GSMA CHINA WEEK, BEIJING: Speakers agreed there is a growing consensus about the need to turn to 5G to expand network capacity as consumption of streaming content soars, and unlimited plans drive usage and strain existing LTE networks.

Henry Calvert, head of future networks, technology at the GSMA, said not long ago, when the question of the need for 5G came up, analysts would ask: do we have too much 4G capacity, are networks being fully utilised, have we used the available 4G spectrum?

Over the past year or two, the behaviour of mobile subscribers changed, with more people streaming live sports events, he said. EE in the UK sees parts of its network become congested in cities when Premier League Football matches are held. Telstra in Australia reported the same, with its busiest days now Saturdays and Sundays (previously low traffic days) due to live viewing of sporting events.

“This means there is demand for quality video which will be one of the drivers for capacity in a 5G network. We will need low-latency, high-quality, high-bandwidth services because customers are expecting it,” he said.

Wang Jianzhou, director general of the China Association of Public Companies and a former China Mobile chairman, said 5G will start with enhanced mobile broadband because operators won’t be able to meet the rising demand using existing LTE networks.

Reaching maturity
“5G tech is now mature: standardisation work is in the last phase and many vendors have already launched real products using the 3GPP radio standard released in December. The variable is spectrum, once you have that, operators can move to the technology and reach the higher speeds being promoted.”

He insists there’s no need to worry about applications: “Operators didn’t know how 3G or 4G would be used.”

Edward Tian, founder of AsiaInfo and chairman and CEO of CBC Capital, told attendees operators need to think hard about how they position 5G.

“Before there were just handsets, but with 5G we have a wide range of connections, which presents an unprecedented challenge. There will be many operating systems and payments methods, making things much more complicated.”

He pointed out the digital era is just getting started so we’re at the early stage and need to work together to make things simpler.

Start now
Like many in the industry, Calvert encouraged operators to get started as it takes years to complete a rollout of new mobile technology: “It took seven years to get to 60 per cent population coverage with 3G and 4G. It takes a lot of work to get it up and going.”

At least 77 operators are trialling 5G worldwide.

Calvert agreed 5G business models are still a big question as everyone is looking for the next step in value creation and there are high expectations regarding the economic impact of 5G deployments.