ITU-R Approves DECT-2020 as New 5G Technology Standard 

DECT Forum will be Promoting the Standard under the Name NR+

Bern, February 24, 2022. The DECT Forum, a globally acting association of the DECT wireless technology industry, is delighted to announce that DECT-2020 has been adopted by Study Group 5 of the International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) for inclusion as part of the 5G standards. This decision recognizes DECT-2020 as the first global non-cellular 5G technology. The DECT Forum will be promoting the new standard under the name NR+ (New Radio plus).

„Together with our members we have promoted this initiative from the start“, says Andreas Zipp, Chairman of the DECT Forum. “This is a greatachievement in which the DECT Forum has worked closely with ETSI Technical Committee  DECT (ETSI TC DECT). „The DECT Forum will be promoting DECT-2020 under the name NR+, in recognition of its support of these IMT-2020 capabilities.“

“New and emerging technologies like 5G will be essential to build an inclusive, sustainable future for all people, communities and countries,” said ITU’s Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao. “Under the ongoing International Mobile Telecommunications or IMT programme, our diverse global membership continues its long-standing contribution to advance broadband mobile communications, furthering our mission to leave no one behind in connecting the world.”

Ultra-Reliable Voice/Audio/Data Applications 

This next-generation OFDM-based technology, retains and enhances DECT’s unique license-free capability to deploy self-organizing networks of ultra-reliable voice/audio/data applications, and now adds the capability with mesh networking, to develop ultra-reliable Massive IoT networks. 

Professional applications such as voice/audio communication andstreaming will benefit from much better indoor performance, lower latency, and higher user densities, whilst the new technology opens doors to completely new massive IoT applications such as Smart Cities. In meeting these needs of future customers and users, NR+ now takes its rightful place as an IMT-2020 fifth-generation radio, providing Ultra-Reliable-Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) and massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) as envisioned by ITU-R for IMT-2020. 

Crucially the new NR+ harmonized standards developed by ETSI TC DECT, have been designed to allow perfect DECT band spectrum sharing between classic DECT and NR+, thus preserving and protecting access to the DECT band for the millions of DECT systems that have been deployed and that will continue to be deployed.

About DECT Forum

DECT is a globally adopted short range wireless technology, with key attributes such as security, reliability, and maturity. The Mission of the DECT Forum is to support a collaborative environment of the DECT industry and drive programs to develop and improve DECT wireless technology to exceed wireless communications expectations and meet the needs of a technology-shifting world.