Samsung said today that it has made a breakthrough in the development of "5G" technology, which will ultimately be several hundred times faster than current 4G networks.
But don't expect to see a "5G" icon atop your mobile gadget in the near future. This is just the beginning, and Samsung said it does not expect the commercialization of the technology until at least 2020.
To make the faster, more bandwidth-intense 5G a reality, networks will need a variety of frequencies, "much like an increased water flow requires a wider pipe," Samsung said. One solution is something known as millimeter-wave bands, but at this point, it is limited to short-distance transmissions.
Enter Samsung, which said it has "successfully developed the world's first adaptive array transceiver technology operating in the millimeter-wave Ka bands for cellular communications." What that means is that Samsung has developed technology that transmits data in the millimeter-wave band at a frequency of 28 GHz at a speed of up to 1.056 Gbps to a distance of up to 2 kilometers.
"The millimeter-wave band is the most effective solution to recent surges in wireless Internet usage," Chang Yeong Kim, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics, said in a statement. "Samsung's recent success in developing the adaptive array transceiver technology has brought us one step closer to the commercialization of 5G mobile communications in the millimeter-wave bands."
Samsung expects its efforts "to invigorate research into 5G cellular communications across the world, [and] trigger the creation of international alliances and the timely commercialization of related mobile broadband services."
The Korean firm is not the only company or group pursuing 5G technology, however. As it pointed out, China established a 5G research group in Feb. 2012, and the EU is investing 50 million Euros to bring 5G to market by 2020.
For now, U.S. wireless carriers are still rolling out their 4G LTE networks. Verizon expects to wrap that up in mid-2013, AT&T has rolled out its network to 209 markets, Sprint has done the same in dozens of markets, while T-Mobile recently kicked off its 4G LTE rollout in seven markets.
Bumping up to 5G, Samsung said, will allow for the transfer of massive files - including HD movies - "practically without limitation," paving the way for services such as streaming 3D movies and games, ultra high-definition (UHD) content, and remote medical services.
PCMag is currently in the midst of testing for our annual Fastest Mobile Networks project. We have drivers on the road all around the country testing mobile networks from coast to coast. For more, check out our results from week one, and follow along with our drivers via @PCMPhones on Twitter.