5G Introduction & Outlook for Japan（国内市場における5Gの展望）

Global telecommunications vendors and operators are making significant progress on the fifth generation of mobile radio technology known as 5G. While 5G standards have yet to be fully ratified by international technology bodies, trials and proof of concept demonstrations are well underway as of 2017, giving us an idea of what we can expect in the coming years. Initial testing of 5G has shown that the technology will provide significantly faster mobile broadband connections to a larger number of users, which will radically change the consumer, enterprise, and industrial wireless connection sectors.

What is 5G?

While 5G standards are not yet officially designated, there are several characteristics that 5G networks will have that are broadly agreed upon by all major parties involved. Common traits of 5G networks will include the following:

Higher Bandwidth – 5G networks are expected to produce peak wireless speeds of 10 Gbps, an improvement of 10-100 times that of current 4G networks

Lower Latency – The target latency for 5G networks is 1 millisecond compared to the 50 millisecond latency of current 4G networks

More Connections – 5G networks currently seek to be able to support 100 times more connected devices than 4G networks.
Therefore, it is safe to assume that 5G networks will be faster, respond quicker, and support more devices. As such, many current applications of 4G will be faster, such as video and other high-bandwidth applications, and networks will be able to react faster with sensor networks and other applications. There will also be new services created by the combination of higher bandwidth and lower latency, such as remote driving, AR, VR, and Tactile Internet. The exhibit below highlights potential 5G services.