5G could be live before the 2018 Winter Olympics
East Asian technology companies want to see 5G in action during the next Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018, and they're doing everything they can to make it a reality. According to a new report by GSMA, entitled Mobile World Live, this effort is 'accelerating the global development of the technology'.
To put things into perspective, 3GPP (the leading standards body) is planning on producing the first 5G specs in June 2018, mere months before the event kicks off. "Given their enormous global profile, it is perhaps not surprising that the Olympics have been central in driving the timeline for 5G, yet it’s hard to recall many other technologies previously being showcased on this stage in this way", says Christopher Cave, director, R&D, InterDigital.
"The forthcoming games in East Asia are right in the backyard of some of the world’s leading technology development organizations and offer both a fantastic opportunity to launch commercial 5G services and show consumers what the future of wireless communications holds. Underpinning this will be the global standards process which will unify many of the efforts these organizations are making; InterDigital expects to play its part in the realization of 5G by continuing to make valuable contributions towards standardization", adds Cave.
5G is considered the next step in innovating mobile technologies. The high-speed mobile internet will not only allow us to consume high-definition video content on mobile networks, but will also proliferate IoT, and Big Data analytics. One of the technologies to benefit most from the Winter Olympic Games 2018 seems to be virtual reality.
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