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June 12, 2018: Several leading administrations and mobile broadband industry companies (operators and manufacturers) met for the fourth time to progress the global 5G market in support of the frequency band 26.5 – 29.5 GHz or “28 GHz” band.
Governments and 5G industry representatives from Japan, Korea, Mexico and the USA met in Cancun, Mexico, to present recent regulatory actions and technical developments related to the 28 GHz frequency band. This included commercial 5G deployments in the USA and the upcoming auction of 28 GHz band in Korea starting on June 18th which will commence a ground breaking nationwide 5G mobile network deployment. The USA has announced an upcoming auction of additional spectrum licenses in the 28 GHz frequency band in November 2018.
Also discussed was the need to ensure the protection of the 28 GHz terrestrial spectrum leading up to decisions to be made by The World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) regarding the use of the band by new broadband application seeking to share the 28 GHz band applications.
WRC-19 will consider spectrum for terrestrial International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) 5G and also spectrum for other broadband systems such as Earth Stations In Motion (ESIM) and High Altitude Platforms (HAPS). ESIM and HAPS are intended to complement terrestrial 5G services so that mobile broadband can be universally available to all of the world’s population. It is essential to carefully consider and decide on an appropriate regulatory framework at WRC-19 for these applications in order to facilitate sharing of the 28 GHz band. Sharing between terrestrial 5G on one hand, and ESIM on aircraft and ships should be feasible with appropriate regulatory conditions placed on the ESIM. Sharing between terrestrial 5G and land based ESIM on trains and vehicles is more challenging given the mobile nature of the land based ESIM if deployed in same geographical area. Questions remain on how land-based ESIM can coexist with other terrestrial services and whether this ESIM use case is an efficient use of the spectrum and economically viable when compared with the use for terrestrial mobile broadband service offerings. The authorization and use of land ESIM set against terrestrial 5G may however be resolved at the national level. Therefore, ESIM on aircraft and ships should be the primary focus for consideration by WRC-19.
WRC-19 is considering a number of frequency bands for HAPS, one of which is 28 GHz. Any use of HAPS should not unduly constrain existing terrestrial mobile service applications or in any way constrain the planned and future use of the band by mobile terrestrial 5G networks.
Technical and regulatory provisions for ESIM and HAPS should be established at WRC-19 to protect mobile 5G networks from unacceptable interference.
The industry is developing chipsets, devices, and infrastructure equipment based on the approved Release 15 specifications from 3GPP to enable the first deployments of commercial 5G systems in the 28 GHz frequency band by 2018. In addition, the numerous 5G trials already ongoing in several countries are based on these industry equipment developments.
Some countries have already made the 28 GHz frequency band available for 5G, in 2016, and other administrations are taking similar regulatory steps throughout this year and 2019. This 5G Frontier band initiative has a clear objective to realise the global 5G vision, which will accelerate 5G deployments around the world. For additional information see www.5g-28frontier.org.
For more information contact:
Name; Mr. Yongjun Chung (TTA), Korea
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