Ofcom has announced it has begun consulting key members of the mobile industry to get UK ready for arrival of 5G services, which is said to arrive in around 2020.
The regulator has identified that 5G services would use spectrum of above 6GHz to offer speeds of between 10Gbps and 50Gbps to host services including high-speed financial trading, 4K streaming, holographic projections, and a number of business uses and support “very high demand users” in cities.
“We want the UK to be a leader in the next generation of wireless communications,” said Steve Unger, Ofcom’s acting chief executive.
“Working with industry, we want to lay the foundations for the UK’s next generation of wireless communications.
“5G must deliver a further step change in the capacity of wireless networks, over and above that currently being delivered by 4G. No network has infinite capacity, but we need to move closer to the ideal of there always being sufficient capacity to meet consumers’ needs.”
Ofcom has acknowledged that the timeframe for the launch of 5G services is not yet certain. However it expects that commercial applications to be ready by 2020 depending on research and development, and international agreements for aligning frequency bands.
