the peak of its rollout and take-up, and yet it's 5G that's being hyped, he said. That enthusiasm may need to be dampened lest it hold back LTE, he said.

In recent months, thinking has shifted from the need to have 5G at some point to more concrete ideas about broad principles for the underlying technology, Saunders said. 5G isn't just about better mobile broadband but about the idea that it will explicitly target the needs of industry in a vertical way, he said. It's very challenging because it's unclear whether 5G technology can deliver those needs via mobile systems as now known or will be best handled by standardized networks that may need their own specifications, he said.

Because no one knows what 5G is for, its requirements for network architecture, air interfaces and spectrum must be very flexible, Saunders said. While there's no formal standard-setting in process, there is now a "technological grab-bag" -- very massive multiple input multiple output, very wide bandwidths and a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum -- that people are examining, he said. Network architecture is evolving, as is the recognition that very dense small cell networks will be needed for 5G, he said. Regulators are starting "in a slow way" to look at the spectrum aspects of 5G, and manufacturers are beginning to talk about which bands they want. He predicted a "high degree of consensus" on spectrum issues before the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference.

Various activities are taking place in parallel, Saunders said. Several different groups and organizations, mostly ad hoc, are working on 5G, he said. Nokia Networks Wednesday announced a joint research project with NTT Docomo to "explore and harness the potential" of Nokia's 5G radio technology in the 4.4-4.9 GHz band, an effort it said will drive future standardization of the technology. July 7, a group of 16 telcos, component and infrastructure vendors, universities and research institutions launched FANTASTIC-5G (flexible air interface for scalable service delivery within wireless communication networks of the 5th generation). Its goal is to develop a flexible air interface to support the diverse requirements of 5G networks, boost capacity and improve energy efficiency, said the group, which includes Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, Intel, Nokia, Orange and Samsung.

The Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance plans to work on 5G business principles, requirements and architecture, spectrum and standard essential patents, it said June 25. Partners of the Germany-based organization include AT&T, US Cellular and Verizon, plus key players from Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The 5G NORMA (novel radio multiservice adaptive network architecture) project, an industry-academia consortium that is part of the 5G Public Private Partnership (5GPPP) initiative working to define 5G and its potential benefits, will look at the socioeconomic benefits 5G could bring and what some of the market drivers might be, it said. Partners include mobile operators such as Deutsche Telekom, network vendors such as Nokia Networks and several European universities.

The European Commission pledged 700 million euros ($767 million) to help deliver the next generation of communications networks, it said July 1. That is expected to be leveraged five times by the private sector under the 5GPPP, it said. The EC announced 19 projects chosen for the first research phase of 5GPPP covering technological issues such as new radio air interfaces and architecture. In 2016-2107, 5GPPP will look at system optimization, followed by large-scale trials in 2019-2020, the EC said. 5GPPP set out its vision for 5G in a paper released at the March 2-5 Mobile World Congress 2015.

The ITU said June 19 that it has an overall road map for development of 5G mobile that it's calling IMT-2020. The work will take place as an extension of the ITU's existing family of global standards for international mobile telecom systems, it said. The next step is to set detailed performance requirements for the radio systems to support 5G, the ITU said.

The U.K. Office of Communications sought comment in January on potential spectrum bands for 5G services, and released an update April 20. It tentatively identified several bands for further study for WRC-19 but acknowledged that so far, there's no consensus among stakeholders on what specific bands should be prioritized. The Wireless World Research Forum will host its second 5G "huddle" Oct. 13-14 in Copenhagen. Speakers named so far include representatives from the EC, ITU and Ofcom.