A three-way showdown in 2023: 5G standalone, 5G-

Advanced and 6G

INSIGHT SPOTLIGHT February 2023

6G marketing and promotion efforts were on the It is well understood that running multiple network
rise in 2022, but this comes against a backdrop of generations is a burden on operators. Add to that a
5G scaling past 1 billion connections in the near future focus on diverse technology evolutions and
term and 5G-Advanced’s arrival in the medium the problem could be exponentially worse, even if
term. On its face, this is a straightforward narrative: some are still years away. While this might have
today’s 5G will pave the way for 5G-Advanced in been a theoretical concern in the past, it’s likely to
the coming years, giving way to 6G in 2030 and come to the fore in 2023 as 5G standalone (SA),
beyond. But this means that operators will be 5G-Advanced and 6G all clamour for attention.
managing multiple existing technology generations
while planning for and rolling out future ones.

Analysis
6G hype isn’t likely to die down Does 5G SA lose out?

6G made its way into mainstream technology discussions from That 5G-Advanced is seen as both an evolution of today’s 5G
about two years ago. The timing was logical, as 5G networks capabilities and a distinct technology that will bring major new
and services were gaining traction and there was an features helps to explain operator interest. More than half of
expectation that the next major technology shift was now less operators worldwide expect to launch 5G-Advanced within
than a decade away (circa 2030). At the same time, there was two years following the release of standards. Meanwhile,
a question of whether early 6G ‘hype’ would go quiet as although early sentiments around 5G SA match those of 5G-
operators focused on scaling 5G. Advanced, SA deployments have been relatively limited
(though slowly gaining momentum).
This has been far from the case. Between 2021 and 2022, the
number of operators claiming they had a 6G R&D programme With 5G-Advanced prized for its ability to deliver on many of
nearly doubled. Meanwhile, the number of operators that had the core SA use cases, there is a clear risk that interest in 5G-
been briefed on the 6G visions of their network infrastructure Advanced and 6G will drive attention and resources away from
vendors more than tripled. While it’s possible that 2022 the need to work on 5G SA earlier. Progress with SA
represented a peak for early 6G messaging and operator deployments in 2023 will reveal whether this will be the case.
attention, this is highly unlikely; there have already been
numerous announcements in the beginning of 2023 regarding Source: GSMA Intelligence Operators in Focus: Network Transformation Survey 2022
regional and international 6G consortia and research initiatives,
including the recent partnership between the 6G-IA and ETSI Priority of 5G-Advanced use cases
as well as the European Space Agency’s expansion of its Which 5G-Advanced use cases and applications are most
5G/6G innovation hub. important to your network transformation priorities?
(Percentage of respondents)
5G-Advanced will be additive
Network slicing
Although standards development began long before, 5G- 22% 15%
Advanced started to gain mindshare from the latter half of Network-side power efficiency improvements
2021, in tandem with the 3GPP finalising the RAN feature set 19% 13%
for 5G-Advanced in Release 18. The use case for 5G-Advanced
is straightforward: enabling 5G to support new market Edge computing
demands while waiting for 6G to arrive. Strong interest in 5G- 14% 21%
Advanced in support of multicast services and satellite
Device-side power efficiency improvements
integration highlights a focus on the technology as a break
18% 11%
away from today’s 5G. However, expectations that the
technology will be critical for network slicing and edge Security enhancements
compute success shows that it’s simultaneously seen as an 12% 15%
evolution that will support today’s 5G use cases.
Improved uplink performance
The implication is that 5G-Advanced and today’s 5G are linked 8% 15%
– but still very much distinct. As a result, we expect to see Cell-edge performance improvement
parallel activity on both fronts, alongside future 6G planning. 7% 10%
5G-Advanced technology development will not take the place
of 5G (or 6G) development but rather will be layered on top. Ranked 1st Ranked 2nd

© 2023 GSM Association @GSMAi www.gsmaintelligence.com

 A three-way showdown in 2023: 5G standalone, 5G-Advanced and 6G

Implications
Mobile operators Network and device vendors
• Prioritise SA – 5G SA has been described as ‘real 5G’ by • Temper 5G-Advanced and 6G rhetoric – Every new
operators and vendors that want to underscore its technology generation presents an opportunity for
importance in delivering on 5G’s promise, particularly the suppliers to break into new accounts. This opportunity, in
slicing, low-latency and massive IoT capabilities tied to turn, drives suppliers to position themselves as technical
enterprise service needs. Yet, deployment progress has experts and thought leaders well before the new
been slow and the reasons for this are known: deployment technologies arrive. While the necessity of forward-
costs and patchy ecosystem support (e.g. limited supply looking marketing and messaging is understandable,
of SA-capable devices). While 5G-Advanced will bring suppliers need to set realistic expectations about what’s
great new capabilities, SA can deliver important next and when it may arrive. Otherwise, operators could
improvements today. Targeted deployment can help to put off near-term investments and lose faith in their
contain costs and ecosystem support will more likely vendors.
materialise when suppliers see real SA momentum.
• Improve 5G SA device availability – Device support
• Be realistic on 5G-Advanced – Expectations around 5G- remains a major barrier to the deployment of 5G SA.
Advanced deployment timelines are incredibly optimistic, Device availability (and costs) is always a restricting factor
with nearly all operators claiming that they will have the on the adoption of new technologies and operators have
technology deployed within three years of standards specifically highlighted the limited number of mobile
release. While encouraging, this isn’t realistic if only devices supporting SA as a reason for delaying
because of capex and supply-chain constraints. This is deployment. To drive the market, then, it’s incumbent on
reminiscent of early, overinflated expectations around SA device vendors (and their silicon suppliers) to roll out SA
and a signal that operators must not allow early support more broadly across their portfolios, supporting
technology hype to drive their planning. Instead, they their operator partners’ goals around SA in the process.
should work closely with suppliers and customers to
understand what’s possible – and what’s needed. • Provide guidance on use case monetisation – In the near-
to-medium term, operators have a clear view on the use
• Drive 6G visions – Like with 5G, operators have expressed cases and applications they expect 5G SA and 5G-
an interest in 6G being about new services and new Advanced to support, including improved slicing and IoT
experiences more so than being about faster speeds and capabilities and network innovations around XR, satellite
new air interfaces. More than an aspiration, the link to new integration and multicast services. These are also use
services and experiences is key for driving the revenues cases that mobile network and device vendors have been
that will pay for 6G builds. Engaging directly in standards evangelising. Beyond simply highlighting the use cases
development efforts, therefore, is critical for ensuring this that new 5G technologies can enable, the mobile
service focus is represented in the way 6G is built. ecosystem needs to focus on helping operators monetise
them; without clear guidance (and examples) around
monetisation, the resources to fund deployment will
simply not exist.

Related reading Author

5G and network transformation: five trends to watch in Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence
2023

Network Transformation 2022

© 2023 GSM Association @GSMAi www.gsmaintelligence.com