5G Advanced: Executing on the 5G promise
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Thought you were familiar with all the different flavours of 5G? Well, now there’s a new kid on the block. But what is 5G Advanced and how can enterprises expect to benefit? Anne Morris reports
The pace of 5G network deployments has accelerated in recent years, and take-up of this next generation of mobile technology has also been correspondingly buoyant. Various analyst reports say consumer connections surpassed one billion at the end of 2022 and are expected to increase to around 1.5 billion in 2023.
GSMA Intelligence says there were 229 commercial 5G networks globally and over 700 5G smartphone models available to users as of January 2023. What’s more, the deployment of standalone (SA) 5G networks — in other words, 5G networks that are not anchored to a 4G core, unlike 5G non-standalone (NSA) — has been rising, albeit modestly.
According to the January 2023 update from the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), at least 32 operators in 21 countries and territories are now understood to have launched public 5G SA networks, although some reports put the number at more than 40.
Now, alongside 5G NSA and 5G SA, there’s a new kid on the block: 5G Advanced. As its name would suggest, this is the next stage in 5G technology, as well as a stepping stone to the 6G technology that is expected to emerge from 2030 onwards.
According to Peter Jarich, head of GSMA Intelligence, 5G Advanced will be a major industry focus in 2023, kicking off “a second wave of 5G” that will be “central to executing on the broader 5G promise”.