Оператори вже готуються до запуску мереж 5.5G (5G Advanced) – швидше та дорожче за 5G
Telecom operators have not yet completed the deployment of 5G mobile networks. However, the heads of some telecom operators are already talking about the launch of 5.5G or 5G Advanced networks. Such discussions took place during the Mobile World Congress 2024 exhibition.
At the exhibition, the heads of some of the leading operators stated that they were working on the introduction of a new generation of mobile Internet.
This will provide even more advanced applications than the current data-intensive applications such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, and TikTok. These applications are well served by the current mobile internet. But in the future, 5.5G is expected to enable more demanding experiences, including virtual or mixed reality headsets, which are becoming increasingly powerful.
5G is the next generation of mobile internet after 4G, promising ultra-high speeds and better coverage. Although it has been about 5 years since the standard was introduced, 5G penetration among consumers remains low. The number of consumers with 5G connections is growing, but still covers a small number of consumers. It is expected that by 2029 alone, 5G connections will account for more than half (51%) of mobile connections.
5G is being positioned by the telecommunications industry not only as a consumer product with faster download speeds, but also as a network that can become the basis for new technologies such as self-driving cars, unmanned air taxis, and Internet of Things devices. This is mainly due to lower latency than 4G.
At the same time, 5.5G or 5G Advanced is the next evolution of mobile networks – release 18 of the standard (5G is release 17, 6G will become release 19).
«The top priorities for developing advanced 5G standards are to increase the commercial relevance of 5G by expanding vertical markets, addressing deployment challenges, and continuing technology evolution to build a bridge to 6G,» said Milind Kulkarni, vice president and head of wireless labs at InterDigital.
5.5G will provide higher uplink speeds, meaning users will be able to stream videos, publish online and play multiplayer games much faster than before.
According to telecom executives, additional benefits of 5G Advanced over current 5G are that it will make the networks themselves more «intelligent» through the use of AI and machine learning, as well as improve performance and reduce overall power consumption.
At the same time, with 5G Advanced, telecommunications companies can start making more money from 5G deployments. Since the main focus of 5G is on enterprise applications, they can provide more revenue for operators than consumer services.
Telecommunications companies have not yet disclosed how much more expensive 5G Advanced tariff plans will be compared to 5G. But analysts expect that they will try to make money by being smart about subscriptions and using artificial intelligence and other technologies to make their networks more efficient.
Telecommunications equipment provider Huawei expects 2024 to be the year of the official start of 5G Advanced commercial deployment. For Huawei, 5.5G — is a network that will have a downlink speed of 10 Gbps. Huawei has already introduced 8 «innovative practices» 5.5G that will help operators build 5.5G networks in all frequency bands.
Source: cnbc