The freezing of 3GPP Release 17 offers a breakthrough in the quest to make 5G more available to IoT devices. The now standard specifications strips out higher end technical requirements, enabling reduced capability ("RedCap") devices to communicate effectively with the network. This is believed to have significant potential in terms of the roll out of simple IoT devices, such as sensors and actuators. It recognises that the full value of the 5G network derives from its flexibility - solutions can be designed to maximise performance rather than being shoe-horned into implementations designed for voice or image data.
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