Methods and apparatus for baseband signal compression of fifth generation new radio downlink signals. In an embodiment, a method includes receiving compressed packets over a transmission medium from a central office that performs a first portion of baseband processing to generate the compressed packets from downlink data, receiving configuration parameters, performing a second portion of baseband processing to decompress the compressed packets using the configuration parameters to generate the downlink data, and transmitting the downlink data. An apparatus includes an interface that receives compressed packets and configuration parameters over a transmission medium from a central office that includes a first baseband processing section that generate the compressed packets from downlink data. The apparatus also includes a second baseband processing section that decompresses the compressed packets using the configuration parameters to extract the downlink data, and a radio frequency (RF) interface that transmits the downlink data.