LONDON – “Real” 5G is still at least four years away as service providers struggle to find convincing use cases, says a new report from IHS Markit.
The 5G Development Market Report predicts that 5G will come in two waves: first, sub-6GHz in 2017, followed by the “real” 5G at higher spectrum bands – millimeter wave (mmWave) – in 2020.
Noting that 5G means different things to different stakeholders, the report examines the split between two schools of thought. It defines ‘Evolutionary 5G’ as an extension of current Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced networks that is backward compatible with all 3GPP technologies. ‘Revolutionary 5G’, meanwhile, is a brand-new network architecture that requires a new air interface and radio access technology (RAT), moving away from current cellular designs.
With 4G just ramping up, and LTE as we know it just at 3G transitional, 4G will continue to evolve in parallel with the ongoing development of 5G, the report continues.
“In the end, 5G is the evolution of wireless and mobile technologies to create a new mode of connectivity that will not only provide humans with an enhanced broadband experience, but also address a wide range of industrial applications”, reads the report’s research note. “What it is not is a continuing development of 4G and current technologies. 5G is already on a path that goes beyond cellular, shaping up as a multilink architecture that enables direct device-to-device communications.”
The report adds service providers that have jumped into the 5G race are all trying to find “convincing” uses cases that can greatly benefit from the proposed ITU IMT-2020 enhancements. Three-quarters of the global operators polled for a separate company report rated the Internet of Things (IoT) as the top use case for 5G, backing up the notion that industry will drive 5G.
