The 5G will be ten times faster than the current network

Qualcomm's first tests show average navigation at 490 Mbps speed | Huawei presents the first commercial 5G modem

     There is still time for 5G to arrive. The most favorable estimates point to 2020 as the year of its implementation. However, in this Mobile World Congress (MWC) he is the protagonist. The companies gathered these days in Barcelona strive to get the looks of the media and customers with their advances in 5G.

This is the case of Qualcomm, the US chipsets manufacturer, which in the framework of this international event has carried out 5G simulation tests in which they have shown that the future of mobile internet will be extremely fast . It has replicated real world conditions (number of devices, geography or different user demands) in Frankfurt (Germany) and San Francisco (USA). In addition, the tests have been done thinking about the 5G networks that will exist at the beginning built on the existing 4G , not the ones that will arrive later in a truly independent way.


      Even with these premises, the results are amazing. In the German test, navigation increased from 56 Mbps for the average 4G user to over 490 Mbps with 5G , with a seven times faster response rate. In addition, the file download reaches 100 Mbps, a huge increase from the 8 Mbps 4G user. In terms of latency, it has been possible to go from 116 milliseconds (ms) to 17, figures much more similar to fiber optics .

But it goes beyond. The San Francisco simulation has shown more impressive speeds. Qualcomm modeled a network that has reached 1.4 Gbps of speed, that is, 23 times faster than the average of 4G in the American city that reached 71 Mbps. In addition, another of the conclusions of the study is that more than 90% of 5G users will be able to enjoy more than 100 Mbps.

     There is a great interest from different players in the mobile ecosystem to understand the real-world performance of 5G networks and devices," said Alex Holcman, Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm Technologies. He stressed that the comprehensive study has been done to help this ecosystem to "prepare for the incursion into the world 5G" with the aim that application developers can begin to plan new experiences and services for users with 5G devices.

The first 5G modem

     But for this speed to make it possible, device manufacturers have to start thinking about 5G and the network companies go thinking about the infrastructure. The Chinese company that combines these two sectors is Huawei, which has presented at the MWC the first 5G commercial modem, Balong 5G01. Although there is still time for it to work in Spain, it comes with a 3FPP 5G chipset with a connection speed of up to 2.3 Gbps.

It is compatible with 5G in all frequency bands to offer a complete solution suitable for all kinds of uses. "The 5G technology will define the next leap towards a smarter world in which people, vehicles, houses and devices are fully connected, thus generating new experiences, knowledge and capabilities for all," said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, during the presentation.

The Chinese company that invests in 5G technology since 2009, has presented two modem models. The first, low frequency (sub6GHz), is small and light, compatible with 4G and 5G networks and has demonstrated downlink speeds of up to 2 Gbps, 20 times more than 100Mbps fiber. This provides an ultra-fast user experience, which allows you to enjoy video games in virtual reality or download a television program in just one second . On the other hand, the high frequency (mmWave) is available in indoor and outdoor units.

The first call 5G

Another of the recent projects in which Huawei has been involved, although this time under the union of Vodafone, is in the first call 5G in the world with the commercial standard NSA (Non Stand Alone). It was held last week between Castelldefells (Barcelona) and Madrid. The new standard contemplates the use, in a first phase, of the infrastructure of the 4G network for the control and management of traffic, so it will be necessary that both the terminals and the base stations can establish a dual connectivity to 4G networks and 5G at the same time.

It reaches speeds above 2 Gbps and latencies below 10 milliseconds. During the demonstration, the promoters of the call reminded that NSA will be "the only standard that commercial telephones will support in the short and medium term".