The 5G spectrum requirements are primarily driven by the combination of expected increases in traffic capacity demands and the support for new use cases that will be enabled by the 5G ecosystem. The 5G technical requirements to support 5G use cases (e.g. peak data rate greater than 10 Gbps, cell edge data rate of 100 Mbps and 1 m sec end-to-end latency1) could potentially be met in a variety of carrier frequencies.
According to the ITU, there are expected to be 9.2 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide by the year 2020. This includes population growth and a dramatic increase in subscriptions attributable to M2M and IoT. Many other factors also contribute to the need for new, additional or repurposed spectrum to accommodate new or alternative capabilities of mobile broadband wireless systems. These factors include new technological advancements, emergence of new applications, and growth in user demand for wireless services. For instance, ultra-high speed connections in the range of multi-gigabit per second could potentially be achieved through using ultra-wide carrier bandwidths in the order of several hundred MHz or more.
CURRENT GLOBAL STATUS OF SPECTRUM CONSIDERED FOR 5G:
Below 6 GHZ:
As 5G systems develop over time, the mobile spectrum bands below 6 GHz will be valuable to allow the smooth migration from LTE usage to 5G. Again, as time progresses, there will be a continued evolution of LTE for mobile broadband using evolving techniques such as higher-order modulations and carrier aggregation to expand bandwidth capabilities beyond current limitations. Three-carrier aggregation has already been successfully demonstrated using a 3GPP Release 10 (LTE-Advanced) system specification. LTE Releases 12 and 13 specifications will introduce a new LTE-compatible air interface for MTC, capable of low complexity and energy variants for delay-tolerant sensor systems.
Above 6 GHZ:
Due to potential of availability of wider bandwidths, the mm-wave bands above 30 GHz hold promise for providing high peak data rates in specific areas where traffic demands are very high, such as high-definition video communications. Generally have been directed towards opportunities in the 6 GHz to 100 GHz frequency range.
CURRENT GLOBAL STATUS OF SPECTRUM CONSIDERED FOR 5G