5G: Fifth-generation mobile

In short: 5G is the mobile standard after LTE (4G) and offers higher speeds, lower latency and the ability to connect very many devices.

In more detail: Every mobile generation brought a leap: 2G (GSM) telephony and SMS, 3G (UMTS) mobile internet, 4G (LTE) fast mobile broadband. 5G (standard “5G NR”, New Radio) relies on three application areas and uses additional frequencies.

In Depth

The three pillars

• eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband): higher data rates, ideally a few hundred Mbit/s to several Gbit/s.
• URLLC (ultra-reliable low-latency communication): very low delay (one to a few milliseconds) and high reliability, for example for industry and autonomous systems.
• mMTC (massive machine-type communication): very many devices per area, such as sensors and meters (IoT).

Frequencies

• Low bands (below 1 GHz, for example 700 MHz): long range, good building penetration, moderate speed.
• Mid band (for example 3.5 GHz): a good compromise, central to 5G in Germany.
• Millimetre waves (for example 26 GHz): very high speed but short range and poor penetration. Operators use dynamic spectrum sharing to use 4G frequencies for 5G as well.

Technology

Massive MIMO (many antennas), beamforming (aiming the radio beam at devices), smaller cells and network slicing (virtual sub-networks with their own properties for different services). There is 5G non-standalone (still uses the 4G core) and 5G standalone (own 5G core with all functions).

In practice and classification

Everyday speed depends on frequency, build-out, load and tariff; advertising promises (“up to”) rarely apply. At home a 5G home router partly replaces DSL but has limited data volumes on some tariffs. The networks’ power consumption rises with build-out, per transmitted bit it falls. Health effects of the radio fields below the limits are not proven according to the state of research. New standards such as 6G are already being researched.

See also: Mobile data, Wi-Fi and airplane mode, Mobile contract and tariffs, MQTT