Some will characterize networks called “pre-5G” as “4G” platforms that eventually can be upgraded to support 5G standards, when they are available. As with much marketing hype, there is some truth to such claims.
ZTE Corp. says its Indonesian customer Telkomsel has commercially launched a pre-5G network in Makassar, the capital of Sulawesi, and Manado.
Using 20 Mhz of commercial spectrum, the network achieved a single-user peak downlink rate of 398 Mbps, about 2.6 times higher than the current network rate. Key caveat: that is a “single user” on the whole network. Others might say that is a pretty good example of LTE-Advanced.
You can call that “pre-5G,” or not.
