One of the common questions that we encounter is why are 5G speeds so low as we were promised 5G downlink speeds of 20 Gbps. Most people do not understand how the 5G speeds are calculated and what do they depend on. In many cases, the network won’t be capable of delivering higher speeds due to some or the other limitation. In this presentation and video we will look at the real world 5G speeds and try to map it to why these speeds are what they are. All our #3G4G5G slides, videos, blogs and tutorials are available at: Videos: https://www.youtube.com/3G4G5G Slides: https://www.slideshare.net/3G4GLtd 6G and Beyond-5G Page: https://www.3g4g.co.uk/6G/ Free Training Videos: https://www.3g4g.co.uk/Training/ 3G4G Website – https://www.3g4g.co.uk/ 3G4G Blog – https://blog.3g4g.co.uk/ Telecoms Infrastructure Blog – https://www.telecomsinfrastructure.com/ Operator Watch Blog – https://www.operatorwatch.com/ Connectivity Technology Blog – https://www.connectivity.technology/ Free 5G Training – https://www.free5gtraining.com/ Free 6G Training – https://www.free6gtraining.com/

1. Opinion:
5G Reality Check: Speeds
Zahid Ghadialy,
Principal Analyst and Consultant
@3g4gUK
Dude, where’s
my 20 Gbps?

2. ©3G4G

3. ©3G4G

4. 5G and IMT-2020
©3G4G
Submission 1: SRIT
Component RIT: NR
Component RIT: E-UTRA/LTE
Submission 2: NR RIT
RIT = Radio Interface Technology
SRIT = Set of Radio Interface Technologies
Standalone (SA)
Non-Standalone (NSA)

5. ©3G4G

6. ©3G4G

7. Theoretical Peak Data Rates from Recommendation ITU-R M.2150-1
©3G4G
• Annex 1: Specification of the 3GPP 5G − SRIT radio interface technology
• 1.1.1 Overview of the component RIT: E-UTRA/LTE
• Peak data rates up to roughly 32 Gbit/s in the downlink (DL) and
13.6 Gbit/s in the uplink (UL).
• 1.1.2 Overview of the Component RIT: NR
• Peak data rates up to roughly 140 Gbit/s in the downlink and 65
Gbit/s in the uplink.
Theoretical Peak Data Rates for 5G – SRIT (NSA) is:
• Downlink: 140 Gbit/s + 32 Gbit/s = 172 Gbit/s
• Uplink: 65 Gbit/s + 13.6 Gbit/s = 78.6 Gbit/s

8. 4G / 5G Spectrum Summary
©3G4G
f1 f2 f3 f4
LTE Carrier Aggregation
4G / LTE
f1 f2 f3 f4
Dual Connectivity (DC)
5G NSA
f5 f6
LTE Carrier Aggregation 5G NR Carrier Aggregation
While LTE-A supported up to 5 Component
Carriers (CC), each with a max of 20 MHz for
Carrier Aggregation, LTE-A Pro supports 32 CCs
5G NR supports up to 16 CCs of max 400 MHz

9. Theoretical Peak Data Rates from Recommendation ITU-R M.2150-1
©3G4G
• Annex 1: Specification of the 3GPP 5G − SRIT radio interface technology
• 1.1.1 Overview of the component RIT: E-UTRA/LTE
• Peak data rates up to roughly 32 Gbit/s in the downlink (DL) and
13.6 Gbit/s in the uplink (UL).
• 1.1.2 Overview of the Component RIT: NR
• Peak data rates up to roughly 140 Gbit/s in the downlink and 65
Gbit/s in the uplink.
• Annex 2: Specification of the 3GPP 5G – RIT radio interface technology
• 2.1.1 Overview of the system aspects of the NR RIT
• Peak data rates up to roughly 140 Gbit/s in the downlink and 65
Gbit/s in the uplink.

10. ©3G4G

11. ©3G4G

12. ©3G4G
T-Mobile, USA
NTT Docomo, Japan
Verizon Wireless FWA, USA
Telstra, Australia
China Unicom and China Telecom

13. ©3G4G

14. Most Popular 5G Frequency Bands
©3G4G
700 MHz – most
popular band
3.5 GHz – most
popular band
26/28 GHz – most
popular band

15. Refarming the Spectrum
©3G4G
4G 5G
4G
Static Allocation Scheme
4G
4G / 5G
Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS)

16. ©3G4G
The new 5G Observatory report says
two thirds of European mobile
operators are including non-pioneer
bands in their 5G rollout – May 2022

17. ©3G4G

18. EE & Qualcomm Deliver 5G Over 7 Combined Spectrum Carriers
©3G4G
1.8GHz
(20 MHz)
2.6 GHz
(20 MHz)
2.1 GHz
(15 MHz)
Dual Connectivity (DC)
5G NSA
3.4 GHz
(40 MHz)
LTE Carrier Aggregation 5G NR Carrier Aggregation
1.8GHz
(20 MHz)
2.6 GHz
(15 MHz)
3.6 GHz
(40 MHz)
• 5G Data Speeds:
• 2.2 Gbps in Lab Testing
• 1.7 Gbps Real World Speeds

19. References
©3G4G
• 5G Observatory Report: greater use of non-pioneer bands linked to lower download speeds, May
2022 (link)
• Opensignal: Quantifying the impact of C-band on 5G mobile experience in the US, March 2022 (link)
• Ookla - 5G in Europe: Reflecting on the Progress So Far and Mapping the Future, Feb 2022 (link)
• GSMA - 5G in The United Kingdom: Calls for Consolidation Grow, Mar 2022 (link)
• ITU completes evaluation for global affirmation of IMT-2020 technologies, Nov 2020 (link)
• 3GPP meets IMT-2020, Nov. 2020 (link)
• The 3G4G Blog: When does your 5G NSA Device Show 5G Icon? (link)
• Operator Watch Blog: EE Combines More 4G and 5G Spectrum for Even Higher Data Rates (link)
• Operator Watch Blog: UK 5G Spectrum Results Summary, June 2021 (link)
• IMT Vision – Framework and overall objectives of the future development of IMT for 2020 and
beyond (link)
• TMForum: 5G: 20 Gbps? 10 Gbps? Who cares?, June 2015 (link)
• ITU towards “IMT for 2020 and beyond” (link)
• Training: 5G for Absolute Beginners (link)

20. Thank You
To learn more, visit:
3G4G Website – https://www.3g4g.co.uk/
3G4G Blog – https://blog.3g4g.co.uk/
Telecoms Infrastructure Blog – https://www.telecomsinfrastructure.com/
Operator Watch Blog – https://www.operatorwatch.com/
Connectivity Technology Blog – https://www.connectivity.technology/
Free 5G Training – https://www.free5gtraining.com/
Free 6G Training – https://www.free6gtraining.com/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/3g4gUK
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3g4gUK/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/3g4g
Follow us on SlideShare: https://www.slideshare.net/3G4GLtd
Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/3G4G5G
©3G4G