Non-GBR
Non-Guaranteed Bit Rate: a QoS flow type with no guaranteed bit rate allocation, using best-effort delivery. Used for web browsing, email, and similar services.
Non-GBR is the default treatment for the bulk of mobile traffic. There's no reserved rate and no admission check — the flow simply competes for whatever capacity is going, and when the cell is busy everyone's share shrinks together. That sounds austere, but it's exactly right for elastic traffic like web, email, app sync and video streaming with a buffer, where TCP and the player absorb rate variation without the user really noticing.
Because nothing is reserved, the network can admit a large number of non-GBR flows on the same resources and rely on statistical multiplexing — not everyone is busy at once. The control you do have is the AMBR, which caps the aggregate non-GBR rate per session or per subscriber so no single user monopolises the cell. Priority still applies between non-GBR flows via their 5QI, so signalling can sit above bulk download even when neither has a guaranteed rate.
Related terms
Related comparisons
Want to truly understand Non-GBR? Learn it in context — free for 7 days.
Non-GBR is taught inside our 5G QoS & Policy Framework course with diagrams, labs and a TelcoMentor AI coach. Start a free 7-day Pro trial — no credit card.
- No credit card
- Full Pro access
- 21 verifiable certs
- TELCOMA since 2009
Get weekly 5G/LTE engineering deep-dives
One technical breakdown every Tuesday — plus first access to new tools and lessons. No spam, no marketing, just engineering. Unsubscribe in one click.