mmWave Bands: Global Licensing and Usage for 5G
Introduction
This report provides a snapshot of the global usage of spectrum above 24 GHz for 5G services . It is part of a series of reports which separately also cover spectrum bands below 1 GHz and between 1 GHz and 6 GHz.
This report reflects a market that is in constant flux and feedback is greatly appreciated to keep it current. Please send comments and information to research@gsacom.com.
Key statistics:
One hundred and six operators in 20 countries/territories hold public licences (many of them regional) enabling operation of 5G networks using mmWave spectrum.
Twenty-four operators in 15 countries/territories are known to be already deploying 5G networks using mmWave spectrum.
Nineteen countries/territories have announced formal (date-specified) plans for assigning frequencies above 24 GHz between now and end-2022.
Ninety-five announced 5G devices explicitly support one or more of the 5G spectrum bands above 24 GHz (though note that details of spectrum support are patchy for pre-commercial devices), up from 59 at the end of November 2019. Forty-six of those devices are understood to be commercially available.
(Note: all references to countries/territories in this document can be read as also including territories, special administrative regions, disputed territories and dependencies.)
Frequency range designations and bands
In this report, we consider spectrum in specific mmWave bands for which auctions or long-term designations are being considered. These include new 5G/NR bands defined by 3GPP in Release 15, which are being defined in the frequency ranges (FR).
Figure 1: Use of 5G spectrum between 24.25 GHz and 29.5 GHz, countries/territories plotted by status of most advanced operator activities
At WRC-2019 in November, several new frequency ranges were identified for IMT, to be used by IMT-2020 (5G). These encompassed many of the existing 3GPP-bands plus some new spectrum ranges:
• 24.25–27.5 GHz
• 37–43.5 GHz
• 45.5–47 GHz
• 47.2–48.2 GHz
• 66–71 GHz.
These additional ranges are also covered by this report.
mmWave Bands: Global Licensing and Usage for 5G
©GSA 2020
