The World Broadband Association (WBBA) has published ‘Network Evolution for the 5.5G and 6G Era Technical Recommendations’ for networking evolution in the 5.5G era to address the increasing demands for ubiquitous ten gigabits per second access for businesses, campuses and homes.

Network 5.5G (Net5.5G) defines the next-generation data communication network infrastructure for network evolution in the era of 5.5G and artificial intelligence (AI) computing. Building a future-proof digital IP transport foundation to deliver secure operations, reduced construction costs and improved network efficiency, constitutes a Net5.5G framework.

“Developments in AI computing applications and the metaverse have raised expectations of service agility and immersive experience assurance in business and consumer markets, and the networks currently in use are struggling to cope,” WBBA Working Group co-chair, IPv6 Forum vice chair and Technical Recommendations author Tayeb Ben Meriem says.

“IP transport networks must now be upgraded to support the increasing requirements from homes, business enterprises and mobile sites, and these will be driven by emerging applications.”

Net5.5G marks the evolution of existing 5G mobile network technologies, offering downlink speeds of ten gigabytes per second and uplink speeds of one gigabyte per second. End users will be able to use it to set up their own IoT networks within their residential properties with smartphones and other connected devices able to be used as gateways.

For Telcos, Net5.5G holds the key to enhanced monitoring and analytic capabilities, while service providers are empowered to offer managed services for the smart home. Net5.5G also offers benefits to data centre operators as the additional bandwidth can help support larger AI training models for business uses.

Supporting further industry digitalisation and key AI applications, Net5.5G will also provide an excellent customer experience for services requiring high-speed, high-quality communication, underpinning new trends such as Wi-Fi 7 and computing-aware networks.

The Network Evolution for the 5.5G and 6G Era Technical Recommendations can be found on the WBBA’s website.