Verizon announced completion of its 5G radio specification - the first U.S. carrier to do so. The specification is the product of collaboration within Verizon's 5G Technology Forum, a group that is working to define parameters for 5G specifications in advance of future standards. 

Meanwhile, north of the border, Bell and Nokia announced completion of the first trial of 5G mobile technology clocking speeds six times faster than top 4G mobile speeds in Canada. Conducted at Bell's Wireless Innovation Centre in Mississauga, the trial leveraged spectrum in the 73 GHz range to achieve sustained data speeds more than 6 times faster than top 4G mobile speeds now available in Canada.

To help make room for 5G, the FCC adopted new rules for wireless broadband operations in frequencies above 24 GHz, making the United States the first country in the world to make this spectrum available for next generation wireless services. Building on the successful, flexible approach to spectrum policy that enabled the explosion of 4G (LTE), these rules set a strong foundation for the rapid advancement to next-generation 5G networks and technologies in the United States. 

To keep track of increasing 5G deployments, Mobile Experts LLC announced it is releasing a new report that provides a specific forecast for pre-standard 5G deployment by frequency band. According to the company, American operators already have spectrum and are pushing to move quickly to use 5G for fixed broadband services.  Mobile Experts added that the size of these early deployments is predicted to be much larger than typical trials, expecting numbers that are more consistent with a wide commercial deployment.

The continued growth of IoT

Technavio released a new report in July that indicates the global M2M market as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) will experience robust growth over the next five years with the Americas remaining the largest market through 2020. The global cellular M2M connections market is expected to grow at a CAGR of close to 30%, whereas the global cellular M2M services market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 33% during the forecast period, according to the report. 

To help handle the growing demand for IoT connectivity, AT&T announced it will be testing CAT-M1 technologies in November that will help companies cut IoT deployment costs and boost performance. The company also released its software-defined network (SDN) development platform into open source to help service providers and cloud developers better meet exploding network data demands as data-hungry technologies like autonomous cars, augmented and virtual reality, 4K video and IoT take off.

In a related development, AT&T and IBM have announced they are combining cognitive computing and global connectivity expertise to create open standards-based tools enabling developers to more easily create a wide variety of IoT solutions. 

SIGFOX continues to grow its global IoT network, starting this month with Mexico. The company announced that it has partnered with Mexican national operator IoTNet Mexico and SIGFOX Latin American partner WND to launch the IoT network's deployment in Mexico City and soon the rest of the country. This was followed by the announcement that SIGFOX has joined forces with ENGIE and UnaBiz to connect Singpore to the global IoT network. The partners expect SIGFOX’s cost-effective, energy-efficient connectivity to find receptive markets as Singapore implements its Smart Nation Initiative. This “whole-of-nation” program will include infrastructure, policies, ecosystem and capabilities to bring Smart Nation benefits to all citizens across many sectors.