The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has officially ratified the first release of the 5G New Radio (NR) standard, which is being led by Chinese telecom giants.

It is a milestone that will usher in the next generation of wireless technology. According to Professor Zeng Jianqiu at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, this means 5G NR is now mature enough to enter the commercial market.

According to Yang Chaobin, president of Huawei’s 5G product line, phase one of the 3GPP 5G NR standardization was completed “with great progress” thanks to collaboration between regulatory agencies, governments, research organizations, academia, and industry.

The first implementable 5G NR specification was set six months earlier than anticipated. Telecom industry around the globe can now start preparing for the rollout of a standardized technology.

3GPP unites global telecommunications associations, including China Communications Standards Association (CCSA); three major Chinese carriers: China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom; and two of China’s mobile giants: Huawei and ZTE. China Mobile collaborated with Qualcomm and ZTE in conducting the end-to-end 5G NR system trial designed to achieve multi-gigabit per second peak (>1 Gbps) data rates at significantly lower air interface latency than current 4G networks.

China embarked on the initial 5G research in 2015 and encouraged communication experts to be devoted to the field for years. The academic research into 5G NR has been making progress in China for 26 months.

Wang Zhiqin, vice chancellor of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, confirmed China’s first division position in the global telecommunication industry and as one of the chief designers in 5G standardization.