The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) announced that 18 operators are committed to implementing services based on pre-standards of 5G technology by or before 2019, according to its quarterly report released this month.
The 15-page report titled, “Evolution from LTE to 5G,” is compiled from publicly available sources and through direct contact with operators. The report lists four examples of pre-5G operators, including Etisalat, Telia Sonera, TIM, and Verizon.
Per the report, there are 19 operators that have commercially launched some aspect of LTE-Advanced PRO, including Telus Canada, T-Mobile Netherlands, Telia Norway, and Vodafone Spain. An additional 26 operators are trialing, deploying or planning LTE-Advanced Pro networks exhibiting, reported The Mobile Network.
Although there is no question what constitutes the LTE-Advanced Pro network, defining 5G is a more complex matter. The GSA’s report itself says, “Exactly what those pre-standards 5G networks will offer in terms of performance, and what spectrum bands or potential 5G features they will support, has yet to be determined. We will be tracking operators’ plans as they firm up.”
Some of the main findings in the report include:
- 591 commercially launched LTE or LTE-Advanced networks in 189 countries, including 97 LTE- TDD (TD-LTE) launched in 56 countries , 106 commercial VoLTE networks in 55 countries, and 167 operators investing in VoLTE in 74 countries
- 195 launched networks are LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro, in 95 countries, GSA forecasts 646 commercially launched LTE networks by end-2017
- Four NB-IoT and two LTE-M networks are commercially launched, with 40 NB-IoT and 12 LTE-M networks planned or being trialled
- At least 18 operators have now made public commitments to deployment of pre-standards ‘5G’ networks in 13 countries
GSA President Joe Barrett commented that certain elements related to 5G – core, network slicing, etc. – make it difficult to define right now. “You could argue that an operator has a ‘5G core’ but not a new radio-based RAN, and so we have not agreed yet what is the definition of 5G – it will come to light in the next six months,” stated Barrett.
April 25, 2017
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