• First in TelecomTV’s new Expert Series of video features
• Insights from the leading 5G players: ITU, ETSI and 3GPP
• Plus, the operator and vendor view of 5G

This is an important year for the telecoms business, as players jostle for position to influence and benefit from the next generation wireless-based architecture. This fifth generation technology, or 5G, heralds a revolution in how networks are built, managed and monetised, and will support a vast range of services from global IoT connections to ultra-low latency requirements for autonomous driving. But what exactly is 5G? The answer is not always clear.

Therefore, TelecomTV set out to create its new Expert Series of definitive video guides to 5G, as part of our industry-leading "5G Evolution" coverage. At Mobile World Congress this year, we secured the cooperation of the leading groups and associations that are hard at work defining and creating 5G specifications and timeframes.

The 5G process is widely regarded to be tied into the ITU’s standardisation of a new air interface, which goes by the term IMT-2020. It is calling for technical submissions to be evaluated and then recommended as a new global standard. This will then tie into ongoing spectrum coordination work led by ITU through the WRC world radiocommunications conferences, which then enables national and regional governments to allocate the required spectrum to support the air interface.

But the air interface is only one component of the next generation of mobile systems; there will also be significant development of the whole network architecture. This work is being led by 3GPP, in collaboration with the world’s leading regional standards organisations, such as ETSI. Taken together, all of this constitutes “5G”.

Of course, technical standards are only as good as the use cases that underpin them. All of which brings us back to the question; “what is 5G?”. Hopefully TelecomTV’s latest video feature (click the image above to play) will help provide an answer.

This is the first in a multiple-part Expert Series that looks at 5G. In the next programme tomorrow, we take a detailed look at the timelines involved.

Featuring contributions from:

• Adrian Scrase, CTO, ETSI
• François Rancy, Director ITU-R, ITU
• Erik Guttman, Chairman TSG SA, 3GPP
• Peter Merz, Head of Radio Systems, Nokia
• Franklin Flint, CTO, TIA
• Tom Keathley, SVP Wireless Network Architecture & Design, AT&T