5G, Internet of Things dominate Mobile World Congress

Next-generation mobile networks dominated the first official day of Mobile World Congress in (MWC) Barcelona on Monday, with the mobile industry outlining how 5G would change the landscape.

The day kicked off with Sony announcing plans for a new line of mobile phones and an in-ear digital assistant, Sony Ear.

But attention soon turned to other matters. After Nokia's announcement on 5G and the internet of things the previous day, Ericsson and Intel revealed their plans for the new mobile technology. Wireless equipment supplier Ericsson said 5G radio test-bed trials would start this year, but pegged the full commercial roll-out of the networks as 2020.

Intel, meanwhile, announced products and partnerships it said would lay the groundwork for faster, more efficient networks, saying it was essential to start laying the groundwork now.

''Billions of increasingly smart and connected devices, data-rich personalised services and cloud applications are driving the need for smarter and more powerful networks,'' said Aicha Evans, corporate vice-president and general manager of the Intel Communication and Devices Group. ''The transition to 5G brings communications and computing together and is a fundamental shift for the industry.''

Ericsson chief executive Hans Vestberg expects 150 million users to be on the networks in five years.

The new mobile technology was also a key feature in Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's keynote, which closed events. He urged the networks not to focus solely on faster connections for those who already had internet access.

''One of the things that I've heard at Mobile World Congress this year so far this year, that I think has personally been a little disappointing, was that 4G is about giving people a good experience and 5G is about connecting things,'' he said, stressing the need to get the internet to those who don't yet have it.

Internet of Things
Intel in particular is using the WMC to communicate their focus on the next-generation 5G wireless connectivity platform - with speeds of up to 450Mbps - for facilitating the connected devices of tomorrow.

With the seemingly unstoppable proliferation of wearables and smart devices, the Internet of Things and connected devices will present new challenges for mobile networks where data transfer speed isn't going to be the only criterion. The ability for the wireless communications infrastructure to support this growing number of connected devices - which the company expects will touch 50 billion by 2020 - is going to be all-important.

With their inherent expertise in computing and chip fabrication, the company is seeking to actively partner with several other technology companies, including the likes of Huawei, Nokia, and Verizon, to help quicken the development of this next-gen technology.

During the event, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich stated that a working 5G network could be available as early as 2018. Other cellular operators actively involved in 5G development include Vodafone, AT&T, Deutsche Telecom, NTT Docomo, and SK Telecom.

"Building on our existing portfolio of wireless products, new modems and SoCs will provide robust connectivity solutions for Internet of Things, mobile devices and PCs toward our path to 5G," said Evans.

Intel has already announced a new line of 5G communication equipment including modems and Systems on a Chip (SoCs) that are aimed at facilitating early prototyping of the new network so equipment manufacturers could get a head start on development. Intel also has a set of 5G solutions being targeted at connected devices such as cars, wearables, mobile devices and computers.