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5G

Fifth-generation mobile telecommunications standard

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  • 13 chapters

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Like earlier cellular systems, 5G networks divide service areas into smaller zones called cells, which are served by fixed cell sites. Compatible devices connect by radio to local base stations, which are linked to an operator's core network and to external networks such as the Internet through backhaul connections. 5G can be deployed using low-band, mid-band, and high-band radio spectrum, with coverage and performance depending heavily on the frequencies used, network design, congestion, and device capabilities.

Compared with 4G, 5G is designed to provide higher data rates, greater network capacity, lower latency, improved support for dense device deployments, and more flexible network management. For IMT-2020 radio-interface evaluation, the ITU specified peak data-rate requirements of 20 Gbit/s downlink and 10 Gbit/s uplink under ideal conditions, as well as latency and connection-density targets for enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-reliable low-latency communications, and massive machine-type communications. Actual user speeds are typically much lower than peak values and vary by operator, location, spectrum band, signal quality, and network load.

5G is used for mobile broadband, fixed wireless access, private and industrial networks, and machine-type communications. Its standards support features such as network slicing, edge computing, non-public networks, and ultra-reliable low-latency services, although these capabilities are not present in every deployment. The rollout of 5G has required new spectrum allocations and upgrades to radio access, transport, and core-network infrastructure. It has also raised issues involving deployment cost, energy use, vendor security, and public claims about radio-frequency health effects. 5G is being deployed alongside 4G networks and is expected to coexist with them for many years.

History

Early research (2008–2012)

In 2008, NASA and the Machine-to-Machine Intelligence Corporation (M2Mi) conducted nanosatellite communication studies that influenced early next-generation network concepts.

In 2012, New York University established NYU Wireless, a research center focused on millimeter-wave communication. The same year, the University of Surrey founded the 5G Innovation Centre, funded by £35 million from public and industry partners including Huawei and Samsung. Also in 2012, the European Union launched the Mobile and Wireless Communications Enablers for the Twenty-Twenty Information Society (METIS) project to align emerging network research with international standardization.

Standardization and early trials (2013–2018)

In 2013, the ITU-R Working Party 5D began studies on IMT-2020, later formalized as the 5G standard.

During the same period, major firms such as Samsung Electronics, NTT Docomo, and Huawei conducted early trials. Samsung tested a prototype achieving more than 1 Gbit/s across 2 km using 8 × 8 MIMO antennas. NTT Docomo received a government award at CEATEC for high-speed network development, while Huawei announced a US$600 million program to advance mobile network technology.

Commercial rollout (2019–2021)

On April 3, 2019, South Korea launched its national network, the first full commercial deployment. Hours later, Verizon began limited service in select U.S. cities. In June 2019, Globe Telecom introduced the Philippines' first next-generation network, and in December 2019, AT&T launched a consumer service in the United States that expanded nationwide during 2020.

Commercial 5G deployment expanded rapidly through 2020. Beyond public mobile networks, it was also adopted in private industrial and enterprise systems, including operation in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) and licensed non-public networks (NPNs). Private 5G networks became important for Industry 4.0 automation and smart manufacturing. Early rollouts used non-standalone (NSA) mode—with 4G cores—before networks transitioned to standalone (SA) mode with dedicated 5G cores.

South Korea's 2019 rollout used equipment from Samsung, Ericsson, and Nokia; LG U Plus also deployed Huawei hardware. Samsung supplied most of the roughly 86,000 sites, while SK Telecom, KT Corporation, and LG U Plus concentrated coverage in major cities using the 3.5 GHz band under NSA operation. Reported download speeds averaged 200–400 Mbit/s, and subscriptions grew from about 260,000 to 4.7 million during 2019.

Following these early deployments, T-Mobile US launched the first nationwide standalone network in 2020. In the United States, T-Mobile's merger with Sprint closed on April 1, 2020, after approval by the Department of Justice on the condition that the combined company help Dish build a fourth nationwide wireless network and that T-Mobile freeze prices for three years. The merger gave T-Mobile control of Sprint's 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings, which became the foundation of its subsequent mid-band 5G expansion. Ericsson projected that by the mid-2020s, 5G networks would reach about 65 percent of the global population.

Major suppliers of 5G radio and core systems included Altiostar, Cisco Systems, Datang Telecom/Fiberhome, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and ZTE. Huawei was estimated to hold about 70 percent of global 5G base stations by 2023.

Recent developments (2022–present)

By 2022, network speeds in many regions had stabilized, and operators began testing 5.5G upgrades to improve capacity and latency. By the early 2020s, large-scale commercial 5G networks were active across most developed markets, and rollout in developing regions was still accelerating.

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Source and licence. Adapted from the Wikipedia article “5G” (this version, 2026-09-24) by its contributors, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Lablypedia has left out its tables, references and most pictures, and linked it to other Lablypedia articles.