The new 5.5G standard will be released for commercial use in early 2024. The update called 5.5G or 5G Advanced is the next stage of 5G technology on the way to the 6G era. It takes mobile network technology one step further in a more capable direction, offering several new features beneficial to consumer and business users. Using the technology, DNA has already tested speeds of over 10 gigabytes in its commercial mobile network. 5.5G network

5.5G is the next major milestone in the 5G era. 5.5G or 5G Advanced, as the standardization phase is also known, is the next step on the way to the 6G era. It covers the next three standard versions of 3GPP, known as releases 18, 19 and 20. Release 18 will be completed in early 2024, and commercial network and terminal solutions based on it are expected to hit the market later that year. 3GPP, i.e. 3rd Generation Partnership Project , is a collaborative project of several standardization organizations that develops global standards for the use of mobile communication. It was founded already in 1998.

“Whatever name you want to use for the standard, it is an important bridge on the way from 5G to 6G. Finland has always been one of the world’s pioneers in mobile technology. Even now, even though 5G networks are still being built rapidly around the country, at the same time we also take care of the future prospects together with our partners. The first phase of the 5.5G standard, i.e. release 18, will be completed in early 2024, and solutions based on it are expected to hit the market later next year,” says DNA’s radio network director Jarkko Laari.

5.5G is expected to bring significant benefits to both service providers and users. It enables up to ten times the data speed and the number of devices connected to the network compared to the original 5G standard. In the future, the role of artificial intelligence in the network will increase when, through standardization, it becomes an integral part of the network solution. This, in turn, enables even better optimization of various functions, such as energy consumption and performance. In addition to a download speed of over 10 gigabytes, the standard will also enable transmission speeds of the giga range in the mobile network in the future. At the same time, the predictability of the network delay also improves even more.

“Giga-class transmission speeds are certainly of interest to our business customers in particular. 5.5G technology will offer the possibility of using AR and VR applications in wider environments than at present, such as in various industrial production facilities. Our goal is that in the near future, we will be able to pilot the possibilities of new technology with our customers in real usage situations, such as in fixed broadband connections of companies and homes,” says Laari.

DNA also presented Passive IoT technology at its headquarters 5.5G network

On Wednesday, December 13, DNA organized an event open to the media at its head office in Helsinki’s Käpylä, where 5.5G’s new technical capabilities and opportunities for consumer and business customers were presented. At the same time, two separate demo events were organized, one of which presented the data speed of 5.5G technology in DNA’s commercial network, and the other the so-called passive IoT technology, which is believed to have a significant impact on the spread of the Internet of Things in various logistics processes. However, Passive IoT technology is not part of the standard version to be published in early 2024 but only belongs to the functionality candidates of the next version.

In the speed demo, a speed of over 9.5 gigabytes in the mobile network was achieved in the immediate vicinity of DNA’s headquarters. The measurement was made in the morning hours when there is also other traffic on the network. In the quiet hours of the morning, speeds of over 10 gigabytes have been achieved for one user. In the speed measurements, two receiving 5G terminals have been used in the test phase, as commercial terminals supporting the 5.5G technology in question will not be available until later in 2024. Both 26 GHz and 3.5 GHz time-division bands and 2600 MHz, 2100 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands were used in the speed measurement.

The subject of the second demo was Passive IoT technology, which in the future will enable, for example, tracking the number and temperature of products equipped with rf-tags in the desired area over the mobile network. Tracking can be done from a distance of up to 200 meters, which is believed to offer significant application opportunities in, for example, the logistics sector. The tags are only the size of a thumb and are very inexpensive, so it is easy to use them widely, for example to track stock balances. They get their energy directly from their environment, for example, from the radio network. DNA demoed Passive IoT technology in a separate test environment built for its headquarters.