The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ratified three new 5G radio interfaces, explaining the approval follows several years of work to establish the validity of the technologies as a means of delivering globally-interoperable services and equipment.
In a statement, the ITU said the technologies are 3GPP 5G-SRIT and 3GPP 5G-RIT submitted by 3GPP, and 5Gi submitted by Telecommunications Standards Development Society India (TSDSI).
The technologies are deemed to be “sufficiently detailed to enable worldwide compatibility of operation and equipment, including roaming” and have been incorporated into a global standard in ITU Radiocommunication Sector’s (ITU-R) International Mobile Telecommunications 2020 (IMT-2020) recommendation.
ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao stated the specifications will be “the backbone of tomorrow’s digital economy”, transforming lives and ushering industry and society “into the automated and intelligent world”.
Mario Maniewicz, director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, noted the release of the global standards was “a significant milestone” for the industry and users: “5G technologies will further enrich the worldwide communications ecosystem, expand the range of innovative applications and support the burgeoning IoT, including machine-to-machine communication”.
The ITU-R completed the standardisation by coordinating and bringing input from member states, equipment manufacturers and network operators: the process involved other organisations and academia.