Connecting the world and beyond

WTPF 26

5G - Fifth generation of mobile technologies

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OVERVIEW 5G (IMT-2020)

  • Consumer demands are shaping the development of mobile broadband services. Anticipated increases in traffic (estimated as 10-100 times over the period 2020 – 2030), growth in the number of devices and services, as well as demand for enhanced affordability and user experience will all require innovative solutions. The number of connected devices on the Internet is projected to reach 50 billion any time from 2025 onwards.​
  • The fifth generation of mobile technologies - 5G - connects people, things, data, applications, transport systems and cities in smart networked communication environments. The networks transport a huge amount of data much faster, reliably connect an extremely large number of devices and process very high volumes of data with minimal delay.
  • 5G technologies support applications such as smart homes and buildings, smart cities, 3D video, work and play in the cloud, remote medical services, virtual and augmented reality, and massive machine-to-machine communications for industry automation. Legacy 3G and 4G networks face challenges in supporting these services.
  • Although the business cases and scope of use present challenges, these new functionalities and new services necessitate a new way of deploying advanced mobile services, as well as new approaches in making 5G technologies work together in industrial settings by machine-to-machine communications, Internet of Things (IoT) or with connected vehicles.
  • ITU plays a leading role in managing the radio spectrum and developing globally applicable standards for IMT-2020. ITU is working towards providing stable international regulations, sufficient spectrum and suitable standards for IMT-2020 and the core network to enable successful 5G deployments at the regional and international levels.
  • The first edition of the IMT-2020 specifications, the name used in ITU for the standards of 5G, has been published in February 2021 (ITU-R M.2150). Since then, more than 300 commercial launches across the world and more than 2700 announced devices (at least 50% already commercially available) can be noted.
  • Initially, three technologies were approved as meeting IMT-2020 specifications: 3GPP 5G-SRIT, 3GPP 5G-RIT, and 5Gi.
    • Two, provided by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), represent the well-known “standalone- (SA)", 3GPP 5G-RIT, and “non-standalone- (NSA)", 3GPP 5G-SRIT, 5G deployment models, of which the 5G-SA has a completely new RAN- and core-architecture, without the necessity of an underlying 4G-network.
    • 5Gi provided by Telecommunications Standards Development Society India (TSDSI) is an updated version of 3GPP 5G-RIT, designed mainly to improve rural coverage.
  • In February 2022, a fourth technology called DECT 5G-SRIT was designated as meeting the standard. Due to the non-cellular and autonomous, decentralized technology, it supports a range of use-cases, from wireless telephony and audio streaming to industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications, particularly in smart cities. 

Thematic backgrounders



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ITU governance backgrounders

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