Interview: GSMA expert says harmonization, spectrum main challenges for 5G era

Harmonization and spectrum would be the main challenges for the upcoming 5G era, said Henry Calvert, head of Network 2020 of the GSMA, a trade body which represents the interests of more than 800 mobile operators.

"They talk about low band spectrum, high band spectrum and millimeter wave spectrum. There is a cost difference as you get higher because you need more cells, or you need more technology," Calvert told Xinhua on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress held this week in Barcelona.

Harmonization is another challenge as a result of the fragmentation of the industry, said Calvert. He called on vendors, operators, ecosystem players to work together on standardization and interoperability in order to bring costs down.

"We have to do this cost-effectively," he said, adding there still are four or five years until the beginning of the 5G era.

"If your capital cost is still rising like they are, then the equation is not going to work, so we have to reduce the cost of what we are doing, and standardization and interoperability brings that," he said.

Calvert also highlighted the role China would can play in the 5G era, saying the Asian country has knowledge and experience that are valuable for the rest of the world.

He said he hoped to see more Chinese companies' innovation getting out of China and spread around the world.

The four-day congress gathers leading companies of the mobile phone industry to showcase their cutting-edge devices and technologies.

The event was attended by some 2,200 exhibitors, attracting 101,000 industry professionals, over 160 government delegations and nearly 4,000 representatives. Endi