MWC 2015 – Nokia Predicts 2020 Launch For 5G After Reaching 1Gbps On 70GHz

Steve McCaskill,
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Nokia and NTT DoCoMO ‘committed’ to 2020 launch after successful millimetre wave tests

Nokia and Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo have managed to achieve wireless data transmission speeds of 2Gbps increasing the possibility that a commercial 5G network might be launched in the Asian country in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The two companies reached the milestone in an indoor test using Nokia’s millimetre wave technology in the 70Ghz band. An outdoor trial is planned for later this year, demonstrating DoCoMo’s “strong commitment” to make 5G available within the next five years.

Nokia 5G

Nokia Espoo HQ“Utilizing higher frequency bands including millimetre wave is key to deliver extremely high performance in 5G,” explained Seizo Onoe, CTO of NTT DoComo. “We believe that high-frequency spectrum shall be used not just for small cells as a means to complement the existing network, but also for building solid area coverage through coordination with existing lower frequency bands.

“The success of this indoor trial with Nokia Networks using the 70GHz band marks an important step forward in our 5G vision for 2020.”

Nokia purchased Siemens stake in Nokia Siemens Networks two years ago and the networking business was one of three units not included in Microsoft’s £4.6 billion takeover of the Finnish firm’s devices division in 2013, along with Here Maps and the company’s advanced technology arm.

The company says it is pleased with its plans for 5G and is committed to helping operators commercialise 5G as soon as possible. It is expected that 5G networks will offer speeds of at least 1Gbps, although Huawei says ‘4.5G’ networks will break that barrier in 2016.

“Moving ahead on our pledge to cooperate on 5G research and innovation for developing and validating 5G, we have laid a strong foundation for realizing DoCoMo’s 5G vision,” added Hossein Moiin, CTO, Nokia Networks. “We will ensure that our focus is clearly trained on helping the operator monetize the immense revenue potential of future-ready technologies to effectively address ever-increasing network coverage and capacity requirements.”

Nokia has also revealed it has secured the largest share by a non-Chinese vendor for the second phase China Telecom’s LTE rollout, having already played a major role in phase 1.

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