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Europe and South Korea Want to Bring Super-Fast Mobile Internet to the World

Of course, at the moment "5G" doesn't actually mean anything.
Image: Marcelo Druck/Flickr

We're one step closer to having super-fast internet wherever we go. Yesterday, an agreement was reached between the European Commission and South Korea on making 5G technology a reality.

The agreement, signed by Neelie Kroes, vice president of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda, and Mun-Kee Choi, South Korea's Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), covers a lot of ground, so it's a good idea to look at it in different chunks.

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First, the two sides will now work towards a global definition of what 5G actually is. If we're going to work on the next development in wireless connectivity, a global standard of what technology is involved needs to be agreed upon.

At the moment, "5G" doesn't actually mean anything. Although multiple technologies that are more powerful than 3G and 4G are being developed, none of them are formally the successor to the aging tech. (The same thing happened during the rise of 4G.)

AT&T have suggested that it will simply build upon our current set up but with low latency, but no one yet knows what the next step will actually consist of. This agreement attempts to remedy that, by aiming to get everyone to recognise the same bit of technology as "5G."

Next up, the EC and South Korea will work on research projects together, to be launched in 2016, to make the best use of the tech. Finally, the two parties will work on harmonising the radio frequency band required to meet the beefier requirements for 5G; essentially, they still need to sort out the most basic infrastructure necessary for it all.

The two sides are aiming to lay the groundwork—agreeing of 5G's technology constituents, its scope, and the timetable for setting it all up—“by the end of 2015”, according to Kroes in a February speech. So we're a little way off yet, and this dialogue is more about concepts rather than rolling out a network. But considering that 4G has yet to proliferate over the planet, it's good to see agreements like these already looking at the next step.

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“5G won't just be faster, it will bring new functionalities and applications with high social and economic value,” according to a press release from the European Commission.

Image: European Commission

Indeed, 5G will be beneficial for more reasons than just download speeds. According to this handy infographic, 5G will help power the Internet of Things, as well as data-driven applications like smart cars. It's not clear yet if that could also include splitting off part of the network specifically for internet-connected things, as some UK ISPs are currently experimenting with.

The agreement is also significant on a political level. “This is the first time ever that public authorities have joined together in this way, with the support of private industry, to push forward the process of standardisation,” Kroes said. “Today’s declaration signals our commitment to being global digital leaders.”

As for why the two sides are doing this, the European Commission say there will be mutual benefits in addition to the boost in connectivity: its development will create new jobs, and the intertwined support of both public and private sectors will contribute to economic growth. A lot of money is involved in this project, with the EU committing 700 million euros over the next seven years.

Included in the list of firms involved from the private sector are, unsurprisingly, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Nokia, and Orange. Another company mentioned is Alcatel-Lucent, who provide products to service providers, rather than directly to consumers. Their interest in 5G is likely pushed by the possibilities that it opens up with cloud-computing, and would greatly enhance their previous work in high-speed data sharing for law enforcement.

Absent are American telecoms, such as Verizon and AT&T. There's no surprise there, because they aren't part of the EU's 5G Infrastructure Association, but it does raise an important question. If the EU and South Korea win “the global race”—their words, not mine—to develop 5G technology, will other countries have to grudgingly sign up?

As we've saw with 4G, competing standards could crop up and differ regionally for 5G, unless the EU-South Korea initiative produces such an obvious leader that everyone else jumps on board. In any case, although we won't be hooking up to a super-high-speed 5G network within the next year, the leap between 4G and 5G has a chance of being a signficant one.