3GPP Standards Releases

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations, known as Organizational Partners. These Organizational Partners are

Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB)
Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)
China Communications Standards Association (CCSA)
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI)
Telecommunications Technology Association, Korea (TTA)
Telecommunication Technology Committee, Japan (TTC)

3GPP produces Technical Specifications, to be transposed by relevant Standardization Bodies (Organizational Partners) into appropriate deliverable (e.g., standards).

3GPP Standards Releases

3GPP Release	Released Date	Feature’s Information
Phase 1	1992	Basic GSM Features
Phase 2	1995	GSM Features, EFR Codec
3GPP Rel 96	Q1 1997	GSM Features, 14.4 kbit/s User Data Rate
3GPP Rel 97	Q1 1998	GSM Features, GPRS
3GPP Rel 98	Q1 1999	GSM Features, AMR, EDGE, GPRS for PCS1900
3GPP Rel 99	Q1 2000	First UMTS 3G networks,CDMA air interface
3GPP Rel 4	Q2 2001	3G UMTS features including an all-IP Core Network
3GPP Rel 5	Q1 2002	Introduced IMS and HSDPA
3GPP Rel 6	Q4 2004	HSUPA, MBMS, IMS enhancements PTT over Cellular, operation with WLAN
3GPP Rel 7	Q4 2007	Improvements in QoS & latency, VoIP, HSPA+ NFC integration, EDGE Evolution
3GPP Rel 8	Q4 2008	Introduction of LTE, SAE, OFDMA, MIMO Dual Cell HSDPA
3GPP Rel 9	Q4 2009	WiMAX / LTE / UMTS interoperability Dual Cell HSDPA with MIMO, Dual Cell HSUPA, LTE HeNB
3GPP Rel 10	Q1 2011	LTE-A,Backwards compatibility with Release 8 (LTE) Multi-Cell HSDPA (4 Carrier)
3GPP Rel 11	Q3 2012	Heterogeneous networks (HetNet) Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) In device Coexistence (IDC), Advanced IP interconnection of Services
3GPP Rel 12	Q1 2015	Enhanced Small Cells operation Carrier Aggregation FDD/TDD carrier aggregation) 3D channel modelling, Elevation Beamforming, massive MIMO MTC – UE Cat 0 introduced, D2D communication eMBMS enhancements.
3GPP Rel 13	Q1 2016	LTE-U / LTE-LAA, LTE-M Elevation beamforming / Full Dimension MIMO Indoor positioning LTE-M Cat 1.4 MHz and Cat 200 KHz introduced
3GPP Rel 14	Schedule for 2017	Energy Efficiency, Location Services (LCS) Mission Critical Data and Video over LTE Flexible Mobile Service Steering (FMSS) Multimedia Broadcast Supplement for Public Warning System enhancement for TV service,Massive Internet of Things Cell Broadcast Service (CBS)
3GPP Rel 15	Schedule for 2018	Support for 5G Vehicle-to-x service, IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS), Future Railway Mobile Communication System 5G Phase 1, New Radio (NR) Non standalone Deployment Specs
3GPP Rel 16	Schedule for 2020	5G Phase 2 Specifications