The most recent meeting of 3GPP’s RAN working group in Dubrovnik, Croatia did not just rubber-stamp the AT&T-driven proposal to have a two-stage release of the initial 5G New Radio (NR) standards. The decision to accelerate progress by releasing a non-standalone specification (which still needs an LTE anchor network) ahead of the full standard was the most attention-grabbing development. But while controversy rages over that approach – with critics claiming 3GPP has sacrificed quality under pressure for a quick result- there was also quieter progress on other aspects of the specs which will make up Release 15 and even its successor, Release 16. Much of the excitement around all phases of the 5G standards revolves around new spectrum, especially above…