Next wireless standard officially named 5G, new logo adopted

The next standard for wireless connectivity, which had been under development by the 3GPP cellular standards group for a while now, is likely to be available in 2018.

However, the group has officially adopted "5G" as the name, and created a logo for it.

According to commentators, the new logo was important as it was called 5G and was not another iteration of the existing 4G LTE branding.

The roll out of the technology itself is years away, with the 5G Phase 1 specifications due sometime in late 2018. While the exact definition has not been finalised, 5G is expected to focus more on higher capacity than the faster speeds 4G introduced.

According to commentators, the development would help a lot, especially with smartphones becoming more accessible and the Internet of Things trend taking off.

Next generation ultra-high speed internet technology had been referred to as 5G until now, and now 3GPP, which is the Cellular Standards group, has officially confirmed the technology will indeed be called 5G.

The logo had familiar LTE waves woven into a new wave pattern in green colour to represent LTE-Advanced Pro version.

''The idea is to keep a familiar design aspect with the use of plain black text and textured waves, but to make the logo stronger and sharper – ready for use on the new radio and next generation core specifications for 5G,'' 3GPP said in a press statement.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, at Mobile World Congress last year, called 5G as "faster connections for rich people". The Internet technology could impact several industries including automotive, utilities, public safety, high-tech manufacturing, healthcare, financial services and gaming.

Unlike 4G, which was driven by video, 5G would be driven by the Internet of Things.