The 109^th plenaries of 3GPP were held in Beijing, 15–19 September 2025.

The three Technical Specification Groups (TSG) RAN, SA, and CT were all in attendance for a week at the brand new meeting hub - the China World Trade Center – with spacious meeting facilities and impressive food and drink options at the Guomao mall next door.

TSGs#109 marked a step forward towards Release 19 finalization with the functional freeze of features, ahead of the code freeze – due in December, in Baltimore (TSGs#110).

The meeting was also the start of the intensification of work on Release 20, with its dual priorities of 5G-Advanced specification work and early 6G study items - now the main business to be addressed across the project.

Vimeo videos

Three video interviews with the TSG Chairs were made during the week. Each shines a light on the major achievements in the groups during TSGs#109:

Interview with Younsun Kim, TSG RAN Chair (during RAN#109)

In this short interview, Younsun Kim gives us an overview of the status of Rel-19 stage 3 freeze, the progress being made on high level Rel-20 priorities and the start of 6G studies in TSG RAN.

Some Takeaways (Video at : https://vimeo.com/1124754214)

• Rel-20 – Focus strongly on the 5G Advanced track & the immediate commercial needs of deployed 5G networks.
• RAN groups coordinated through Plenary – TSG RAN
• The 6G study work in TSG RAN has two components – (1) The RAN level study on requirements for the new radio interface and (2) the detailed design work and technical solutions that meet those requirements in the working groups.
• Rel-21 – 3GPP has a checkpoint for the studies on key technologies for 6G in June 2026. The timeline for that release will be clearer then.

Interview with TSG SA Chair - Puneet Jain (During TSG SA#109)

This interview was recorded on the Thursday of a busy week in Beijing.

This interview looks at the completion of Rel-19 work and the start of Release 20 in SA.

Some of the key topics covered are (Video at https://vimeo.com/1123907523):

• Rel-19 is delivering on the vision set out for it.
• 5G Advanced priorities are now set for Rel-20.
• Rel-20 is also the bridge to 6G - with good progress to report on SA1 and SA2 studies.
• How the other TSG SA groups are approaching 6G.

Interview with Peter Schmitt, TSG CT Chair (After TSG CT#109)

This chat was recorded after TSG CT#109 meeting, in Beijing, on September 18, 2025.

Peter Schmitt gives a brief overview of the progress at TSG CT#109 on Rel-19 stage 3 work and his thoughts about the way ahead on Rel-20 and on future 6G studies.

(Video at :  https://vimeo.com/1124169855)