Nokia, SK Telecom Demonstrates 2 Millisecond 4G Network Latency

Working with Nokia, SK Telecom has demonstrated reduced latency between an LTE handset and base station from 25 milliseconds to 2 ms.

The latency between the handset and base station in the existing LTE environment is around 25 ms, SK Telecom notes. Lower latency matters for some internet of things applications, especially autonomous vehicles and telemedicine.

Skeptics might argue that the ability to support 5G levels of lower latency means 5G is not needed. Optimists will say the test proves 5G latency goals can be hit, removing one more development obstacle.

At 25 ms latency, a self-driving vehicle running at 150 kilometers per hour (okay, most of us are never in vehicles moving that fast), the vehicle travels about one meter after receiving a “decelerate” message, before it actually begins to decelerate.

At 2 ms latency, the vehicle moves only 8 centimeters before it begins to slow down.

which will significantly enhance the overall safety in autonomous driving.

	Speed	Latency(Handset-Base station)
2G	14.4kbps ~ 64kbps	300 ~ 1000ms
3G	144kbps ~ 14.4Mbps	50 ~ 100ms
4G	75Mbps ~	25ms or lower
5G	20Gbps ~	1ms or lower

Source: Nokia