Samsung Researchers Test First 5G mmWave Mobile Network, Break 1Gbps

The race towards gigabit Internet continues as Google Fiber slowly proliferates and other ISPs work to catch up, but Samsung announced that it’s actually looking at gigabit speeds--for mobile devices. Indeed, Samsung says it has been testing a 5G mobile communications system, the eventual successor to 4G LTE that is capable of up to 1Gbps.

The 5G technology, dubbed mmWave, runs in millimeter Ka bands and requires a “broad range” of frequencies but operates at 28GHz, delivering up to 1.056Gbps for up to 2 kilometers. It uses adaptive array transceiver technology with 64 antenna elements.

5G
(Image credit: variety.thaiza.com)

Of course, this is all in the testing phase, so don’t expect to see anything commercial for another 7 years or so.

Samsung isn’t alone in the 5G hunt; it says that China has had a 5G working group since February of last year, and the European Commission is also working to develop a 5G service by the year 2020.

Samsung 5G

The prospect of mobile 5G service is mind-boggling; we’re still trying to wrap our heads around the concept of gigabit Internet speeds being piped to our front doors, and already companies are looking at that kind of performance in our pockets.