Standards group 3GPP recently shared that the final version of its 5G specification is likely to be completed 3 months later than originally scheduled, with a new stipulated release date of March 2019.
Significant parts of the Release 15 standard, including those associated with standalone and non-standalone operations, have already been finalized.
However, an alleged late drop version of the standard specification to fix any outstanding issues was scheduled to be closed this month.
3GPP RAN group chairperson Balazs Bertenyi explained in his official blog post that the deadline was revised to facilitate work on “additional architecture options to aid migration from LTE to 5G” in the specification to be completed.
However, he made it clear that the revision in release date will not impact the initial deployments of 5G. He said neither the compatibility of devices nor the networks used for the initial deployments have been impacted.
The delay in finalizing Release 15 will lead to a corresponding three-month postponement to Release 16; however, Bertenyi stated that this will facilitate improved completion stability.
Founder of Quixoticity, a critical communications consulting firm, Peter Clemons forecasted a functional freeze on Release 16 specifications development to now happen in March 2020. Clemons was present at the plenary meeting of 3GPP in Italy last week.
However, in a post on LinkedIn, he said that the delay in Release 15 was a “mini-bombshell”.
The news comes in line with a November 2018 report from Light Reading which discussed the discovery of backward compatibility glitches between the September update of the standard and its previous versions.
This piles up concerns regarding a potential impact on initial 5G deployments, given network operators, had already started installing network equipment on the basis of the standard. However, both Samsung and AT&T have already revealed that such issues can be resolved through software updates.
Work overload
Clemons stated the delay announcement received “a lot of sympathy in the room for all parties due to the massive work overload” 3GPP members ran across while trying to complete the Release 15.
He further said that there is a steady increase in the number of requests for modifications to the standard at each 3GPP plenary meeting, increasing from 1,500 early on to over 3,500 at the event this week.
“It’s inevitable with so many new items and so many companies and organizations involved now within 3GPP and so much at stake that minor delays have crept into the 3GPP work plan”, Clemons concluded.