I first wrote: 4G 1.2 gigabits. 5G 1.5 gigabits. This is one of the first apples to apples comparison, both running on the same Samsung Galaxy phone. These are plausible figures for sub-6 GHz LTE and NR. The best available projections are that 5G in theory would be 19-51% more capable, so this was plausible.

The question mark is there because it's possible the 4G might actually be a third more efficient than the 5G. Cho Mu-Hyun at ZDNet discovered the LTE was three bands, presumably 60 MHz, with 4x4 MIMO antennas. The most common 5G testing uses 100 MHz. Adjusting for the spectrum difference would result in the 4G being a third more efficient than the 5G.

SK combined the 4G and 5G signals for a total of 2.7 gigabits in their test.  That would be a remarkable advance if ready for market. I don't know anyone else doing similar. Samsung and SK haven't yet answered my questions about how much spectrum and product availability date. 

Far too many companies, from Swisscom to Qualcomm to Verizon, refuse to provide basic information with their releases. Verizon won't give a meaningful answer about actual speed or about how many cells are deployed or the percent of the population covered.

Swisscom told me tests in November with the Qualcomm demo 5G phones received a gigabit. None of the 4 more recent tests have reached more than 800 meg and most were much less. 

Here's the pr 

SKT, Samsung Electronics and Galaxy S10 5G to achieve the fastest domestic 2.7Gbps

3/13/2019

  • SKT to prepare for the launch of the world's first 5G smartphone

  • Developed '5G-LTE combining technology' to realize 2.7Gbps speed ... 1 movie transmission '6 seconds' · The world's No. 1 5G smartphone "Galaxy S10 5G"

  • 5G smartphone connected to 5G commercial network on the first floor of SKT headquarters on 14th. - General customers can experience various 5G services by touching Samsung / LG 5G smartphone

▲ SK Telecom will exhibit the Galaxy S10 5G and V50 Thinking 5G from T.um, the ICT experience center on the first floor of Euljiro, Seoul.

Visitors to the site will be able to experience 5G smartphones and services that are linked to the actual 5G commercial network.

SK Telecom (President and CEO: Park Jeong-ho, www.sktelecom.com ) is putting 5G technology into Galaxy S10 and 5GX experience zone in preparation for launching the world's first 5G smartphone .

SK Telecom announced that it will be equipped with Galaxy S10 5G, the world's No. 1 5G smartphone to launch in Korea soon after finishing development and verification of '5G-LTE combination technology' with Samsung Electronics.

'5G-LTE aggregation technology' is a technology that dramatically increases transmission speed by using 5G and LTE networks for data transmission and reception together.

SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics succeeded in transmitting data at up to 2.65Gbps by combining 1.5Gbps of 5G and 1.15Gbps of LTE through Galaxy S10 5G equipped with this technology.

The 5G smartphone with this technology is 80% faster than 5G alone. You can download one HD movie (2GB standard) in about 6 seconds, and you can download VR content (10GB standard), which is 5 times larger than general image, in about 30 seconds.

As a result, even if the same 5G smartphone is used, SK Telecom subscribers can experience the fastest speed in Korea. The SKT release model supports 2.6Gbps data transmission from the beginning and upgrades to 2.7Gbps in the first half. The technology will be applied to 5G phones to be launched in the future.

SK Telecom plans to upgrade its speed limit by step by step with '5G-LTE combining technology' and 28GHz 5G commercialization and plan to provide the 'fastest 5G in Korea'.

SK Telecom succeeded in applying core technology and field test, and will exhibit "Galaxy S10 5G" and "LG V50 Sink 5G" from 14th on TIUM, ICT experience center on the first floor of Euljiro headquarters.

Visitors to the site will be able to experience 5G smart phones connected to the 5G commercial network and experience various services.

Of the services displayed, 'oxusu' ultra high-definition (4K UHD) streaming and VR content using 5G super high speed characteristics will attract the attention of visitors.

SK Telecom plans to expand the '5GX Experience Zone' to more than 30 locations nationwide in April. Customers can experience a variety of 5G services such as AR, VR, and media in the experience zone before launching the 5G smartphone.

"Even if we use the same 5G phone, SK Telecom can provide the best quality through application of next generation technology, frequency and network optimization," said Park Jin-hyo, head of ICT Technology Center at SK Telecom. I will go. "

dave ask

Newsfeed

CFO John Stephens says AT&T is going to cut capex soon.

Bharti in India has lost 45M customers who did not want to pay the minimum US#2/month. It's shutting down 3G to free some spectrum for 4G. It is cutting capex, dangerous when the 12 gigabytes/month of use continues to rise.

Huawei in 6 days sold 300,000 5G Mate 20s. Delivery begins on 8/16. 

China has over 50,000 upgraded base stations and may have more than 200,000 by yearend 2019. The growth is astonishing and about to accelerate. China will have more 5G than North America and Europe combined for several years.

5G phone prices are down to $580 in China from Oppo. Headed under $300 in 2020 and driving demand.

No one believed me when I wrote in May, 90% of Huawei U.S. purchases can be rapidly replaced and that Huawei would survive and thrive. Financial results are in, with 23% growth and increased phone sales. It is spending $17B on research in 2019, up > 10%. 

5G phones spotted from Sharp and Sony

NTT DOCOMO will begin "pre-commercial service Sept 20 with over 100 live bases. Officially, the commercial start is 2020.

 More newsfeed

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Welcome  1,800,000 Koreans bought 5G in the first four months. The demand is there, and most of the technology works. Meanwhile, the hype is unreal. Time for reporting closer to the truth.

The estimates you hear about 5G costs are wildly exaggerated. Verizon is building the most advanced wireless network while reducing capex. Deutsche Telekom and Orange/France Telecom also confirm they won't raise capex.

Massive MIMO in either 4G or "5G" can increase capacity 3X to 7X, including putting 2.3 GHz to 4.2 GHz to use. Carrier Aggregation, 256 QAM, and other tools double and triple that. Verizon sees cost/bit dropping 40% per year.

Cisco & others see traffic growth slowing to 30%/year or less.  I infer overcapacity almost everywhere.  

Believe it or not, 80+% of 5G (mid-band) for several years will be slower than good 4G, which is more developed.