Telcom operators are reportedly gearing up for the development of a next-generation 5G connection called 5.5G or the 5G Advanced.

The upcoming wireless mobile network was the center of the topic during the recently concluded Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.

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MWC Unites Leading Telecom Companies

Last month, leading telecom companies like Vodafone, Orange, BT, and more discussed the future of more advanced mobile connections. In 2019, 5G was launched in South Korea, the U.S., China, and Europe.

Despite the event being five years ago, 4G remains more known and used up to this day. Hence, the 5G penetration continues to be lower than expected and is still below "mainstream" levels.

5G has been promoted by telecoms citing that it is capable of faster download speeds and a network responsible for driverless cars.

Regardless, 5G is considered the fastest mobile generation rollout. In 2023, around 1.6 billion connections were reported, and is expected to increase until 2030.

Does 5.5G Matters Now?

In an interview, CTO of BT, Howard Watson explained that 5.5G will open the door for faster uplink speeds. This means that users will be able to multitask like video streaming, posting, and playing multiplayer games in a faster manner.

"My children's generation, or even dare I say it, my grandchild's generation ... that generation, they share a lot. And clearly, sharing requires quite a lot of upstream," Watson added.

In addition,5G Advanced could be more compatible with the fast evolution of AI and machine learning.

However, some experts believe that telcos should focus on the 5G environment in the meantime as there is still plenty of room to improve.

"In 5G, 5G is a technology standard that is predominantly towards business to business. And it takes a longer time for businesses to convert and use new technology," Mats Granryd, director of GSMA stated.

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