Telecom industry wants to roll out 5G networks with 20Gbit/s speed in 2020

The international telecom industry, united in the ITU, has ready the roadmap for 5g. In 2020, the specification for 5g, which is being worked on under the name IMT-2020, should be ready. In that year, systems must be ready and networks can be rolled out.

The International Telecommunication Union has decided to work on the 5g specification under the name IMT-2020. The ITU previously worked on 3g under the name IMT-2000 and on 4g under the name IMT Advanced. In the coming years, the organization will list the technical requirements, taking into account the desired applications for, for example, mobile video streaming at extremely high resolution, real-time use of applications at low latency and internet-of-things.

The specification should be ready by 2020 and the first systems should also be ready for 5g. “The focus is on enabling a society that is seamlessly connected and brings people together with things, data, applications, transport systems and cities in a smart network communication environment in the time frame of 2020 and beyond.” ITU.

The Korean ETNews lists the differences between 4g and 5g, based on the plans that are now in place. The standard should allow 5G systems to deliver a speed of 20Gbit/s, but in practice users could enjoy a speed of up to 1Gbit/s. Regardless of the distance to a mast, the user must be able to obtain a speed of at least 100Mbit/s from that base station. At 4g, the maximum system speed is 1Gbit/s. In addition, the latency at 5g must be significantly improved, the energy consumption must decrease and more systems must be able to connect to masts per square kilometer.