Samsung kicks-off final meetings for 5G phase-1 standard

The final meetings to complete the first phase of the 5G Standalone standard have been kicked-off in Samsung’s Busan office, with the paperwork set to be officially approved at the 3GPP plenary next month.

Samsung Electronics is the official host of the meetings, which will bring together 1500 standards experts from chipset, handset and equipment vendors, as well as the MNOs, from today (May 21st) to 25th. The objective here is simple; finalize the relevant standard technologies for 5G commercialization.

“The first 5G standard, which includes innovative technologies developed by Samsung Electronics, will be completed at this 3GPP conference,” said Seunghwan Cho, EVP of Samsung Research. “This will lead the market to commercialize 5G communication to serve as the core infrastructure for the coming fourth industrial revolution.”

Over the course of the week, all RAN Working Groups will come together to confirm the final technologies, including 5G wireless access for ultra-high speed data transfer and ultra-low latency, as well as the conformance testing method for 5G terminals. One of particular interest to Samsung is RAN4, chaired by Xutao Zhou, a principle engineer at Samsung, which will decide the radio performance requirements for 5G terminals and base stations including the 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands. The work from this group in particular will underpin radio regulations to govern 5G around the world.

With the standard expected to be confirmed and published by 3GPP next month, MNOs around the world are preparing themselves for the 5G onslaught. Aside from posturing from the US operators, all promising to have some sort of 5G-first-nuance, South Korea is expected to kick-off its 5G spectrum auction towards the end of June. Both the US and Korea are racing to launch 5G networks by early 2019, though telcos in the Middle East are now trying to steal the limelight when it comes to the world first claim. Etisalat and du have both been posturing at an organised by UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) event, adding another rival in the 5G sprint. As expected, Europe has remained solemnly quiet.

Similar to the completion of the non-standalone 5G standard in December, it would not be surprising to expect a new wave of 5G promises and chest-pounding once these standards are finalised.