The 3GPP TSG RAN Plenary Meeting in Lisbon successfully completed the first implementable 5G NR specification. AT&T, BT, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Intel, KT Corporation, LG Electronics, LG Uplus, MediaTek Inc., NEC Corporation, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Sony Mobile Communications Inc., Sprint, TIM, Telefonica, Telia Company, T-Mobile USA, Verizon, Vodafone, and ZTE have made a joint statement that the completion of the first 5G NR standard has set the stage for the global mobile industry to start full-scale development of 5G NR for large-scale trials and commercial deployments as early as in 2019.
On February 27, 2017 in Barcelona, global mobile industry leaders announced their support for the acceleration of the 5G NR standardisation schedule, which introduced an intermediate milestone to complete the first implementable specification for Non-Standalone 5G NR operation. As a result of this announcement, the schedule acceleration was agreed at the 3GPP RAN Plenary Meeting on March 9 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This first specification was completed as part of 3GPP Release 15.
This standard completion is an essential milestone to enable cost-effective and full-scale development of 5G NR, which will greatly enhance the capabilities of 3GPP systems, as well as facilitate the creation of vertical market opportunities. 3GPP plans to continue to develop Release 15, including the addition of support for Standalone 5G NR operation also agreed upon by 3GPP in Dubrovnik.
The 5GNR lower layer specifications have been designed so that they can support Standalone and Non-Standalone 5G NR operation in a unified way, to ensure that 3GPP benefits the global industry with a large-scale single 5G NR ecosystem. We express our appreciation for the tremendous efforts that 3GPP has dedicated to accomplishing this challenging standardisation schedule.
“We’re proud to see the completion of this set of standards. Reaching this milestone enables the next phase of equipment availability and movement to interoperability testing and early 5G availability,” said Hank Kafka, VP Access Architecture and Analytics at AT&T. “It showcases the dedication and leadership of the industry participants in 3GPP to follow through on accelerating standards to allow for faster technology deployments.”
Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei 5G product line, added: “Huawei has committed to develop a single global 5G standard. With the successful cooperation and joint efforts with global organisations including governments, regulatory agencies, research organisations, academia, industries, and many more sectors, 3GPP 5G NR standardisation Phase 1 has been completed with great progress. Huawei will keep working with global partners to bring 5G into the period of large-scale global commercial deployment from 2018.”
Speaking for NTT DOCOMO, Dr. Hiroshi Nakamura, executive vice president and CTO said, “I would like to express my deepest gratitude for 3GPP’s great effort to successfully complete the first release of 5G NR specification six months ahead of schedule. NTT DOCOMO has made tremendous contributions to the standardisation as a world-leading mobile operator.
We have been collaborating with various partners across industries to co-create 5G services through ‘5G Trial Sites’ since this May. This completion will accelerate these activities and we will launch 5G services with Non-Standalone 5G NR by 2020.”
“This is an important moment and a crucial development toward making 5G NR happen,” said Neville Ray, chief technology officer for T-Mobile US. “At T-Mobile, we’re committed to drive a 5G rollout across the US in 2020, and the efforts of 3GPP will help us to realise this great win for our customers.”
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