Analysis of Global 5G Development (1) - 5G Standardization so far

While 2G still has the biggest share in the global market, 4G LTE has certainly been up and
running in most countries (186 countries as of January 2017. Source: GSA). As of Q3 2016, the
global LTE subscription rate reached 22.4% (source: OVUM) and it is still going up. Especially,
global LTE leaders have reported 70~80% of LTE penetration. Those with matured LTE
markets, like South Korean big 3 telcos and Verizon in the USA, have been seeing stagnant
profits for years, and anxiously looking to switch to 5G quickly.

Traditionally, mobile communication technologies had been categorized into ‘generations’. So,
every time a new generation evolved into the next generation, new frequency, new radio access
technology (RAT), and new network (RAN/Core) were defined and introduced, offering faster
speeds and new services. But then there came 4G (LTE), which brought an integrated Core
network to the world, allowing different RANs (2G/3G/4G/non-3GPP) to work together on
it. 5G went even one step further, introducing a brilliant technology, ‘virtualization’, which
makes it possible for different RAT, RAN and Core to be implemented as software on a
universal server. This enabled telcos to adopt IT technologies that leverage open source SW/HW,
making the communication infrastructure even more IT-based. As a result, the 5G ecosystem can
extend its boundary to embrace ICT such as IT and IoT in addition to communication. This is
why all telcos are aggressively seeking ways to transform into a platform provider, media service
provider, solution provider or more.

5G global standardization has been driven by ITU and 3GPP. 3GPP aims to make technical
reports (TRs) on 5G study items in Release 14 (scheduled to be finalized in June 2017), and
develop 5G technical specifications (TSs) in Releases 15 and 16. When Release 14 is finalized
and Release 15 begins in June 2017, a global race to take the lead in standardization, system
development, and commercialization of 5G will begin in earnest.

5G commercialization has been mostly driven by telcos whose LTE has already reached the level
of maturity or those who are in desperate need of increasing network capacities, and also by
three nations in East Asia (South Korea, Japan and China) who are eager to develop and present
5G services during the Olympics games they are respectively hosting in 2018 (Winter), 2020
(Summer) and 2022 (Winter).

Although 3GPP 5G standard specifications, including supports for high-mobility, are not
expected to be finalized before 2020, telcos like Verizon and AT&T are acting proactively. They
aim to present broadband Internet that leverages pre-5G specifications, mmWave-based fixed
wireless access (FWA), in 2017 in order to replace narrowband Internet and expand broadband
service coverage. There certainly is a risk that such investment can fail if the actual 5G
specifications end up being substantially different from the pre-5G specifications. Despite such
risk, the two telcos are so determined as they need to expand broadband service coverage quick,
and want to make 5G's standards resemble pre-5G's as much as possible.

Most active global leaders in 5G development include South Korean big 3 telcos (KT, SK
Telecom and LG U+), and Verizon and AT&T in the USA, NTT DoCoMo in Japan, and China
Mobile in China. We will look into 5G standardizations so far first, and analyze 5G strategies
and developments by some of these 5G players.

Table of Contents

I. 5G Standardization so far

II. 5G Developments in Leading Countries

1. Korea

1-1. KT
 1-2. SK Telecom

1-3. LG U+

2. U.S.

2-1. Verizon

2-1. AT&T

3. Japan

3-1. NTT DoCoMo

4. China

4-1. China Mobile

I. 5G standardization so far

5G standardizations are led by two major standardization agencies: ITU and 3GPP.
 Figure 1-1. Timeline for 5G in ITU-R (WP5D) and 3GPP

1. ITU

Most 5G standardization initiatives by ITU are carried out by two different groups: SG5
Working Party 5D (WP5D) for NITU-R and SG13 Focus Group IMT-2020 (FG IMT-2020) for
ITU-T. In 2015, ITU-R WP5D defined 5G communication as 'IMT-2020', presenting the
following 5G usage scenarios:

 MBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband),

 mMTC (massive Machine Type Communications),
 URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications)

ITU-R WP5D plans to have 5G technical performance requirements, and evaluation criteria and
method finalized in June 2017 (at the 27th meeting), and begin to collect 5G proposals starting
October 2017 (the 28th meeting) to present the final 5G standard specifications in October 2020
(the 36th meeting). Allocations of 5G frequency bands are to be announced in the 2019 World
Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC-19).
Figure 1-2. ITU-R: Detailed timeline of IMT-2020 (5G)

<Table 1-1> 5G performance index (as reported in the 25th WP5D meeting in October 2016)
2. 3GPP

3GPP is set to conduct a preliminary study on 5G specifications in Release 14, and, based on the
findings, begin to develop 5G specifications in Releases 15 and 16. Release 15 will release 5G
Phase 1 specifications that define basic features of 5G, and Release 16 will release 5G Phase 2
specifications defining additional features of 5G. 5G specifications will be finalized through two
phases - Phases 1 and 2 ending in September 2018 and March 2020, respectively, but Stage 3
will end in June 2018 and December 2019.

Figure 2-1. 3GPP: Detailed Timeline of 5G (as of Dec. 2016)

■ Release 14
The purpose of Release 14, a preliminary study phase needed to establish technical specifications
(TSs), is to write technical reports (TRs) of 5G. Two of the most representative study items of
5G are 'Requirements for 5G access technology' by TSG (Technical Specification Group) RAN
and 'Architecture for 5G system' by TSG SA (Service & System Aspects), which are defined in
TR 38.913 and TR 23.799, respectively.

<Table 2-1> 5G technical reports in Release 14

Below, we will briefly see some key 5G TRs prepared in Release 14 so far.

TR 38.913: Defines key performance indicators of 5G new radio (NR).

<Table 2-2> Key performance indicators for 5G new radio (TR 38.913 [V14.0.0])
22.891: In March 2016, 3GPP SA1 released TR 22.891 which outlined SMARTER
(New Services and Markets Technology Enablers), one of the 5G study items
(SI).
 TR 22.891 defines over 70 use cases

classified in five categories (See

<Table 2-3> below). SA1 is currently

finalizing separate SI works in these

five categories, and has already

sp
conducted studies on the following

four SIs in Release 14, completing

the relevant technical reports (TR

22.861, TR 22.862, TR 22.863, and

TR 22.864):

 Enhanced Mobile Broadband,

 Critical Communications,
 Massive MTC,
 Network Operation

A TR about Enhancement of V2X is scheduled to be completed in Release 15.

<Table 2-3> Use case categories (TR 22.891 [V14.0.0])

TR 23.799: 3GPP SA2 released TR 23.799 in last December which outlined the results of
'NextGen' study for 5G network architecture carried out in Release 14. In TR 23.799, key
features relating to 5G network architecture are defined. <Table 2-4> shows what features are
included and in which phases their technical specifications will be determined.
In 5G, eMBB service requires ultra-fast speeds (20 Gbps), mission-critical IoT service requires
excellent latency (<5ms) and reliability (99.999%), and massive IoT service requires massive
connectivity (106 devices/Km2). To meet all these requirements in various services, a 5G
network should be versatile to offer an optimized and tailored solution for each service. One of
the candidate technologies for that purpose is network slicing, which will be standardized in
Release 15. Network slicing is one of the most essential technologies that 5G can probably rely
on as it allows operators to split one physical network into multiple logically-independent
networks.

<Table 2-4> Key issues for 5G system architecture (TR 23.799 [V14.0.0]) and phase of 5G
system architecture work

■ Release 15

The scope of NR to be standardized in Release 15 include both non-standalone (NSA) and

standalone (SA) operations. In NSA mode, both 5G NR and LTE can work together because the
mode allows 5G NR to use LTE as an anchor on the control plane. Also, SA mode lets 5G NR
work independently by supporting it with full control plane capability. While focusing
on eMBB-type services, one of the 5G usage scenarios defined in ITU (eMBB, mMTC,
URLLC), it also provides support for some URLLC-type services.