Based on a survey among service providers globally, 71 percent believe that Asia will play a leading role in the development and deployment of 5G. Close to three quarters (74%) of service providers also believe that 5G will require a “radically different” or “substantially different” system architecture from classic cellular network. This includes incorporation of a range of new technologies that will support software-centric network concepts such as network functions virtualization (NFV) and software defined networks (SDN).
Operators expect 5G to use multiple low-band and high-band frequencies with operators seeing low-band spectrum as more critical than high-band for 5G launches. The sub 5 GHz bands were ranked as “critical” by around 30% of respondents compared to 21% for 5-30 GHz and 13% for millimeter wave.
The survey also revealed regional differences in the perception of low-band versus high-band spectrum frequencies as most critical. For instance, 30 percent of Asian operators rank the 60-90 GHz band as critical to 5G, in contrast to only 10 percent of North American operators and 7 percent of European operators. This likely indicates a stronger interest among Asian operators for millimeter wave technologies.
The survey was conducted by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and sponsored by InterDigital, a mobile research and development company.
Dr. Byung K. Yi, Executive Vice President, InterDigital Labs, and Chief Technology Officer of InterDigital
Mobile operators carry much of the initial planning and burden of making mainstream 5G a reality, and their expectations reveal a glimpse of the technologies, regional differences and key drivers that may define the 5G revolution. The survey reaffirms the widely held belief that new networking models, technologies and standards are critical to the development and deployment of 5G.
