NTT DoCoMo announced that it is working with leading telecommunications companies to make 5G reality in Japan. As part of the effort, the operator is teaming-up with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, Nokia and Samsung to conduct experimental trials of emerging 5G mobile communications technologies. Specifically, the firms will explore the potential to exploit frequency bands above 6GHz and realize very high system capacity per unit area.
Alas, we won’t be seeing fruits of this co-operation anytime soon, with 10Gbps speeds not coming until 2020… or so.
“5G studies are starting to gain real momentum as we point toward 2020,” said Seizo Onoe, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at DOCOMO. “I am delighted that we will collaborate on 5G experimental trials with multiple global vendors from this early stage.”
DoCoMo will begin indoor trials at its R&D Center in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture this year, to be followed by outdoor field trials planned for next year. Key findings and achievements will be shared with research institutes and at international conferences to contribute to 5G standardization, which is expected to start from 2016.