5G network reaches 3.6Gbps data transfer speed during field testing

Huawei has partnered with Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo to field test 5G connectivity and give us an idea about the kind of data speeds we’ll be accessing a few years from now.

The latest trials in Japan hit a whopping peak data transfer speed of 3.6Gbps, significantly higher than 4G’s maximum speed of around 20Mbps.

“As the first in the world to succeed with such a large multi-user environment test, this is an important milestone,” said NTT DoCoMo’s Takehiro Nakamura.

“This is very encouraging as the industry works to commercialise 5G by 2020… I look forward to even more impressive results when we move to the next phase of [the] field trial in Japan.”

The Japanese tests were the first to mimic real-world conditions, simulating what it will be like when a large number of users connect to a 5G network at once.

Further trials will take place at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and 5G is expected to be ready for public consumption within five years.