Chinese firm Huawei and Japanese telecoms giant NTT DOCOMO have conducted the world’s first large-scale field trial of next generation 5G mobile broadband technology using the sub-6GHz band, which has been able to achieve an impressive peak speed of 3.6Gbps (Gigabits per second). Admittedly the International Telecommunication Union‘s (ITU) related IMT-2020 standard has already defined the top speed […]
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First Large-Scale Field Trial of 5G Mobile Delivers Speed of 3.6Gbps
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Government Offers GBP1m to Help UK Businesses Harness 5G Mobile
The next (5th) generation of 5G based Mobile Broadband technology is still roughly five years away, but that hasn’t stopped the Government getting an early start and today they’ve offered another £1m to help encourage businesses to find innovative uses for the service. Future 5G services could be able to deliver a peak download speed […]
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Ofcom Finalise UK Wireless Broadband Auction for 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz
The UK telecoms regulator has today confirmed the final details for their “early” 2016 auction of 190MHz worth of high-capacity spectrum in the 2.3GHz (2350MHz to 2390MHz) and 3.4GHz (3410MHz to 3600MHz) bands, which could be used for mobile (4G) and or other fixed wireless broadband services. Most of the spectrum, which will not come […]
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Ofcom Sets Out Global Position on Wireless Broadband Spectrum
The United Kingdom’s telecoms regulator has today set out what position they will be taking at next month’s World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15), which among other things will seek to decide the radio spectrum frequencies for future WiFi and 5G based Mobile Broadband services. The event, which is being held between 2nd and 27 November […]
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Legal Threats Cause Ofcom to Delay UK Auction of 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz
The UK telecoms regulator has today announced its intention to delay the start of their auction for 190MHz worth of prime Mobile Broadband spectrum in the 2.3GHz (2350MHz to 2390MHz) and 3.4GHz (3410MHz to 3600MHz) bands, which was due to commence this month. Most of the spectrum, which does not come attached to a coverage […]
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BT Test Uses G.fast Broadband to Supply New C-RAN Mobile Network
BT’s forthcoming 300-500Mbps G.fast broadband technology won’t just be used to upgrade homes. The operator has also claimed a “world first” by using the G.fast to supply a cellular Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) over copper lines, which could be used to support 4G and future 5G mobile services. Admittedly we won’t see 5G based […]
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10Gbps Capable 5G Mobile Broadband Could Arrive as Soon as 2017
Most EU and UK telecoms regulators don’t expect the first commercial roll-out of future 5G capable Mobile Broadband services to happen until 2020 or later, but that hasn’t stopped Nokia and Verizon aiming for it to be launched far sooner.. in 2017! Field trials have already begun. At present we still don’t have a clear […]
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Businesses Say Infrastructure Commission Needs TEETH to Help 5G Mobile
The Confederation of British Industry has called on the UK Government to give the new Infrastructure Commission “strong teeth” so that it can overcome political obstacles and focus on long-term planning to facilitate the roll-out of future 5G mobile broadband and other improvements. The “independent body“, which is being led by former Cabinet minister Lord […]
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Ofcom to Free 25MHz of the 700MHz Band for UK Mobile Broadband
The telecoms regulator has today launched a new consultation on their plan to re-purpose 25MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band, which is currently used by Digital Terrestrial TV services, and make it available for use by Mobile Broadband (4G and possibly 5G) in time for Q2 2020. Ofcom first began this process all the […]
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UK Budget 2016 – No Big New Bits for Boosting Broadband Connectivity
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has today set out the annual Budget 2016 report for the United Kingdom, which among other things announced the plan to publish a strategy for 5G mobile services in 2017 and the release of more radio spectrum below 10GHz (bands).. but not a lot else. Several big broadband […]
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Researchers in Scotland Promise Self Healing 5G Mobile Networks
Future 5G based Mobile Broadband networks are expected to be extremely fast (peak speeds of up to 10Gbps), but new EU supported research taking place at the University of West of Scotland (UWS) could also make them “self-healing” to boost performance, protect against DDoS attacks and recover faster from outages. At least that’s what the […]
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Adopting 700MHz for Mobile May Force 160K UK Homes to Replace Aerials
The on-going effort to re-purpose the 700MHz radio spectrum band (currently used by UK Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) services) and make it available for use by Mobile Broadband (4G, 5G etc.) in time for 2020 (Q2) could force 100,000 – 160,000 UK households to replace their aerials. Ofcom’s latest impact consultation (Call for Input) on […]
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EE UK Builds Alliance to Develop 5G and 4G LTE Broadcast Data Tech
Mobile giant EE (BT) has formed a new alliance with several other operators, including Verizon (USA), Telstra (Australia) and kt (South Korea), in order to facilitate the development of LTE-Broadcast (LTE-B) technology that enables operators to send a single stream of data to all mobile users in one area. Broadcast technologies, such as LTE-B, would […]
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UK Infrastructure Commission Consults on Future 5G Mobile Rollout
The National Infrastructure Commission has launched an 8-week consultation on the future deployment of 5G based Mobile Broadband services across the United Kingdom, which seeks to understand what the service will deliver and how many barriers might get in its way (cost, legal, planning etc.). At present 5G is still in early development, with many […]
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EU Losing Ground in the Race to Roll-out Ultrafast 5G Mobile Networks
The European Commission has launched a new consultation that aims to devise a coordinated roll-out plan for the next generation of 5G mobile networks across its 28 EU member states, which predicts a 2019/2020 introduction. But the USA, South Korea and China are aiming to launch much sooner. Earlier this year it was revealed that […]
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Ovum Predicts 24 Million 5G Mobile Subscribers by the End of 2021
We might not have an agreed standard, commercial hardware, spectrum allocations or any real understanding of how much future 5G based Mobile Broadband technology will cost to roll-out. But Ovum still appear confident that there will be 24 million 5G subscriptions worldwide at the end of 2021. The roll-out, at least according to political and […]
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3GPP Agrees Timetable for the First Official 5G Mobile Specifications
The next generation of ultra-fast (20Gbps capable) 5G based Mobile Broadband technology has edged a little closer this week after the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) agreed on a workplan to produce the first official release of 5G specifications (aka – Release-15) by June 2018. 3GPP’s move is important because they unite seven of the […]
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London UK to Get New 1Gbps Small Cell Backhaul and Enterprise Network
Wireless ISP Luminet has teamed up with Cambridge Communication Systems (CCS) to roll-out a new small cell backhaul and enterprise network across London, which will deliver speeds of up to 1Gbps (Gigabit per second) and support backhaul for 4G and future 5G mobile data networks. Small cells are low-powered radio access nodes (i.e. you can […]
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Ofcom Starts Strategic Review of UK Fixed Wireless Links and Spectrum
The UK telecoms regulator has today fired the starting gun for their strategic review fixed wireless spectrum, which covers everything from high capacity wireless data capacity links (e.g. those that supply capacity to mobile operators) to wireless leased lines for end users. Radio spectrum is of course a finite resource and thus Ofcom are constantly […]
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EU Aims for Universal 100Mbps Ultrafast Broadband Coverage by 2025
A leaked draft of a new report from the European Commission has revealed that the EU intends to set a new target for broadband and mobile coverage, which will aim to ensure that “all European households” can get a minimum Internet download speed of 100Mbps (Megabits per second) by 2025. The existing Digital Agenda for […]
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