Three sets of 3GPP Working Group meetings are drawing to a close in Goteborg (CT and SA) and Bengaluru (RAN). During the week-long meetings in Sweden and India progress has been made on the finalization of Release 19 and on the early stages of Release 20.
This is a particularly busy time, as pressure builds to minimise any extensions (known as exceptions) for Rel-19 features that need a bit of extra time and as the groups stand ready - on the starting line - for the new release. Rel-20 looks sure to be a busy one, with its dual focus on 5G-Advanced maturation and the study phase of 6G.
Early Rel-20 studies on 6G of particular interest include:
- Study on 6G Use Cases and Service Requirements (WG SA1, FS_6G_REQ)
- Study on Architecture for 6G System (WG SA2, FS_6G_ARC
- Study on 6G Radio (WG RAN1, FS_6G_Radio)
While 6G is in everyone’s mind, the freeze of Rel-19 is top priority now - with all groups working towards the finishline, to be crossed during the plenaries next month.
Elections this week - across the groups
A large number of elections for Chair positions and Vice-Chairs were held in the Working Groups this week. Details of these appointments, for the next two years, are listed below.
| August WG election | Chair | Vice-Chair | |
| CT3#142 Chair and Vice Chair Elections | Susana Fernandez (Ericsson) | Yue Sun (China Telecom), Apostolos Papageorgiou (Nokia) | |
| SA5#162 Chair and Vice Chair Elections | Zou Lan (Huawei) | Zhulia Ayani (Ericsson), Zhaoning Wang (China Unicom) | |
| RAN2#131 Chair and Vice Chair Elections | Diana Pani (InterDigital) | Jeong, Kyeongin (Samsung), Erlin Zeng (CATT) | |
| RAN3#129 Vice Chair Election | Alexey Kulakov (Vodafone), Xudong Yang (Huawei) | ||
| RAN4#116 Vice Chair Elections | Gene Fong (Qualcomm) and Yang, Shan (China Telecom) | ||
| RAN5#108 Chair and Vice Chair Elections (25 August 2025) | Jacob John (Motorola Mobility) | Chen Xiaozhong (CATT) | |
Congratulations to our re-appointed and newly elected officials.
A full list of Officials for each group can be found via https://www.3gpp.org/3gpp-groups
Charity event in Goteborg
A run and social event in memory of Peter Hedman, an esteemed colleague who passed away a year ago, was a great success. Attended by delegates, colleagues and also Peter’s family, this was a fine celebration of Peter Hedman’s outstanding career in Standards. The memorial events this week raised over ten-thousand euros for the Swedish Brain health research institute – Hjärnfonden.
See more about the run …here
Record attendance in Bengaluru
The attendance at TSG RAN Working Group meetings this week has been hailed as the largest standards meeting to have taken place in India, with over 1500 attending.
Alongside the enormous amount of work done across all five groups, WG RAN1#122 waved a fond farewell to our long serving colleague - Patrick Merias. He has been a part of the MCC team since 2007, serving as a Technical Officer and Secretary of RAN WG1, bringing a wealth of goodwill and unquestionable competence in support of the group. Happy retirement Patrick!
Next up – TSG Plenaries
At the next major 3GPP gathering, the three Technical Specification Groups will re-unite for TSGs#109 plenaries in Beijing (September 15 – 19), for final discussions on and the approval of Rel-19 Technical Specifications and Technical Reports…. And a whole lot more.
3GPP News
