The 3GPP has, by its revised Covid schedule, implemented the protocol freeze for Release 17 on time, the last of three releases delivering the first full set of 5G standards including New Radio (NR). The final milestone will be passed in June 2022 when the Release 17 protocol code will be frozen, stopping any last-minute corrections and giving the greenlight to implementation in silicon so that networks, services and devices can be upgrade to support enhanced features. That will clear the decks for moving towards Release 18, which represents a more radical step forward to the extent it has been billed as the first release of 5G Advanced as a new sub-generation, extending connectivity to a broader range of devices…