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Mobile & Wireless
By
Martin
Vilaboy
After all, the actual technology and
standards it will follow, as well as where
it will predominately live on the spectrum
map, have yet to be determined, and
business models must be developed to
support investments.
It’s not even clear yet if it will build
on 4G LTE or something new, as the
deadline for 5G definitions set by the ITU
doesn’t come until 2019, with finalized
standards not expected until 2020.
That hasn’t stopped the majority of
wireless carriers, including AT&T and
Verizon, from engaging in 5G “press
release wars” of sorts regarding their
various 5G lab tests, field trials and the
buildout of test markets, even though
these are pre-standard trials, and proba-
bly better described as 4.5G than actual
5G. On the other hand, 2020, when the
vast majority of wireless service provid-
ers expect to see the first commercial
deployments, is only a few years away,
and looking at the widely supported
goals for 5G that have been floating
around for the last few years, pictures
of early winners and opportunities have
started to come into focus.
Ultimately, the expected capabilities
that will come with 5G technology are
elemental, many believe, to realizing the
vision of a truly connected world where
billions of devices interconnect and com-
municate in real time in order to put the
“smart” into our homes, cars, buildings,
farms and everyday lives.
Established goals, for example, put
data volumes at 1,000x over current
levels, supporting multi-gigabit wireless
access. Transit times will see 5x reduc-
tions, meeting low-latency requirements
of 5ms down to 1ms end-to-end round
trip. Data transfer speeds will see 10x
to 100x increases, and the number of
devices supported in a given area like-
wise will grow by a factor of 10x to 100x.
Early indications suggest contestants
initially will look to apply these upgraded
capabilities to fixed wireless solutions,
as many early trials are focused in this
area, with mobile applications expected
to come later.
“I call it ‘wireless fiber,’” said Veri-
zon CEO Lowell McAdam, speaking
about the company’s 5G fixed wireless
trials at the UBS Global Media and
5G Fixation
Fiber substitution emerging as early
opportunity in the next wave of wireless
T
here are still lots of hurdles to overcome and
details to discern before 5G becomes a true
market-ready option for connectivity.
20
Channel
Vision
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March - April, 2017