Now days, 5G new radio (NR) is becoming more popular because of its  high data rate, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction, higher system capacity, and massive device connectivity. The first phase of 5G specifications in Release-15 will be completed by March 2019 to accommodate the early commercial deployment.

LTE subscriber base now accounts for 44% of all mobile subscriptions worldwide and is expected to keep growing until 2022. Based on the latest GSA data, there were 3.74B LTE connections globally at the end of September 2018 in comparison to 2.77B  connections a year earlier. LTE subscriptions are expected to reach 5.96B by 2022 end. 

In last few years, Internet of Things (IoT) standards have evolved considerably to provide seamless convergence of the digital and the physical world. IoT allows applications, machines connected to the network to communicate among them or with servers without human intervention.

The explosive growth of data-driven service has been the main driver for 3GPP evolutions in recent years.  5G is expected to provide considerably more flexibility for customization compared to earlier generations. New deployments are expected to serve huge amounts of mobile data traffic, thus requiring very efficient user plane path management.

India is known to have the second largest population in the world at 1.3 billion but it also has the second largest number of mobile subscriptions in the world.

LTE subscriptions now make one-third of global mobile subscriptions.  A recent GSA report puts the total subscriptions to 2.54 billion, 32.4% of all mobile subscriptions globally. It took 3 years to reach the half-billion mark for LTE subscriptions but in last 3 years, LTE has shown tremendous growth with ~2B subscription additions.  

With 5G, network functions virtualisation is making in-roads in Radio Access Networks as well as the Core Network. Telecom operators will have newer flexible deployment options with virtualised RAN offering additional ways to increase network capacity, coverage and user experience while reducing time to market for new services.

ITU & 3GPP driven 5G has huge potential in utilising Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) to enhance radio access and core network elements. Many operators and equipment manufacturers have already invested heavily to reap the benefits of this technology.

Singapore has best 4G LTE experience with a 46.64Mbps average download speed among 77 nations according to a recent OpenSignal report. South Korea is not far behind with an average of 45.85Mbps speed. European countries Norway & Hungary too have LTE average speed greater than 40Mbps. By contrast, the US has very low average 13.98Mbps.

Last week, ITU-R Workshop on IMT-2020 terrestrial radio interfaces was held in Munich, Germany with main objective to outline the process of submission/reception of the Radio Interface Technology (RIT)/set of RIT (SRIT) proposals and acknowledgment of receipt.

Last week Apple announced a new generation of iPhones: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. The new iPhone features A11 Bionic chip, Retina HD displays and wireless charging, just to name a few.

5G New Radio (NR) development is part of continuous mobile broadband evolution process to meet the requirements of 5G as outlined by IMT-2020, similar to earlier evolution of 3G & 4G wireless networks.