World’s First 5G Wireless Hardware Specifications Officially Approved
Everyone wants faster and better internet connection. While 4G has slowly but surely entered the Indian market on a mass level, the world has already moved on to 5G internet. The first true move towards launching 5G wireless networks and smartphones received a huge impetus. The members of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) have officially approved the hardware specifications for the Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G New Radio (NR) standards. The specifications were confirmed during a meeting of the 3GPP group in Lisbon, Portugal. The actual specifications will be posted sometime later this week on the group’s official website.
NSA 5G NR specs were approved today at RAN#78. Balazs Bertenyi , RAN Chair called it “an Impressive achievement in a remarkably short time, with credit due particularly to the Working Groups”. News article to follow on the 3GPP site and from 3GPP Member announcements. pic.twitter.com/b10fTV5V5n
— 3GPP Live (@3GPPLive) December 20, 2017
This development means that smartphone hardware companies such as Qualcomm, Intel, Huawei and others can begin making 5G wireless products and components based on these official standards. The industry has already moved towards 5G and only recently in November, Qualcomm, ZTE, and China Mobile announced a successful test of the world’s first end-to-end 5G NR interoperable system based on the standards that were developed by the 3GPP group.
As reported earlier, the Indian government has recognised the importance of the fast-speed internet and has already taken steps to ensure that India is not left behind in the 5G race. India is planning to roll out 5G internet services by the year 2020. In order to complete this task successfully, the government has set up a high-level forum which will evaluate all possible roadmaps to make sure that 5G internet becomes prominent in the country. For the said objective, the ministries of telecom, information and technology, and science and technology have been included in the forum. A budget of Rs 500 crore is set aside for research and development of 5G technology by the government.
Apart from the government, Indian telcos such as Airtel are also actively taking initiatives toward the 5G technology. Airtel on 26th September launched a mimo, a pre-5G technology, producing internet browsing speeds three times higher than the current levels. State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. along with Airtel have also signed initial pacts with smartphone makers such as Nokia for the development of 5G and its applications which are relevant to India.
