The merger of Vodafone Group PLC’s (LSE:VOD) UK mobile telecoms arm with Three UK will be tough to get past regulators on competition grounds, according to analysts, though the current third and fourth largest networks in the country argue the deal will “level the competitive playing field”.

A deal was unveiled late on Wednesday morning, with Vodafone owning 51% of the proposed merged business, into which it will offload £4.3bn of debt with a “broadly neutral impact” on its ratio of debt to earnings but expected benefits to cash flow from four years onwards.

Merging two of the UK’s four largest mobile networks will create a new market leader.

Hard regulator

Based on the precedent set following 2016’s failed merger between Three and O2, analyst Paolo Pescatore at PP Foresight said the merger “will be a hard sale”.

Vodafone’s statement gives a clear indication that it is already concerned about the competition issue, said analyst Dan Ridsdale at Edison, as it “reads like an overt pitch to convince a broader set of interest groups”.

“Management will have a good level of insight into the opinions of key investors regarding the deal, whereas regulators play their cards much closer to their chest,” Ridsdale said.

Recent actions by the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority have shown how tough it can be to push through big deals, said Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Indeed, the CMA recently blocked Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard, not to mention deciding that Broadcom’s swoop for VMWare would also hurt competition.

“But there might be some hope,” he said, “given how challenging and expensive the 5G rollout is, and there’s a good argument that the economics of the industry need to improve for the benefit of both providers and consumers.”

Hurting or helping competition?

The statement from Vodafone, which has also created a new website especially to promote the benefits of the deal, argues the merger “will level the competitive playing field, increasing competition to the two largest converged operators,” referring to BT‘s EE and the newly merged Virgin Media O2.

Taking the number of nationwide mobile operators to three might be acceptable, said Dr Paul Carter of mobile benchmarking and intelligence provider GWS.

“As we have seen in the US, [this] appears to be about what the market can handle when providers compete for customers.”

According to industry figures from GSMA, Vodafone UK and Three UK respectively have market shares of 20% and 10% of mobile market subscribers, which the statement called “sub-scale”.

Regulator Ofcom’s future approach to mobile markets and spectrum review last year found that Vodafone and Three’s returns are lower than EE and O2’s, meaning they have not been able to recover their cost of capital and, the statement added, “limits their ability to continue to invest”.

Merging, said Vodafone and Three, will give the combined company “the necessary scale and a great platform to invest, grow and compete”.

Marriage of convenience

We will have to wait and see, Pescatotre said. “Let’s see if the authorities have a change of heart. Both parties need to demonstrate that this is genuinely in the interest of UK PLC, the economy, and consumers for it to have a chance of getting over the line.”

A “marriage of convenience” makes some sense for the wider market, he added, as having sufficient scale is “key” to helping lower costs and improve margins, as the Ofcom report suggested.

For the CMA, the equation is likely to come down to how much they take into account the consumer benefits from the promised acceleration to the roll-out of 5G, said Ridsdale, versus the competitive risks from concentrating market power.

“They will almost certainly consult Ofcom as part of the process who have already highlighted that Vodafone and Three’s poor return on capital under the current market structure presented a risk to future investment in the UK’s networks,” he said.

Alex Tofts, at comparison site Broadband Genie, said while the deal would “create a power couple and a real force to be reckoned with in the mobiles market”, the combined group would “still be at a disadvantage” with the likes of BT and VMO2, where mergers combined fixed-line broadband with mobile specialists, and the CMA “tend to be wary of mobile-only mergers”.

On national security, with Three’s owner CK Hutchison based in Hong Kong, Vodafone’s majority ownership of the merged business should allay concerns, says Pescatore.

“I expect the Hutchison share to reduce over time,” he adds.

“Hutchison already has an extensive presence in the UK, but this should be seen as a gradual exit from the telco market. Having the current Vodafone UK CEO heading up the new operation is a testament to this belief. His considered approach will resonate with key stakeholders and improve any chance of getting the deal over the line.”

The post Vodafone’s UK mobile merger with Three a ‘hard’ sell on competition basis appeared first on GWS.

The long-time rivals joined forces today as they announced plans to become Britain’s biggest mobile operator from next year, serving 28 million customers combined.

While the new firm’s name is still under wraps, bosses have already outlined some ambitious goals for the future.

Ultrafast 5G internet may reach more than 99 per cent of the UK under its wing, increasing average data speeds by ‘up to a six-fold’ towards 2034.

But experts told MailOnline they fear this could come at a cost for Brits too, who are already grappling with the rocketing cost-of-living.

Many phone users saw punishing rises this February, with some Virgin Media customers facing 25 per cent hikes on phone bills.

Ernest Doku, a telecoms expert at Uswitch.com told MailOnline: ‘At a time when millions across the UK are facing the highest mid-contract prices we’ve ever seen, consumers need assurances that this merger will not result in even higher household bills.

‘The pledge of a significant investment in 5G over the next decade is some solace that they will be building for a better future of connectivity, so long as it is adhered to. What we don’t want to see is customers footing the bill with further increases to pricing.’

If approved by regulators, the 2024 deal will hand Vodafone a 51 per cent stake in the new firm, while Three takes a 49 per cent stake.

Talks have been ongoing since at least October, as both firms have pledged to invest £11billion in the UK over ten years.

Its goal is to create one of ‘Europe’s most advanced standalone 5G networks’ with fast data speeds in every school and hospital.

Currently, there are just four mobile operators in the UK that own the mobile network infrastructure.

These are Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three, which exist alongside smaller networks such as GiffGaff and Sky.

As the game-changing merger brings this down to just three, Mr Doku fears that reduced competition will also contribute to a price hike.

‘There are potential pros and cons for consumers with any merger like this,’ he added.

‘At Uswitch, we’re all about providing customers with greater choice, however with consolidation in the UK market – from four Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) down to three – there’s always the risk of reduced competition and subsequent increased prices.

‘They should also commit to ensuring smaller virtual networks (MVNOs) who rely on Three and Vodafone’s infrastructure can continue to offer competitive value and service.’

 

The post What does the Vodafone and Three merger mean for YOU? Experts say millions of customers will benefit from better coverage – but it could come at a hefty price appeared first on GWS.

A long-awaited merger of Vodafone and Three will bring “the biggest shake-up in the UK mobile market for over a decade,” experts say – with significant consequences for all anyone in Britain using a device.

The £15bn deal will see the two firms combine to make one of Europe’s biggest operators, with about 27 million customers and more than 11,500 staff.

Margherita Della Valle, chief executive of Vodafone, called the deal a “game-changer” that will create a more sustainable business that supports the cost of rolling out upgrades to 5G.

But will it benefit customers or harm them? Here’s everything you need to know about how the deal might shake up the mobile market.

Vodafone and Three – both relatively small phone networks in the UK – will merge, with Vodafone owning 51 per cent of the combined business. It’s not clear yet what the new company will be called.

Regulators still have to approve the deal, so the merger is not guaranteed.

If it goes ahead, it will be completed before the end of 2024, the companies said.

“This long-awaited megamerger represents the biggest shake-up in the UK mobile market for over a decade,” said Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight.

Trade union Unite said the government “must step in and stop this reckless merger”, arguing it will lead to job losses and push up bills.

The companies are looking to position the deal as great for their customers. They say that it will immediately lead to a “better network experience with greater coverage and reliability at no extra cost, including through certain flexible, contract-free offers with no annual price increases, and social tariffs”.

Over the long term, it is not clear how the new company intends to bring those customers together. When EE and T-Mobile merged into EE, for instance, the two customer groups initially stayed separate and then gradually became integrated.

Paul Carter, CEO of mobile intelligence provider GWS, said Vodafone and Three are “both lagging in terms of internet performance between broadband and mobile services,” while “Virgin Media O2 are currently leading the way in terms of the overall combined connectivity consumers’ experience.”

He added: “On paper, this merger makes sense for two companies looking to close the gap on competitors. However, it remains to be seen whether it will bring success.”

Those behind the merger argue that it will help everyone else, too. Della Valle insisted the merger is “great for the country and great for competition”, thanks to the £11bn investment the new company has promised for the UK, to help “create one of Europe’s most advanced standalone 5G networks”.

It is argued that the mobile market will become more competitive with the presence of another large operator. In theory, that could lead to better prices and deals for everyone – though there is, of course, no guarantee of that.

It’s difficult to know this far out. Bigger companies have more power, which they can use to try and drive prices higher – but they also have more scale, which they can use to be more efficient and reduce prices.

Both companies have recently increased prices significantly, above inflation, which might be a clue to how they intend to behave in the future. But they may argue that the deal would allow them to avoid similar rises in the future.

This will be the question that regulators grapple with as they decide whether the deal should go ahead. If they cannot be convinced that the merger will lead to better conditions for customers, then they will look to stop it.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: “Reducing the number of network providers from four to three risks reducing the choices available to consumers, raising prices and lowering the quality of services available.

“The Competition and Markets Authority needs to conduct a thorough assessment to determine whether this merger will be harmful to consumers.”

There is still a good chance that regulators will stop the deal from going ahead. They did the same when Three attempted to take over O2 in 2016, citing the risk that the deal would lead to higher prices.

“This will be a hard sale, given that both companies have been outperforming the market for the last year or so,” said Paolo Pescatore, from PP Foresight.

“Let’s see if the authorities have a change of heart. Both parties need to demonstrate that this is genuinely in the interest of UK plc, the economy, and consumers for it to have a chance of getting over the line.”

The post Vodafone and Three merger: What the huge deal actually means for you appeared first on GWS.

As heavily anticipated, Vodafone Group and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings (CKHGT) have entered into binding agreements in relation to a combination of their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. Vodafone will own 51 per cent of the combined business (MergeCo) and CKHGT 49 per cent.

From day one, the pair say that millions of customers of Vodafone UK and Three UK will enjoy a better network experience with greater coverage and reliability at no extra cost, including through certain flexible, contract-free offers with no annual price increases, and social tariffs.

The new operation will reach more than 99 per cent of the UK population with its 5G standalone network, delivering to customers up to a six-fold increase in average data speeds by 2034.

The combined business will invest £11 billion in the UK over ten years to create one of Europe’s most advanced standalone 5G networks, in full support of UK Government targets.

By having a best-in-class 5G network in place sooner, the merger will deliver up to £5 billion per year in economic benefit by 20304, create jobs and support digital transformation of the UK’s businesses. Every school and hospital in the UK will have access to standalone 5G by 2030.

The merger will create a third operator with scale, levelling the competitive playing field, increasing competition to the UK’s two leading converged operators and will also provide more choice in wholesale partners for the UK’s already competitive MVNOs.

The combined business will offer fixed wireless access (mobile home broadband) to 82% of households by 2030, complementing MergeCo’s access to the UK’s biggest full fibre footprint.

No cash consideration will be paid, with the Vodafone UK and Three UK businesses contributed with differential debt amounts at completion to achieve MergeCo ownership of 51:49 between Vodafone and CKHGT.

Comprehensive joint governance framework in place between Vodafone and CKHGT, with Vodafone fully consolidating MergeCo. Vodafone and CKHGT having call and put options, respectively, which if exercised, would result in Vodafone acquiring CKHGT’s 49 per cent shareholding.

The Transaction is expected to result in substantial efficiencies. These are expected to amount to more than £700 million of annual cost and capex synergies by the fifth full year post-completion, with an implied NPV of over £7 billion.

Current Vodafone UK CEO Ahmed Essam will become MergeCo CEO, and current Three UK CFO Darren Purkis will take the role of MergeCo CFO.

The Transaction is expected to close before the end of 2024, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group Chief Executive, said: “The merger is great for customers, great for the country and great for competition. It’s transformative as it will create a best-in-class – indeed best in Europe – 5G network, offering customers a superior experience. As a country, the UK will benefit from the creation of a sustainable, strongly competitive third scaled operator – with a clear £11 billion network investment plan – driving growth, employment and innovation. For Vodafone, this transaction is a game changer in our home market. This is a vote of confidence in the UK and its ambitions to be a centre for future technology.”

Canning Fok, Group Co-Managing Director of CK Hutchison, added: “Today’s announcement is a major milestone for CK Hutchison and for the UK. Three UK and Vodafone UK currently lack the necessary scale on their own to earn their cost of capital. This has long been a challenge for Three UK’s ability to invest and compete. Together, we will have the scale needed to deliver a best-in-class 5G network for the UK, transforming mobile services for our customers and opening up new opportunities for businesses across the length and breadth of the UK. This will unlock significant value for CK Hutchison and its shareholders, realise material synergies, reduce net financial indebtedness and further strengthen its financial profile.”

Ahmed Essam, Vodafone UK Chief Executive, commented: “The combination of Vodafone UK and Three UK will bring more choice and better value to customers nationwide. With scale to invest, we will create a best-in-class 5G network, supporting the Government’s 5G ambitions, drive digital transformation and create jobs. Through converged offers we will really challenge the two largest operators and, of course, we will continue to support the most vulnerable in society with our social tariffs and our commitment to help 6 million people cross the digital divide by 2025.”

Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three UK, said: “Today’s news marks a significant step in our efforts to create a business that will build the biggest and fastest 5G mobile network in the country. The combination of Three UK and Vodafone UK will bring the advantages of 5G to every business and household in the UK, enabling the UK to deliver its ambitions for digital and economic growth and fully supporting the UK Government’s objectives for a world-leading digital economy.”

In terms of regulatory approval, Paolo Pescatore, TMT Analyst at PP Foresight, notes that a precedent has already been set following the failed 3/O2 deal. “This will be a hard sale given that both companies have been outperforming the market for the last year or so,” he suggests. “Let’s see if the authorities have a change of heart. Both parties need to demonstrate that this is genuinely in the interest of UK plc, the economy, and consumers for it to have a chance of getting over the line.”

As for the potential impact on UK telco market, Pescatore says that a marriage of convenience makes sense. “Scale is key to help lower costs and improve margins. It will take years before we see the real fruits of this deal come to fruition. The question is, can the UK wait that long? However, convergence still remains the Achilles Heel if this does get over the line. It would create a mobile champion that could increase competition in the wholesale segment of the market and become a partner of choice for MVNOs. Having said this, Ofcom recognises the challenges of the UK mobile market and the need for scale. Convincing the CMA will be the real test. Current investment levels are not sustainable in the longer term,” he warns.

“The UK telco market is now polarised with two vertically integrated telcos at one end and two subscale mobile operators at the other.”

“Concessions on spectrum will have to be made and the entity will have to provide solutions on areas like network sharing, rather than create another problem.”

In terms of national security, he feels that there should not be any security concerns as the joint venture should be majority owned by Vodafone. “I expect the Hutchison share to reduce over time.”

“Hutchison already has an extensive presence in the UK, but this should be seen as a gradual exit from the telco market. Having the current Vodafone UK CEO heading up the new operation is a testament to this belief. His considered approach will resonate with key stakeholders and improve any chance of getting the deal over the line,” he concludes.

“Today marks a significant moment in the UK telecoms landscape, as two major players come together to enhance their offering,” declares Dr Paul Carter, CEO of mobile benchmarking and intelligence provider GWS. “Such mergers have proven successful in the past, particularly in providing consumers with expanded access to both 5G and broadband services. This also brings the number of nationwide mobile operators to three, which as we have seen in the US, appears to be about what the market can handle when providers compete for customers.”

“In terms of what’s in it for consumers, our latest test results show Vodafone and Three were both lagging in terms internet performance between broadband and mobile services. Virgin Media O2 are currently leading the way in terms of the overall combined connectivity consumers experience, with EE/BT just behind. On paper this merger makes sense for two companies looking to close the gap on competitors who have themselves benefited from combining their connectivity offerings.”

“However, it remains to be seen whether it will bring success. Three and Vodafone bring together a set of competing mobile assets to bring down costs. Yet, previous mergers in this area were more complementary in terms of filling technological gaps in wireless services, mobile and broadband. Combined providers, as our recent test data shows, benefit because they offer a complete connectivity experience, offering reliable internet services to consumers whether on Wi-Fi or mobile Internet connections.”

The post Vodafone, Three merge UK businesses appeared first on GWS.

The post Vodafone and Three UK Strike a Deal to Merge appeared first on GWS.

The long-awaited merger between Vodafone and the owner of Three, CK Hutchinson, has been announced today, in a deal that will see it become the UK’s largest mobile operator. But what might it mean for consumers?

In this analysis, Dr Paul Carter, CEO of mobile benchmarking and intelligence provider GWS, gives us his assessment on whether the merger between Vodafone and Three could benefit consumers and improve the overall service provided by the new operator.

A newly published study from GWS has shown that combined connectivity providers (broadband and mobile) offer the best performance for consumers, with Virgin/O2 leading the way, BT/EE just behind and Three and Vodafone lagging. The merger can be seen as an effort to rectify this.

As Dr. Carter comments: “Today marks a significant moment in the UK telecoms landscape, as two major players come together to enhance their offering. Such mergers have proven successful in the past, particularly in providing consumers with expanded access to both 5G and broadband services. This also brings the number of nationwide mobile operators to three, which as we have seen in the US, appears to be about what the market can handle when providers compete for customers.

“In terms of what’s in it for consumers, our latest test results show Vodafone and Three were both lagging in terms internet performance between broadband and mobile services. Virgin Media O2 are currently leading the way in terms of the overall combined connectivity consumers experience, with EE/BT just behind. On paper this merger makes sense for two companies looking to close the gap on competitors who have themselves benefited from combining their connectivity offerings.

“However, it remains to be seen whether it will bring success. Three and Vodafone bring together a set of competing mobile assets to bring down costs. Yet, previous mergers in this area were more complementary in terms of filling technological gaps in wireless services, mobile and broadband. Combined providers, as our recent test data shows, benefit because they offer a complete connectivity experience, offering reliable internet services to consumers whether on Wi-Fi or mobile internet connections.”

The post Vodafone to merge with Three, but will it create benefits for consumers? Reaction appeared first on GWS.

In public speak, ‘5G video allows you to get more from live events, enjoying a personalised experience straight to your device, all while being right there among the action’. It is a part of the government’s 5G Create Project, and it brings broadcast and mobile network mindsets together in committed support of multicast.

 

The post TRENDS MULTICAST WITH A DIAL A DELAY OPTION: 5G VISTA WILL IGNITE FAN INTEREST appeared first on GWS.

The changes will reduce the need for new phone masts and boost signal on roads across the nation, and include protections to preserve rural scenery and minimise impact of new infrastructure.

5G offers download speeds up to 100 times that of 4G, benefiting both consumers and industries.

Housing minister Stuart Andrew said: “Wider access to a fast, reliable mobile coverage and digital connectivity is crucial to our levelling up vision.

“Changes to planning rules will help providers to give more people access to improved 4G and 5G coverage, while also protecting our cherished natural landscape.”

As the government moves to better connect the nation, what does this mean for consumers?

What are ‘not spot’ zones and what do the new rules target

Not spots are mobile signal blind spots in rural areas in the UK.

Mobile network firms will get more freedom to make new and existing phone masts up to five metres taller and two metres wider than current rules permit, under the new changes. This will make it easier for operators to share infrastructure, boost the range of masts and create room for the extra equipment needed for faster networks.

The changes include an increase in the maximum width and height of existing structures in areas without protection orders in place.

This means that any new infrastructure will still need agreements from landowners, while ground-based kit will need to be approved by local authorities.

In a statement, the department of digital, media, culture and sport called the plan “barrier-busting”.

It added the shift would place “tough new legal duties on operators to minimise the visual impact of network equipment, particularly in protected areas such as national parks, conservation areas, world heritage sites and areas of outstanding natural beauty”.

Ending rural not spots and bringing everyone, not just those who live in urban centres, into the fold of next generation digital connectivity is an important aspiration for the UK government.

The ability of operators to build masts taller and add to existing infrastructure and street furniture with ease will ensure the promise of widespread 5G can be met in even quicker time.

Consumers are set to benefit from the move as it will bring more connectivity to a population increasingly reliant on strong digital connectivity for many aspects of their lives. However, with the rollout so far many consumers have also pointed to 5G hype with connectivity and transition issues.

What is next for 5G rollout in the UK?

UK consumers could benefit from better network reliability as the deployment of 5G powers on.

The UK has one of the highest internet usage levels in the world. Nearly the entire nation has access to the web, with an estimated 62.86 million monthly users in 2021 alone — expected to rise to more than 65 million users per month in 2026.

In 2010 the UK merger between operators T-Mobile and Orange to create EE was the catalyst for the nationwide roll-out of 4G.

The merger forced other players to follow suit and every UK consumer felt the benefits, regardless of their network provider.

Such investment encourages all networks to innovate, both in terms of services and the kinds of new devices customers have come to expect.

Dr Paul Carter, CEO of mobile network benchmarking firm Global Wireless Solutions (GWS), said that three of the four major operators have already doubled their nationwide 5G coverage over the past year.

EE’s 5G coverage increased approximately 120%, O2’s 260%, Three’s 150%, and Vodafone’s (VOD.L) 90%, according to GWS figures.

Carter added that 25 out of the 33 major metropolitan cities and towns that the company tested across the UK now offer 5G coverage from all four operators.

“5G deployment process has been progressing as expected but improving the ease with which new infrastructure can be built, or existing infrastructure improved, is another significant step in the right direction,” he said.

The post What UK’s 5G rollout means for consumers appeared first on GWS.

The new laws will put tougher legal duties on operators to minimise the visual impact of network equipment, particularly in protected areas such as national parks and conservation areas.

However, it will equally give network operators more freedom to make new and existing phone masts up to five metres taller and two metres wider than the current rules permit.

The aim is to boost the range of masts, create room for the extra equipment needed for faster networks and make it easier for operators to share infrastructure.

Data from telcos engineering firm Global Wireless Solution revealed that three of the four major operators have doubled their nationwide 5G coverage over the past year, with EE’s 5G coverage increasing approximately 120 per cent, O2’s 260 per cent and Three’s 150 per cent.

Crucially, mobile operators will still need to obtain agreement from the landowner before building any new infrastructure, and all new ground-based masts will also need to be approved by local authorities which will continue to have a say on where they are placed and their appearance.

The move will help deliver the government-led £1bn Shared Rural Network being built to eliminate 4G mobile ‘not spots’ in the countryside and enable access to 5G tech sooner.

Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said that she understood the “frustration” felt when having no signal in some parts of the country and said: Phone users across the country will benefit – whether they are in a city, village or on the road – and tighter rules on the visual impact of new infrastructure will ensure our cherished countryside is protected.

The reforms are also seen as a key part of the government’s overall level up policy.

Dr Paul Carter, chief executive of telcos engineering firm Global Wireless Solutions told City A.M. that today’s changes should eb welcomed “with open arms”.

“Ending rural not spots and bringing everyone, not just those who live in our urban centres, into the fold of next generation digital connectivity is a hugely important aspiration for the country.”

“The ability of operators to build masts taller and add to existing infrastructure and street furniture with ease will ensure the promise of widespread 5G can be met in even quicker time. The benefits it will bring to a population increasingly reliant on strong digital connectivity for all aspects of their lives cannot be understated. Both our work lives and our social lives are all taking place online meaning it is more important than ever that access to high quality connectivity is shared equally.”

The post Government introduces new telco laws to end ‘no bar blues’ appeared first on GWS.

Next generation networks are tipped to transform industry and gaming – but when it comes to sport, 5G, private networks and enhanced broadcasting tech are creating new business cases for network operators. Melanie Mingas explains why it’s a match made in heaven

What do the Olympics, the World Cup and the Super Bowl all have in common? The answer is major tech debuts.
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics saw the worldwide debut of 5G; the 2018 FIFA World Cup saw broadcasters use eSIMS for enhanced security; and for the 2021 Super Bowl, reduced fan admissions prompted organisers to create immersive viewing experiences from home using 4K and 8K streaming.

These incidents aren’t isolated and the trend draws on a long history of necessary collaboration; however, as speed and data volumes see exponential growth – and audiences too, continue to grow – a new business case is emerging for network operators to work with event organisers.

“We often see major events are great places to launch new ideas, because they are front of mind for people,” says Peter Gray, senior vice president of NTT’s advanced technology group, sport.

This year, as sports fans were able to return to venues around the world, digitalisation – not to mention a proliferation of advanced communications and home entertainment devices – had changed what that experience entails.

Keen cyclist and Aussie rules fan Gray explains: “Sport stimulates a new way to embrace a new generation of technology, but also it is a great laboratory. Every project we at NTT are working on, I can guarantee, there is a little lab project on the side, that you will never see, that is figuring out what is happening in two to three years’ time.”

Sitting within the new ventures innovation team, Gray leads NTT’s sport-related projects globally, which across the group includes work with the Tour de France, IndyCar and the British Open, among others.

Gray says: “It varies event to event, but broadly speaking we are doing a number of key things to create this world of smart and connected sports – creating great experiences for fans but also enabling all the operations and the technology that sit behind running these events and allow the organiser to deliver a world-class event.”

By way of example, this year’s UEFA European Championship saw NTT deliver and integrate a portfolio of services across 11 host countries as well as the tournament’s Amsterdam-based broadcast centre. NTT was tasked with standardising connectivity across all venues, ensuring consistent experiences at each location and integrating that into a hub-and-spoke architecture to transfer relevant data back to Amsterdam. It wasn’t just for fans and organisers; broadcasters, journalists and VIPs were also dependent on the network infrastructure.

The project saw 87,000km of fibre cable and 245,000km of copper cable deployed alongside 890 switches and 1,565 access points. Counting the core and local teams, more than 170 people were involved in project delivery for the one-month tournament.

“Sport is a microcosm of what happens in the world more broadly and it’s a great place for innovation,” Gray explains.
“The Euros happens every four years, so if you think of the change just in terms of a simple thing like the resolution of a photo on a smartphone and the file size of that photo, then you multiply that out by thousands of millions. Think of the impact that has.”

The examples continue but the true challenge, Gray says, is “the dependence on that core network and the volume that needs to be managed through it”.

It’s exacerbated by the shift to IP-based technologies in broadcast and voice – even simple things like commentators working over Zoom – meaning “the demands just layer on top of each other”, Gray continues. According to Ericsson, sports venues around the world are seeing a 67% growth in data usage year over year.

On the data surge due before the next Euros, in 2024, Gray says the volumes and speeds will probably be “multiplied by another magnitude of order again” – not only because of the aforementioned trends in IP-based networks, but because of what’s happening in mobile.

Since 5G debuted at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games in South Korea – courtesy of KT Corp – 181 operators around the world have launched services, according to Ookla’s Global 5G Map. 5G has long been tipped as a means by which to enhance everything from logistics to gaming – and now that could also transfer to stadia connectivity.

Gray says there are “two big stories” around the tech. The first is the fan experience, but “the other really interesting one”, he says, “is around the use of private 5G for event management and event operations”.

It’s a “major focus for NTT”, Gray says – and the firm launched the first globally available private 5G network-as-a-service platform in August.

It’s the same principle as a private 5G network at a port or factory – dedicated, secure infrastructure that can be scaled on demand to solve challenges for enterprises and provide interactive experiences.

Gray explains: “It enables new ways of streaming videos from onboard cameras – and we are looking at things like 3D onboard camera steaming – because these things start to become viable with this technology.

“You have the stadium ops element, but as we move to an IoT-enabled world that is more connected than ever before, it’s about being able to leverage a secure network to implement some of those capabilities as well. It is early days but in a couple of years’ time that will be the standard. It starts to open a whole new range of opportunities within the public carrier space and within the private 5G space,” Gray says.

Connecting the World Cup

As the official Middle East and Africa telecommunications operator of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – and FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 – Ooredoo Qatar is the telco tasked with delivering the first 5G-connected World Cup in just under 12 months’ time.

With 99.99% coverage across populated areas, 4G will play a key role in Qatar’s connectivity landscape, but Ooredoo has been pioneering 5G since it launched services in 2018 with a 5G-connected aerial taxi, which toured the industry exhibition circuit pre-Covid.

As one of two MNOs in Qatar today, Ooredoo expects its mobile network alone will see data increases of 50-100% over the course of the World Cup tournament, according to chief technology and infrastructure officer, Günther Ottendorfer.
Before taking up his current role in 2019, Ottendorfer worked on the Super Bowl, European Championships and several 4G and 5G launches across multiple continents with Sprint, Deutsche Telecom, Optus and Telekom Austria. Now leading a team of several hundred people to deliver the World Cup, he says the tournament is likely to become a catalyst for the adoption of advanced tech across Qatari society.

“We already have a lot of IoT solutions out in the market, mainly in logistics and energy, and I think the World Cup could be a catalyst for that to grow. I think for consumers that could be around information services, maybe around improved navigation services, and hopefully around AR and VR.

“These are the areas where I think things could develop very fast over the course of the next year,” he says.

Preparations for 2022 began four years ago and infrastructure continues to be deployed around stadia and fan zones. To tackle the project, Ooredoo is drawing on a toolbox of solutions, as well as network extensions that take in metro lines and stations, parking spaces and even the footpaths leading to the venues.

“We have solutions for quick coverage for limited geographical areas. We have the small cells and repeater solutions. We try to have a broad toolbox,” Ottendorfer says.

Ooredoo sources its telecoms kit through long-term partner Ericsson, which offers a “connected stadium” portfolio. Research published by the kit maker earlier this year says the application of 5G to advance the sports fan experience is a business projected to generate $83.1 billion in revenues by 2023 in the US alone.

In December 2021, Ooredoo named Ericsson as its infrastructure partner for that year’s Arab Cup and the next year’s World Cup, with the Swedish equipment giant involved in project planning and kit supply for both tournaments.
Although plans for 2022 are still being finalised, mobile shelters will be used only in the more remote areas while “several hundred” small cells will be deployed throughout stadia, as is done for the Super Bowl.

“We have broken down quite granularly each stadium into small sectors and we provide coverage for each sector,” Ottendorfer explains.

Building on Ooredoo’s 2020 carrier aggregation trials with Ericsson – which achieved record throughput of 4.2Gbps using 200Mhz spectrum for 5G – Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) is also in the toolbox.

“We are using 4G and 5G on the same frequency, so it will be very good for visitors when they are out and about,” he adds.

That said, the nature of the project means a number of unknowns remain, including the size and shape of traffic peaks. To prepare for this, during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Ooredoo held data giveaways after the national team’s big wins – including the semis and finals – which allowed it to assess how subscriber traffic might flow during the World Cup.

“We could then base necessary traffic extensions on the knowledge of those days and that’s what we have done since. The traffic more than doubled on the data giveaway days, so I would assume, with the number of visitors coming in, that’s something that we will probably see again,” Ottendorfer says.

“It will depend a little bit on the success of popular teams. You can’t forecast everything, because it will depend on how the tournament goes and what teams are there,” he adds.

Put to the test

As a market, Qatar already has one of the world’s highest average traffic demands per customer and, Covid aside, Ooredoo subscribers averaged data use of more than 12Gb per month last year. The country of 2.9 million permanent residents and citizens offers award-winning 5G speeds and is no stranger to major events, from sporting tournaments to its own National Day. In fact, 63 such events have been hosted this year alone, including the Formula 1 Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix.

“That gives us the confidence that we are constantly tested on this,” says Ottendorfer.

In addition to the AFC Asian Cup, those tests have also included the FIFA Arab Cup and Amir Cup Final, which in 2019 was enhanced with a “virtual stadium”.

For this, the south stand of Al Wakrah Stadium was equipped with elastic cloud radio technology and antenna with High Order Massive-MIMO, to give fans a preview of what’s possible. The demo was broadcasted to a virtual stadium at Mall of Qatar, where consumers engaged with the immersive VR experience during the 90-minute game.

“We had 16 cameras in the stadium connected via 5G and then it was transported to Mall of Qatar – and there you could see the game from different angles. There were iPads that customers could use and select their favourite angle to watch the game,” Ottendorfer says.

“These are the kinds of things 5G will enable and I fully expect that some AR and VR applications might come around at that time,” he adds.

Another test was the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha. During that, Ooredoo Qatar delivered more than 40Tb of mobile traffic, with the project requiring more than 350,000m of fibre cable to broadcast from Khalifa International Stadium, as well as “several hundred smart antennas in the stadium to cover each sector”, says Ottendorfer.

For this competition, Ooredoo launched a visitor SIM and the AI-powered Ooredoo Sports App to give customers information about the event. Similar offers will be in the works for 2022.

“One of the things that also helped us was that 5G was already being deployed. We saw excellent coverage with more than 1Gbps in the stadium during the event, and we did that all in close co-operation with many of our suppliers,” says Ottendorfer.

“We saw it also as a test drive for the World Cup.”

The other gaming experience

While virtual gaming is tipped to be a major driver for 5G, the possibility to enhance real-life sporting experiences with communications tech will also be central, and organisers are increasingly looking for bespoke and high-capacity infrastructure, as well as local telecoms partners.

So why are major sporting events a great place to debut communications and tech advancements?

A spokesperson for UEFA says: “Major tournaments are the conclusion to a season of cycle and are massive showcase events that draw equally huge viewing figures and fan engagement. UEFA continues to innovate at these events, and across the season, where practical, in order to meet the demands of our key stakeholders – broadcast partners, sponsors and the wider football family – as well as direct to our fans.”

UEFA partners with network operators and telcos on an event-by-event basis, depending on competition locations. For example, for the 2016 Euros UEFA partnered with Orange in France, BT in London and Colt in Germany, among others.
The body says discussions for partners for 2024 are ongoing and that 5G will “definitely be part of UEFA’s tech mix for future major tournaments, particularly for centralised content distribution using bonded mobile technology from off-venue activities”.

Meanwhile, at the International Olympics Committee (IOC), Swisscom’s former EVP of television and smart products, Ilario Corna, celebrated one year as chief information and technology officer in November.

While Corna wasn’t available for comment, the IOC did tell Capacity that the Tokyo games were a “watershed moment in the history of Olympic broadcasting, with more content made available to fans on more screens than ever before through TV, digital, apps and social media”.

Further, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will see the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) use super-fast 5G wireless transmission.

OBS works with Intel, using its TrueView technology to deliver immersive replays for basketball via 35 on-court 4K cameras, and has also turned to Alibaba Group to develop a cloud platform. The IOC says: “The Covid-19 pandemic has clearly accelerated the adoption of cloud solutions.”

More than streaming

In the UK, a government-backed project called 5G VISTA is looking to take things a step further. The project was launched in September, and collaborators include Virgin Media O2, Global Wireless Solutions (GWS), DTG and Digital Catapult. Their aim is to gauge consumer demand and deliver the business case to enable 5G-powered sporting events in the near future.

It will do this by offering “enhanced interactive viewing” direct to mobile during events in stadia and other select locations, by leaning on 5G broadcast technology – itself tipped to deliver multimedia content via mobile and TV in ways that MediaFLO, LTE Broadcast and DVB-H are unable to.

CEO of GWS, Paul Carter, says: “People want reliable connectivity to enhance their experiences wherever they go. However, networks can be challenged to meet this requirement, particularly at well-attended events where capacity becomes an issue.”

The idea is to provide consumers with “more control over what they view, as well as offering solutions to pain points they have”, Carter says – and, yes, that includes the kiosk queues.

“Project Vista’s innovation offers both a solution and an opportunity for operators. Today, at busy stadium events, barriers – such as the volume of individuals present – exist against providing consistent network coverage, particularly for data-driven applications such as an enhanced viewing experience,” Carter explains.

He says that enhanced Further Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (FeMBMS) can rectify many of these issues “at a cost advantage compared with more traditional cellular solutions”, while allowing large-scale live multi-camera, multi-angle video to be part of a live performance.

“The telecoms sector will be key for deploying this technology and striving for low-cost solutions to make it widespread,” he adds.

Carter continues: “There is a myriad of opportunities that Project Vista’s innovative technology provides telcos, MNOs, and other stakeholders in the live entertainment industry. Their involvement and investment will demonstrate a bright future for 5G technology at stadiums.”

As private networks, mobile and broadcast advances facilitate ever more immersive viewing experiences, the trick for telcos will be to seize the first-mover advantage. Expensive lessons were learned when the OTTs arrived in the market – and, when it comes to monetising the next generation of networks, the trick is to avoid an own goal.

The post A Connection of Sport appeared first on GWS.

Name: Dr Paul Carter

Company: Global Wireless Solutions

Job Title: CEO and Founder

Location: Dulles, VA

Dr. Paul Carter is President and CEO of Global Wireless Solutions, Inc. (GWS), a leading independent benchmarking solution vendor for the wireless industry. Dr. Carter has more than 30 years’ experience in the mobile network industry. He founded Global Wireless Solutions to provide operators with access to in-depth, accurate network benchmarking, analysis and testing. Prior to GWS, Dr. Carter directed business development and CDMA engineering efforts for LLC, the then world’s largest independent wireless engineering company. Dr. Carteris originally from the UK but moved to the United States in 1991.

What was the most valuable piece of career advice that you received? Throughout my career I have tended to follow my own direction. Whether the outcome has been positive or negative, I prefer to take responsibility for my own decisions which reduces any tendencies to blame others if things don’t work out. I was given a good piece of general life advice by my grandmother, however, which was an adaptation from an old Charley Chaplin quote “you can always stoop and pick up nothing”; that is anyone can go through the motions in life but if you really want something, you need to have the courage to seek it out. I do think this is true – you must give things a go and put yourself out there even if it doesn’t work out – if you don’t, somebody else will.

What was the worst piece of business advice that you received? I did once receive a terrible piece of business advice. I was advised to change one of my loans for a business property to receive a lower interest rate. However, once I was locked in, I couldn’t benefit from even lower rates that resulted over time. I didn’t receive a very good deal financially in this instance and was stuck for ten years. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have taken that advice. But this bad piece of advice helped me realise that you even need to double-check the advice from so-called experts in their field.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in IT/tech? Hard work is always respected and appreciated in any field. Being successful in any career often comes down to a mixture of hard work, timing, perseverance and an element of luck. For anyone starting a career in tech and IT specifically, my advice would be to think about futureproofing. Where is there going to be a need for skills now and in future? For example, being able to collect and analyse data, identify trends and make decisions based on “data intelligence” will be a useful skill for a long time to come. Knowing how to work with multiple data sources to compare, contrast and correlate is becoming increasingly important.

Did you always want to work in IT/tech? Yes, I did. When I was growing up in the UK, changes and advances in science and technology were becoming more noticeable, more significant. There was a lot of chatter about the future being in science and other related fields, so I took the decision to pursue a degree in science (physics) and then a master’s in electrical engineering before finally completing my PhD in wireless technology. I went down this path initially because I thought it would make me more employable given the changing times. I’m pleased I made that decision because it’s given me valuable knowledge and expertise in an area that will continue to build in importance throughout the modern world. I also happen to enjoy developing things and fixing things, so designing and building networks, understanding how they work and how to improve them also played into my interests.

What was your first job in IT/tech? My first full time job was with a consulting company in the US, where I was hired to help design the earlier generations of wireless networks (i.e., GSM, CDMA, iDEN, etc.). I was doing a lot of the radio frequency design work, among other things. Since then I have stayed in the same field of telecommunications and wireless technology but have built my own business.

What are some common misconceptions about working in IT/tech? There is often a misconception that to work in these fields you must be good at maths or, which, of course is helpful but isn’t a necessity. Although I came into telecommunications and wireless technology from a scientific background, it’s not essential to have this foundational knowledge. Today, there are roles within big tech companies such as Google and Amazon as well as smaller, more niche app developers that do not require this proficiency. In fact, there are now hundreds of roles within the tech industry that span a variety of different subject areas and skills. We know from our OneMeasure consumer research panel that consumers spend large chunks of time engaging with apps, and so these companies need a range of different people with different skill sets to build engaging apps that will appeal to large audiences.

What tips would you give to someone aiming for a c-level position? Getting to a c-level position does require hard work and putting yourself out there. If you’d like a job at the top you do have to position yourself at the entrance of the right funnel to get there. Luck and circumstance are part of the recipe to success, but a positive attitude, hard work and perseverance are key. You’ve also got to be good at working with others – although that’s not to say you should try to change in order to get on with everyone. I don’t agree with the idea of ‘faking it until you make it’; being yourself and staying true to yourself will help you to succeed. Similarly, don’t be put off by setbacks. If you don’t get a job, it’s likely because it wasn’t the right job for you. So, learn from the experience and try again.

What are your career ambitions, and have you reached them yet? I’d say that I haven’t yet reached my career ambitions, which are to make a difference and solve certain problems within the sustainability space using technology and engineering. I’m currently working on a venture called Aeternum where we are making low-cost, low-powered and unplugged environmental sensors to measure air quality. The potential benefits of this technology for people living in polluted cities will be significant once it’s further developed and deployed widely. The ultimate dream would be to create my own unicorn company.

Do you have a good work life balance in your current role? The pandemic, for all its many ills, has had a positive impact on my work life balance. When you run your own business, you always need to have one ear open because it’s more than just a job in many respects. I feel the last year has allowed me to spend more time with my family and achieve a better balance simply by virtue of always being at home. The opportunity to constantly share a space with my family has been a great thing for me.

What, if anything, would you change about the route your career path has taken? When I started Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) we grew the company organically. We started small and grew based on projects. We didn’t try for investment or private equity along the way so progress was inevitably slower than it could have been. It gave me more control but, in some respects, made the growth phase slightly more difficult and slowed the process down because we relied on internally generated funds vs. receiving an influx of outside capital. Apart from that, I wouldn’t change anything about my career path.

Which would you recommend: A coding bootcamp or a computer science degree? A degree in any specialism can narrow your options when choosing a career path. But if you want a foundation to metaphorically build your career house on, then a degree is a good place to start. You can always fall back on this qualification and specialism. That said, there are benefits to a bootcamp in something like coding – it can be a very useful starting place and a worthwhile, economical investment. In today’s world, expertise in coding whether it’s app, systems or process driven is in demand and will be for some time.  The more you can understand about how to code will certainly be useful as so much of the world is run through software these days.

How important are specific certifications? Certifications are useful – they show your knowledge, they may be a requirement for certain jobs, and they may help open the door for others. But that doesn’t mean it’s essential for a career in tech. We’re all familiar with those who have hardly any certifications much less qualification and go on to make millions. It’s often dependent on the individual.

What are the three skills or abilities you look for in prospective candidates? I’m always impressed by candidates that have a positive attitude, are clearly very hard-working, and are flexible. In business it’s often the case that you must roll your sleeves up and work across different teams to solve problems and work cooperatively together. It is so much more productive when you can work with people that are consistently reliable.

What would put you off a candidate? I’m often wary of those that seem to have moved around a lot in their career. When you get to know someone, the way they work and how they operate as part of the team, you want them to stick around. I’m also put off by certain types of attitudes; for example, while demonstrating confidence is a good thing, I think there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence that must be walked quite carefully.

What are the most common mistakes made by candidates in an interview? How can those mistakes be avoided? I think the most common mistake is that people often apply for jobs that they don’t really want or perhaps don’t fully understand. And because people aim to please and impress in interviews, they will do their best to muster an answer even if their skillset or expectations about a role don’t align with what will be expected of them. People also struggle to admit when they don’t know something. As an interviewee, recognition of one’s own limits is far more impressive than giving a bad answer to a question you really know little about.

Do you think it is better to have technical or business skills – or a mix of both? Leading a business requires multiple skills. Although it’s always the case that the more business acumen or technical ability you have the better, people often underestimate the value of common sense. A timely and well thought-through decision, or an individual who truly understands the USP of their company can go just as far, if not further than someone with abundant technical knowledge. Application and approach to many different areas is key.

The post C-Suite Career Advice: Paul Carter, Global Wireless Solutions appeared first on GWS.

On paper, the numbers look great, making it seem like 5G covers most of the country. In practice, there’s a discrepancy, with many people still not operating on 5G networks. What accounts for this discrepancy? We asked the experts.

The pandemic hurdle

Rollout of 5G capacity was speeding along until it slammed into a big wall in the form of the pandemic. “We’ve had to rely on telecommunications to connect with our friends, family, and colleagues. That’s caused a sudden emphasis on wireless connectivity — especially with remote work — which puts pressure on companies to accommodate increased demand,” says Shawn Carpenter, program director at Ansys, a company that helps in the engineering of 5G hardware.

While 4G was enough during the pre-pandemic period, when most things happened in person, 4G was not designed to support our current demand level or to support non-smartphone applications such as the Internet of Things, says David Witkowski, IEEE senior member, and founder and CEO of Oku Solutions.

To help solve the sudden connectivity crisis that came with the coronavirus spread, 5G operators and 5G-focused startups also started to come up with unique solutions to provide efficient health care and educational services. For instance, Unmanned Life developed a 5G autonomy-as-a-service platform that can provide autonomous drones to disinfect COVID-prone regions, deliver essentials like medical supplies and food, and monitor crowded spaces from a distance. These innovations are great, but they also put more strain on the network.

From a consumer standpoint, more people have had time to spend on their phones for both work and leisure, nudging them to prioritize their networks in a way that wasn’t necessary before.

With demand for 5G increasing, you’d expect network providers to respond by boosting capacity. Yet, despite these developments, mobile 5G subscriptions for general consumer use are still lagging. The path to widespread 5G rollouts still has quite a few obstacles, experts say.

The infrastructure challenge

Infrastructure is a challenge, Carpenter says. “Fundamentally, in order to get faster service and pump more data wirelessly, we need more electromagnetic spectrum … As we enter the 5G spectrum, we’re working with distances of a few city blocks or less. And buildings go from sponges to mirrors — signals bounce off of them as opposed to penetrating walls and reaching your cell phone.”

There’s also the issue of where to place all of these access points inside buildings so that we’re not overcrowding spaces with routers or leaving areas with no connectivity, he adds.

Even if the infrastructure was managed somehow, implementing consumer-use 5G in a broad capacity may be difficult.

“A key challenge is managing customer expectations: A lot of the anticipated benefits that would occur from a fully functioning 5G network – minimal latency, network slicing, advanced [augmented reality]/VR apps, incredibly fast upload and download speeds, fully autonomous driving with vehicle-to-everything communications (V2X) – won’t happen until 5G stand-alone (5GSA) comes to fruition (still a bit away),” says Dr. Paul Carter, CEO and founder of Global Wireless Solutions (GWS), a wireless network testing, and consumer research company.

“Consumers are being promised the moon with 5G. Without some level-setting, it will be easy for their expectations to outweigh the current tangible benefits,” he adds.

The rural-urban divide 

With the growing presence of 5G networks, the question arises: Will 5G bridge the rural-urban divide or will it make things worse?

It’s a mixed bag. There may be problems initially when the infrastructure is still being built, but massive benefits await down the line, experts say.

Dee Dee Pare’, senior product marketing manager of Cradlepoint, says 5G will increase the reach of networks. “As 5G becomes a norm across business and consumer use cases, 4G and LTE will become even more accessible. Rather than looking at 5G developments widening a gap, think of it as elevating wireless connectivity as a whole. It’s a gradual evolution that will benefit businesses and their customers regardless of location — rural or urban,” she says.

Some experts, like Grant Castle, vice president of device engineering and technology labs at T-Mobile, believe it has already worked toward narrowing the gap. “With T-Mobile’s Extended Range and Ultra Capacity 5G, we are reaching rural America, where people for decades have dealt with subpar internet access,” Castle says. “In fact, we already have rural homes running their entire home on our 5G Home Internet router.”

Carter says the potential benefits would depend on how the 5G providers handle the rollouts. “Each of the three major operators are trying to find the right balance of launching 5G across the entire country,” he says. “GWS has observed Verizon launching the mmWave in urban areas to start while T-Mobile is prioritizing deploying lower bands, making 5G available in several rural markets.”

A fixable problem

Carter says the amount of available spectrum for 5G while 4G and 3G networks are still operating may be limited. “While 3G’s turn-off date is scheduled for early 2022, there has been some pushback by folks outside the industry to maintain that generation of wireless networks. It is a move that would hinder 5G’s rollout, as freeing up that spectrum would allow operators to allocate it towards improving 5G’s rollout,” he said.

Some solutions to common 5G problems are quite intuitive, like Carter’s suggestion to manage consumer expectations from the start, while others may require much more capital investment and time. The bottom line is that most issues cropping up can be managed to a large extent.

“Companies are solving the infrastructure problem, known as the outside-in problem, by placing an antenna on the outside of buildings to receive signals from a base station,” Carpenter says. “Once that signal is received, it’ll have to run through something, like a fiber optic cable, and be amplified within the building by another device, like a Wi-Fi 6 router or interior 5G access point.”

For the issue of access points, simulation could be a solution, he continues. By simulating 5G signals and their propagation throughout the building, companies can understand the coverage area and optimize the number of access points. That eliminates the need to have someone walking through your office building on the phone asking, “Can you hear me now?”

These may seem to be daunting issues at first, but Carter and most of the experts we spoke with believe they are solvable problems, meaning 5G rollouts could continue to speed up, or at least remain stable, in the near future. For the first time, consumers are making significant demands on 5G networks, and where demand goes, supply usually follows.

The post Why are so few people actually using 5G in the U.S.? Here’s what the experts say appeared first on GWS.

The post ITechnology Interview with Paul Carter, Founder and CEO of Global Wireless Solutions appeared first on GWS.

The post Faces of 5G: A Day in the Life of Paul Carter appeared first on GWS.

The world’s first commercial 5G launch took place in early 2019. In April of that year, some of the world’s biggest telecom companies, including AT&T, Verizon, SK Telecom, and KT Corp, all piled over the finish line in a sort of telecom space race. The goal: lay claim to the title of the world’s first 5G network.

Who won? Well, it depends who you ask. When South Korean carriers SK Telecom and KT Corp announced that they would go live with their pioneering 5G networks at some point in April, US carrier Verizon moved up their own launch by a whole week, which would put them ahead. The Koreans all scrambled to beat that live date – managing to do so by a few short hours.

When the dust settled, all the mobile operators involved declared victory, with AT&T claiming to have already won the race back in December of 2018 with the launch of several 5G mobile hotspot devices in 12 American cities. SK Telecom, Verizon and KT all responded by saying that mobile hotspots don’t count and that connecting an actual phone is the criteria for a commercial 5G mobile network. AT&T disagreed – obviously.

Two years later, and the frenzied spirit of competition that surrounded those early days of 5G has only grown more intense. Carriers are throwing down billions of dollars at a time for chunks of 5G spectrum, sales of 5G phones jumped by a staggering 458% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021, and the number of 5G connections worldwide is expected to hit 3bn by 2025. Governments of countries that were quick to adopt 5G – like South Korea and China – are fighting tooth and nail to maintain the lead they’ve built. And the governments of countries that ended up being slower out of the gate are investing heavily in order to catch up.

East vs. West 

Competition over which country has the “best” 5G has been a part of international, uh, feet-measuring contents since the technology was launched. In the transatlantic trade war between the US and China, the East seems to be running away with first place by an impressive margin, with China claiming more 5G users, and more 5G users per capita than the US, thanks to massive investment by its state-owned telecom corporations.

Ray Williamson, Director of European Product Management at Huawei Wireless, notes that “Countries like South Korea and China, which were early adopters of 5G, and ahead of the UK, are already seeing greater consumer demand for, and a return on investment from, innovative services, such as augmented reality (AR) and 360-degree video.” He adds that early 5G adopters in APAC, like China and South Korea, have also seen “various vertical industry developments including more ecosystem partnerships between mobile network operators, device and application providers, system integrators and 5G technology providers.” This kind of collaboration has, Williamson explains, been key to driving greater adoption in APAC, compared to the UK and US.

The UK: Going at its own pace?

In the context of the global 5G rollout, the UK is something of an odd-one-out. The country was one of the first to launch 5G commercially – with EE getting its network up and running as early as May of 2019 – but since then, Williamson explains, “things have been moving more slowly.”

Dr. Paul Carter, Founder and CEO of the GWS, adds that the UK’s operators – in addition to being hampered by several spectrum auction delays – haven’t displayed as much of the frantic urgency that’s defining 5G rollouts elsewhere. “Even though the deployment of 5G is in a dedicated mid-band for all operators, they are investing in and integrating it with their existing networks at their own pace and at locations that fit within their own capital improvement plans,” he explains. “From coverage availability to the amount of dedicated (or shared)spectrum to 4G/5G’s combined use of available network resources, there are many complex and intertwined factors that impact the quality and ultimate performance of today’s 5G. And for each operator in the UK, this experience and corresponding level of quality is different.”

When the GWS tested 5G networks across the UK, it found that, in order to achieve a watershed throughput of >100 Mbps per city, 5G coverage in that city needs to exceed 40%. At the time of testing, only seven out of the 32 cities the GWS surveyed met that criteria. “5G deployment still has some way to go, and of course this is all non-standalone 5G,” says Carter.

However, progress is still being made. Williamson is still confident that a tipping point is drawing near. “I think it’s less about the health of 5G in the UK and more a question of how the UK as a whole can benefit from 5G,” he explains. As applications for 5G continue to expand – particularly in the industrial and smart city spheres – more of the benefits will begin to be unlocked, which will compound the speed of adoption in turn.

Williamson does lament Huawei’s absence from the UK’s 5G rollout, however. “In short, it will hold the country back from realising its full potential for years to come,” he says. “Independent research by Assembly (analysts), found that excluding Huawei from the UK’s 5G networks would risk severely delaying operators’ 5G roll-out plans, adversely affecting the UK economy by £18.2bn, and losing the UK’s current competitive advantage in 5G leadership.” Huawei, which the UK Government has classified as a “high-risk” vendor, was banned from selling equipment to UK carriers late last year, with the threat of hefty fines hanging over the heads of operators who didn’t switch to Nokia, Ericsson or OpenRAN components for their networks quickly – with a final eviction date set for 2027.

Learning from the Competition 

According to Williamson, there are three important lessons for the UK to learn from rollouts in other countries: 

Content is crucial in driving consumer uptake of 5G. 5G will greatly enhance user experience, but it is advanced content such as AR, 8K & 360 Video, and advanced gaming which drive up data usage and mobile revenues. We have seen this in South Korea where thousands of mobile AR/VR applications are now available over 5G, and the number continues to increase.

Rollouts in other countries have shown that 5G is indeed making industries safer, more productive, and more innovative. Vertical adoption of 5G is most advanced in China, where the technology has been deployed and its benefits were realised in areas such as mining, steel, smart manufacturing, and ports. While there have been extensive 5G trial programmes in the UK, the rate of commercial adoption of 5G by verticals in the UK is relatively slow. A similar UK focus on key verticals such as manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, and tourism would accelerate adoption of the technology and its associated benefits.

A 5G rollout needs to happen nationwide. Initial deployment of 5G often focuses on major cities, but the rollout needs to be expanded rapidly across the country. The pandemic has significantly increased the levels of home working in suburbs and rural areas, while videos and gaming are enjoyed while travelling on our railways and highways. Additionally, industries such as manufacturing and agriculture need 5G in more remote locations and for indoor environments. For these reasons, a speedy rollout of 5G nationwide is crucial. The UK needs to build a high bandwidth 5G foundation network, to deliver ubiquitous, high speed connectivity, at low cost per bit. Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MMIMO), in conjunction with site simplification through the deployment of ultra-wideband Remote Radio Units (RRUs) and highly integrated antenna solutions, and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) are key technologies in achieving the required levels of cost, coverage and performance.

The US: Fast and too-focused? 

Unlike UK operators, the US’ carriers gained access to low and high-band 5G spectrum early on in the 5G race – with mid-band 5G only just becoming available; Verizon, for example, has had promising results in trials that combine its mid-band spectrum with mmWave, but won’t be commercially launching that service until early in 2022.

Brian Daly, AVP of Standards & Industry Alliances at AT&T – which has been recognised several times as having the US’ fastest 5G, even though its extensive use of mmWave spectrum means that its coverage spans an extremely narrow footprint – is confident that consumer adoption in the US is set to hit 15% of the nation’s telecom subscriber base by the end of the year. The country’s deployment “has been very aggressive with the major carriers all offering nationwide deployments as of last year,” he explains, adding that the recent acquisition of C-band (or mid-band) spectrum at the FCC’s Auction 107 earlier this year will be “key to fulfilling the potential of 5G.”

AT&T laid down several billion dollars at the latest spectrum auction, receiving 80 MHz of 5G real estate in response. Ahead of Verizon, Daly explains that AT&T will start commercially offering the first 40 MHz of that spectrum before the end of the year. “This will complement our nationwide 5G network on low band and allow us to deliver faster speeds across the country,” he says. Currently, according to Dr. Carter, while GWS’ research “saw 5G inspired throughputs over 1 Gbps for all three major US operators at the Superbowl this year, typical average achievable throughputs are much lower, and not significantly different from some achievable 4G(+) performances.”

However, the US’ major issue right now isn’t speed, but coverage. Each of the US carriers claims to cover more than 200mn people with their nationwide networks, but an April report by Opensignal found that T-Mobile (which leads the US carriers in terms of 5G availability) users were only connected to the operator’s 5G network around 33.1% of the time, with AT&T clocking in at 20.5% and Verizon trailing at just over 11%.

If the US is to catch up with China, as well as deliver on the promise of a 5G future, expanding coverage across urban and rural areas needs to be the priority. “There’s still a lot of work to do, as rural builds take longer and present their own unique sets of challenges. And, generally speaking, the more rural we go, the harder it gets as we have to use technology and available spectrum more creatively,” says Daly.

Dr. Carter notes that, “This is all a work-in-progress and with standalone 5G and more spectrum transitioned to 5G in the years ahead, network quality will continue to improve dramatically.” However, whether the UK and US can create and maintain sufficient momentum not to be completely left behind by other 5G first-movers is another matter entirely.

The post Taking the Pulse of 5G appeared first on GWS.

Given the way in which 2020 threw the world for a loop, it would have been  entirely forgivable if no one wanted to give us any bold statements about what 2021 might have in store for telecoms.

With that in mind, it’s nothing short of admirable that Mobile News has received the breadth of submissions that it has from across the industry. In this article, you’ll find predictions from professionals across several sectors, with our round-up of telecoms analysts’s views coming later in the week.

Covid-19 has impacted handset sales, forced a reconsideration around the deployment of 5G networks, and accelerated remote working trends that many thought were half a decade from realisation.

Having spent almost a year in the much-maligned ‘new normal’, leaders from across the telecoms industry weigh in on what stands to change, and what will stay the same.

Ashley Bailey, chief innovation officer, CTech Group

2020 and specifically the pandemic acted as a catalyst for accelerated growth and adoption of everything virtual with some trend observers suggesting the world has seen a quantum leap of five to seven years in online behaviour and technology adoption; this has been wide spread with the older generation becoming more engaged as a means of maintaining contact with loved ones; and being able to order online supplies and avoid leaving the home.

Four macro trends have arisen and these will continue to gather momentum in 2021.

Mobile connectivity – the need to be ‘always on’ has shifted from cities where network infrastructure is strong to rural areas where it is more challenged; consumers have reviewed what they have and made change to ensure that their signal and package matches their new normal; this has slowed 5G adoption in some areas and accelerated it in others. In cities it has bolstered home connectivity via hotspots whereas in the countryside there is no infrastructure to support it. As the world starts moving again in 2021, having the right mobile connectivity will continue to take centre stage.

Home connectivity has become vital driven by working from home, education and entertainment; reinforcing the need for high quality speed and seamless connectivity, and causing consumers to upgrade or switch provider. 2021 will see this continue with the new normal maintaining home working, and home entertainment growing with virtual events such as concerts and playsp.

It is anticipated that there will be more spectators of virtual games as a new sports trends surge online; the digital world has been opened up across all age groups and this trend will continue to grow in 2021.

Retail subscriptions have surged in 2020 with more consumers understanding the convenience of adopting these-eg pet food, beauty products, male grooming; and how they can be used for at home education and development via cooking, crafting etc. 67 per cent of homes had at least one subscription at the end of 2020 and this trend will quadruple by 2025.

Britt Megahey, MD, Barclay Communications

2021 is going to be another busy year for the communications sector.

Customers will continue to consume more and more data via increased packages as the ability to communicate, work and support customers from a distance is more essential than ever.

All networks will step up to meet the demands of that more discerning consumer, one who will seek out reliable connections, service and support from businesses with rock solid reputations.

It will see customers fine tune their comms suppliers leaning towards those who delivered when demands were higher than ever during and throughout the pandemic.

This will see an increase in amalgamations and mergers, not only within our sector but most industries. There will be a lot of rationalisation throughout the telecoms industry in 2021, leaving fewer players going forward.

We will also see 5G capability coming to the fore even more, making it one of the biggest focuses in the mobile sphere in 2021 and resulting in a faster switch off of the old 2G and 3G.

The appetite for, and willingness to invest in, newer technology will also be rife. We have experienced a massive uptake in our WorkPal software management system since the start of the pandemic – this tells us that businesses are much more open to new technologies.

We will also see a boost in sales of cutting-edge hardware and software from those who want to lead. This will include the likes of VoIP and its integration with mobile while the rollout of FTTP and rural connectivity will ramp up, ensuring the speeds once synonymous with city centres makes its presence felt rurally.

In general, business failures will increase substantially due to the current pandemic and this will result in a downturn in business for the telecom industry throughout 2021 and 2022.

Damian Scott, business development manager, Tech SI (a TES company)

I think 2021 will be a tempestuous and challenging year for the mobile industry and the wider UK economy. There’s optimism that Covid-19 vaccination programmes will bring a return to some sort of normality and that consumer buying habits will begin to improve on the High Street. But rising unemployment and tax increases on the horizon are bound to have a detrimental effect on the consumer purse.

It’s not difficult to foresee further rationalisation in the pre-owned/refurbished device market. New players may struggle to gain a foothold, with existing businesses facing increasing pressure as supply remains limited. It’s going to take time (perhaps years) for the market to fully recover from the impact of Covid, and to understand the full implications of Brexit.

In spite of the challenging outlook, we have ambitious growth targets for 2021. We have a new 102,000 sq ft facility in the Midlands coming online in Q2 and we will be expanding the range of services that we provide to the industry.

Dion Price, CEO, Trustonic

It’s definitely going to be an interesting year for mobile! Devices have changed but they have remained on a path to grow in cost – even at the low end. As such, the need for more inventive ways to finance those devices is rising, especially given that disposable incomes haven’t grown. I predict that over the course of the next twelve months, we’ll see more financing options emerging – giving everyone access to great technology.

Outside of mobile devices, in 2021 we’ll start to see significant changes in operating systems. The sanctions imposed on Huawei have driven them out of the Google operating system – meaning they’re missing out on 86 per cent of the global smartphone market share. They haven’t taken this sitting down and have been busy building their own operating system – Harmony OS. Expect to see other Chinese handset manufacturers start to do the same, the beginning of a surge in development and a rise in conversations about alternative operating systems, beyond those of Android and Apple.

John Fannon, director of sales, Bastion Insurance

The unwelcome Covid-19 circumstances placed upon the UK during 2020 have led to a large part of the business world being forced to adopt alternative ways of working, which has provided some strong opportunities for skilled dealers to demonstrate the ACTUAL benefits of remote working and modern telecoms capabilities.

Previously, these were sold simply as ‘concepts’. We will not return to the previous ways of working which can only be good for telecoms specialists as some businesses are now seriously questioning the need for large office space at all and will no doubt be beefing up their remote working capabilities – particularly if they can free up investment from a reduction in fixed office costs.

With devices, the handset world will remain a duopoly of Apple and Samsung and despite the best efforts of the Chinese manufacturers, their growth will be limited, partly due to the UK’s in-built brand desires, but also because of an entrenched cultural mistrust that is fuelled by growing negative reports that range from coronavirus origins, to spying allegations, and of course, the continued and high-profile removal of Huawei equipment from UK and worldwide comms networks – all of which damage ‘China’ as a brand.

The growth of recycling will continue and I envisage a consolidation of players into a smaller number but larger-sized collection of companies in the sector continuing. Again, this presents opportunities for dealers and distributors to adopt and retail new products and services. As always, it’s going to be an interesting year in our industry and I wish all in the telecoms community the very best for 2021 and beyond – it’s still a great place to be

Mark Evans, CEO, O2

The enforced requirement to ‘work from home where possible’ has changed the face of global business and proven the effectiveness of remote working. As a result, an increasing number of people are quitting urban areas in favour of more rural ones.

I expect to see this trend continue well into 2021 and beyond and, in turn, increasing pressure will be placed on rural infrastructure. This exodus to the countryside will put pressure on leaders to put rural Britain first for a change. As well as constantly investing in hard-to-reach connectivity, O2 is working with its fellow operators, the UK Government and Ofcom to deliver the The Shared Rural Network (SRN). This will ensure the best possible mobile connectivity for everyone, in all parts of the UK.

Closely linked to remote working is flexible working, where employees can alter their start and finish times among other things. COVID-19 hit fast-forward on the flexible working agenda, leaving many organisations struggling to keep up. I predict that, of those organisations whose business models can support flexible working, the ones that do so will be more likely to succeed in a pivotal year.

I foresee organisations of all sizes casting their sustainability commitments in 2021. A growing social consciousness, combined with the Government’s ten point green plan which has focused minds, have taken sustainability from nice-to-have to business necessity. I predict that as a society we’ll move more to reporting action and calling out inaction over simply announcing ambition.

Mark Fermor, associate strategics partnership director, Genuine Solutions UK

Fast becoming a key buzzword in business, ESG (environmental, social and governance) made its charge to become a mainstream term in 2020, referring to companies’ commitments to do more than to make profit and to actively drive positive, responsible and sustainable contributions.

Driven by united demands from employees, investors and customers, the shift from passive to active ESG policies in 2021 is going to be hard to ignore, proving the power of a conscious consumer. We predict you will see more companies drive a focus around their ESG contributions and documenting these contributions.

Whether it’s more companies taking up 5G and using it to its potential, driving environmental standards, reducing e-waste by recycling unused and unloved technology, driving diversity in the workforce and leadership or introducing new supply chain strategies to become more sustainable, 2021 gives us a great opportunity to drive debate and change together.

Mark Glasspool, services director UK and Ireland, Tech Data

We expect digitisation and the shift towards services, both from a customer and a reseller perspective, will continue to accelerate in 2021. These were already major trends and they have been accelerated by the exceptional circumstances of the past year.

While 2020 showed us that we should always expect the unexpected and be ready to adapt, we are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead. As the situation comes under more control, we can expect to see a strong bounce-back across the whole technology sector and mobility will continue to be a major theme.

We’ve seen a strong acceleration in home working and more organisations are now looking at services aggregation, not just cloud and hosted options, but also for areas such as pre-sales configuration, deployment, and managed services. That’s been driven both by the need to support more flexible working practices and also by practicality – it’s an easier and more cost-effective way to manage IT and communications. We also expect lifecycle services – in particular, trade-in options and technology as a service, to gain further traction.

We’ll continue to focus on enabling resellers with the knowledge and support then need to meet the needs of their customers as these trends develop.

Paul Carter, CEO, Global Wireless Solutions

UK mobile operators will be looking at two key challenges in 2021. The first is tackling the ‘digital divide’ across the country, which our research has shown is no longer a simple urban/rural split. The rise in remote working in particular – which will continue into 2021 as more businesses take a ‘remote-first’ approach – has uncovered digital disparities for rural-dwellers and urbanites alike. Operators will likely continue to strengthen indoor mobile coverage across the country, especially as a notable portion of the public are feeling the frustration of home internet that’s insufficient for routine tasks like video calling.

Additionally, operators will spend the year not only extending 5G to a greater number of locations, but also working to ensure that the next-generation network is the most reliable yet. As the 5G rollout continues in 2021 across more UK towns and cities, and increasingly in harder-to-reach rural areas, businesses and consumers may opt to go completely wireless by switching exclusively to next-generation mobile and fixed wireless 5G networks via their mobile operator.

With the pandemic continuing to shift the way businesses engage coupled with the UK government’s financial support packages, we’re also likely to see a surge in new startups in more parts of the country, many of which will rely on 5G for reaching their customers, introducing new products and services, and carrying out daily operations. The class of 2021 will see the first of many innovative new companies choosing to fully embrace 5G.

Paul Hooper, MD, Uplands Mobiles

2021 will be a year in which businesses will see the absolute essentialness of mobility – more than ever before. Prior to the pandemic upending the lives of 68 million of us across the UK, mobility was assumed and somewhat taken for a given, never has it been so valued as it is now.

Whilst we believe many businesses will opt to work as ‘normal’ as possible, returning to their offices, working alongside their teams, valuing human contact, never again will mobility be taken for granted. We are going to stretch technology and human creativeness, to deliver solutions that will need to work better and faster than ever.

Our focus will continue in ensuring the unifying of business communications and IT Solutions, ensuring our customers can work wherever, whenever, with zero disruption – and for us never allowing service levels to detract, no matter what.

Peter Marsden, MD for UK and Ireland, Doro

In 2021 the challenges the industry has faced will continue and industry players must continue to adapt. The pandemic has accelerated the shift to online and customers of all ages and abilities are becoming more tech savvy. With this increase in connectivity, the most successful industry leaders will focus on supporting evolving customer demand through creating innovative and flexible benefits to their offerings.

Despite the pandemic changing the face of retail, person-to-person customer care remains just as important as ever. This is why our alarm receiving centres continue to offer real time support 24/7 for those most in need via mobile or in-home systems.

It is key that companies remain agile and innovative, offering services that suit customers’ ever-changing needs and circumstances. Much like last year, I anticipate 2021 to be a year of incredible advancement in this industry.

Phil Mottram, SVP Communications Technology Group, HP Enterprise

We expect to see telcos rapidly deploying 5G services for business in 2021. Consumer customers seeking faster download speeds will not cover the billions of dollars required to deploy 5G networks. 5G is about far more than faster downloads and the real revenue opportunity for telcos will come in deploying new innovative enterprise services.

So far the deployment of 5G has been focused on the radio access network (RAN), but the true value of 5G can only be realised when the RAN is combined with a 5G core network. We expect to see 5G core networks being introduced in 2021 that will enable ‘slicing’ into virtual networks – by slicing the network into different segments, telcos can charge more to business customers for superfast speeds, or provide guaranteed low latency connectivity to autonomous vehicles. These business-focused offers will enable telcos to start recouping some of the significant investment they have already made in 5G.

5G represents a great opportunity for telcos to deliver new cloud computing services at the edge of the network. Some applications are better suited to the edge: those that need low latencies, optimised bandwidth or particular security requirements. These apps can be hosted on cloud infrastructure hosted close to the user, such as at an enterprise office, or on street furniture.

For example, if you have a connected car communicating with a traffic light, low latency is crucial, but that data doesn’t need to be transferred hundreds of miles to a cloud data centre because the information is only required for 30 seconds. Other applications that make sense at the edge include video analytics, VR and gaming – data-intensive applications that rely on low latency. Operators and cloud providers see this opportunity and are moving quickly to offer cloud services at the edge via the 5G network. This is another crucial avenue where telcos can start to realize a return on their investment in deploying 5G.

Ray Ferris, group MD for telecoms, Radius Payment Solutions

The lack of travel has impacted roaming revenues, but we have continued to see good growth in customer acquisition numbers.

Businesses have clearly adapted to new buying practices and behaviours and as such I think the telecoms market remains stable and will continue to do so into 2021. The amount of M&A that is prevalent in the market is testament to how investors see the opportunity and as such we should feel positive for the longer term view – although clearly the next few months will be challenging logistically if movement is restricted further.

I predict the move away from traditional on-premise telephony will continue at pace and cloud technology will continue to drive the agenda, and with much greater uptake of UCaaS that’s been driven by the shift to home working in 2020. Customer service more than ever will drive buyer behaviour and those businesses who can service their customer’s needs best during this period will maintain a loyal customer base beyond 2021.

Shez Cheema, CEO, Tela Technology

Crystal-balling the future has always proved to be difficult. Covid-19 has certainly changed the landscape irrevocably and the way we as individuals will work and collaborate.

Digitisation inevitably will become a more prevalent as we enter the light of summer and move out of the current Covid-19 fog.

Working remotely is the new normal. IT will need to provide the right mix of collaboration tools for employees. Whilst remote working will continue to challenge employees, it is the company’s and providers’ role to provide a framework of respect for the home situations of their employees and the tools/resources they need to be successful, such as video conferencing platforms. In addition, IT teams will need to evaluate the performance of their company’s communication and collaboration tools to ensure employees can maintain their productivity levels while working remotely.

Disruptive technologies and businesses offering these tools and services will gain transaction from the typical view of supplier consolidation. Providers which can demonstrate improved organisational efficiency whilst maintaining the cost envelope with value-for-money will prosper. Other services and solutions will continue down the commoditisation route irrespective of relationship or longevity.

5G, that overused buzzword, will become reality. Once bitten by both business and consumer alike, it will be impossible to go back and will provide streaming, downloads and in many situations quicker that current broadband technologies. This is turn will assist IoT, connected devices and environments, blurring consumer and business utilisation – food delivery, white appliances, smart lights, cameras, speakers, maintenance regimes, farming, and, of course, cars.

Do not discount foldable phones. Whilst the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is an improvement in fluidity and mechanism, Apple has patents in this area and has been rumoured to be testing very embryonic prototypes without interestingly any phone ports. Watch this space in 2021 and 2022!

Whilst we do expect employees to return to offices, albeit two to three times a week in late 2021, flexible Hosted Voice services offer the most complete solution with additional services like SIP2 and Microsoft Teams providing increased options for collaborative working as do other services like Zoom.

Tanny Jeffrey, MD, Mdee

The first quarter of this year will be tough; we need to get our heads down and crack on. What’s apparent is that those businesses who have continued to trade, plan and engage with customers have enjoyed success during 2020 and will continue to do so in 2021.

Many businesses are still not set up to work from home; this is a real and immediate opportunity. Undoubtedly remote working/working from home will become the new norm, with data connectivity growing as demand increases, especially in non-fibre locations. Businesses will need to monitor remote workers and security in this environment, leading to an increased demand for MDM and potentially CRM/workflow systems.

Those businesses that adopt new technologies and online live interactive tools – and train their staff on how best to use them – will gain advantage.

With EE’s ongoing investment in the roll out of 5G and their continued spot at no.1 as best network, partners will be in a strong position to deliver against customer requirements.

The post 2021 Predictions: Industry Insiders appeared first on GWS.

New revenue streams, advertising channels and a reimagining of the purpose of e-commerce could mean that these telecom operators are poised to play a vital role in the global economy’s recovery. In a recent report from McKinsey, co-authors Vivian Hunt, Bruce Simpson, and Yuito Yamada note that, “As economic players, business people cannot stand offstage, watching the action… The business ecosystem is evolving; those who resist will find themselves not only on the wrong side of history, but also at a competitive disadvantage.” In order to ensure that the new normal allows both businesses and consumers to thrive, telecom operators have the opportunity to lead the charge in ensuring that e-commerce channels are not just a way for consumers and businesses to survive the pandemic, but to thrive in its aftermath.

A tool for survival

In a report on the impact of COVID-19 on e-commerce in Denmark, researchers at Deloitte note that, “We are seeing an acceleration that will lead to a new normal coming out of the crisis. While a short-term reaction is needed to survive, a long-term view will make winners.”

Focusing on the short term for now, e-commerce has been an essential tool in keeping both enterprises and individuals afloat over the past year.

The establishment of global lockdowns and social distancing measures that took effect around mid-March had a profound effect on the digital economy as a whole. A recent report from the OECD notes that the crisis accelerated an expansion of e-commerce towards new firms, customers and products, adding that e-commerce “has provided customers with access to a significant variety of products from the convenience and safety of their homes, and has enabled firms to continue operation in spite of contact restrictions and other confinement measures.”

Pedro Uria Recio, Group Head of AI Transformation at Malaysian telecom Axiata, agrees. “During lockdown, a lot of people who had previously not used e-commerce started to adopt it,” he explains, adding that at the same time a large number of people who had previously used ecommerce channels solely for infrequent, expensive purchases like electronics, started using online channels to buy day to day commodities like groceries and pharmaceuticals. “There’s been a huge movement towards buying essentials online,” he adds.

The e-commerce boom

Upon reflection, it’s not really that surprising. In China, online shopping platforms like Alibaba benefited hugely from the 2003 SARS outbreak, which also forced huge numbers of people into quarantine. At the same time, established retailers began moving towards an online model. Deloitte’s report notes that, “The SARS pandemic accelerated the behavioral change of the internet becoming the mass medium in China.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, retail and food services sales between February and April 2020 fell by 7.7% compared to the same period in 2019. At the same time, sales for largely e-commerce based non-store retailers grew by 14.8% over the same period. In the UK, e-commerce’s share of retail revenues rose from 20.3% in the first quarter of 2020, to 31.3% between the first and second quarter.

The question is whether or not this trend will last beyond COVID-19. On the face of it, the easing of lockdowns and social distancing measures would be expected to once again reduce e-commerce spend as consumers are able to return to brick and mortar channels. However, the long-lasting effects of the SARS outbreak in China on the country’s e-commerce sector tell a different story. As a result of a shock to the economy that a pandemic causes, online retailers suddenly find themselves having to fight even harder to win customers, even though the overall market share available to e-commerce vendors grows. Deloitte notes that “e-commerce players seeing a surge in volume will do everything in their power to retain their newly acquired customers through loyalty programs, subscription models, promotions, and expansion of the product range.” A resultant explosion of new services, channels and elevated customer experiences could then be expected to permanently expand the e-commerce segment, even as the effects of the pandemic wane.

Enter the telcos

There are a number of ways in which telecoms can and have been capitalising on the growth in e-commerce spurred by the pandemic. The first is better usage of the massive amounts of data that telecoms collect on a daily basis.

Kerstin Trikalitis, Founder and CEO of telecom-driven digital advertising firm Out There Media (OTM), explains that, in comparison to the probabilistic cookie based data used by the majority of online advertisers like Google and Facebook, telecoms collect much richer and more valuable information. “First party deterministic telecom data can tell us a user’s exact age, gender, location, how much money they’ve spent on their mobile device which gives a good indication of socio-economic class, handset type, operating system, and then sometimes even more granular data depending on the market,” she explains. OTM has managed to harness this deterministic telecom data into its platform, achieving a 70% better response rate on its campaigns than Google and Facebook as a result.

In addition to better data to target e-commerce campaigns, products and services, Trikalitis adds that mobile operators are starting to drive new advertising channels directly to their consumers. She adds that the growth in adoption of rich communication services (RCS) will allow telecoms to become far more effective digital advertising and commerce platforms, akin to popular OTT messaging and social media apps like Facebook and Instagram are today.

This combination of new channels, data based revenue streams and the increase in e-commerce usage for daily essentials could have a profound and permanent effect on the size of the e-commerce industry, and it appears that telecoms are uniquely poised to capitalise on that growth, becoming facilitators and beneficiaries of the new normal. Reflecting on a recent survey for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world. The changes we make now will have lasting effects as the world economy begins to recover.”

The post Finding the ‘new normal’ appeared first on GWS.

Christmas and New Year’s Eve will be a different experience for people all over the world this year.

The post Zoom Christmas: Can Video App Handle Millions Of Holiday Calls? appeared first on GWS.

Conspiracy theories around health risks from mobile technology are nothing new, dating back to the early days of pay-as-you-go contracts, which put a phone in everyone’s pocket. But this year, the volume has been turned up to 11, as people started sharing misinformation tying 5G to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

For quite some time 5G’s opponents have cited health risks as their main concern; implying that because 5G signals were stronger than those that came before them, they would be a risk to human health. Images of flocks of dead birds and mobile engineers wearing hazmat suits were used to back up their argument, but with the arrival of Coronavirus came a whole new range of conspiracy theories.

In recent months we’ve heard stories claiming COVID-19 is a hoax designed to keep us all in our homes while the government rolls-out 5G, that 5G technology makes COVID-19 symptoms worse, and that in reality there is no virus – it’s actually 5G that’s caused the global pandemic.

Stories like these spread across social media, and were given credence when shared by celebrities including Amanda Holden, Amir Khan, Callum Best, Woody Harellson and a host of reality stars.

Let’s be clear: There’s no truth to these claims. Their impact, however, has been threefold according to Matthew Evans, director of markets at trade association techUK. “Firstly, attacks of infrastructure and engineers,” he says. “Secondly, the time and effort that has been used to combat these conspiracy theories, and thirdly, in some very localised areas councils have come under pressure to veto 5G infrastructure.” This has included Glastonbury Town Council, which has said it would oppose the rollout of 5G.

Attacks on engineers and infrastructure

According to trade association Mobile UK, as of mid-June there had been 95 arson attacks on communication infrastructure and 250 incidents of abuse toward engineers in the UK, taking place everywhere from Belfast and Birmingham to Manchester and Liverpool.

The post Have coronavirus conspiracies damaged the rollout of UK 5G? appeared first on GWS.

Councils and engineering firms warned conspiracy theorists have concealed needles and sharp pieces of metal in their propaganda to stop them being removed.

Previous incidents have been recorded in Derby and Kent, but now East Sussex authorities are warning residents and telecoms workers of a similar danger.

East Sussex Highways issued the stark warning urging anyone who sees the banners not to touch them and to report it to the police.

The post ‘Conspiracy theorists’ are hiding RAZOR blades and NEEDLES behind anti-5G posters put up on phone masts in bid to stop authorities taking them down appeared first on GWS.

To assess the impact it will have, Business Leader spoke to some of the country’s leading experts on the matter to find out how it can be transformational and why the UK is so far behind the rest of the world.

WHAT IS IT? AND WHAT IS IT REPLACING?

5G is the replacement for its predecessor – 4G – which was introduced in the UK in 2012. This revolutionised modern communication with faster connections, and the ability to use internet in more places and at higher speeds.

The business world’s connectivity has made quantum leaps with each generation, as Kate Beaumont, Director Innovation, Technology & Services for Samsung UK – Mobile Division explains: “5G is redefining fast. With blazing speeds that are 10 times quicker than 4G, lower lag times, and much faster connections, there are a whole host of benefits for businesses.

“2G and 3G took us beyond just making calls, enabling us to send texts and even testing a little bit of the web on the move. Then 4G came along and altered the way we consume content on the go in seismic ways, as well as creating new businesses like Uber and Snapchat. All of which laid the foundation for the present leap into 5G.”

BUT WHAT WILL 5G CHANGE FOR BUSINESSES AND DIFFERENT SECTORS?

Russ Shaw from Global Tech Advocates comments: “The benefits of a 5G network extend beyond speed alone, offering increased capacity and ultra-low latency – delivering services in real-time, regardless of location. The jump between 3G to 4G was significant – it demonstrated the power of data and opened doors to a whole new world of technological opportunities. But the jump between 4G to 5G is generational – offering businesses improved connectivity at faster speeds, and the potential to transmit data with much less latency than 4G ever could.

“Such change will provide a platform for various industries to innovate, including healthcare and automotive. For example, more advanced networks are the foundation for technologies enabling surgeons to perform remote surgeries and for driverless cars to enter the mainstream.”

It is these new innovations and introductions to market that will change industries. However, this will be done through an increased amount of smart devices and the latest developments from the Industrial Revolution 4.0 – the rapid adoption of new tech – which 5G will accelerate.

John Vickery, Principal Technology Partner at BT Enterprise comments: “Simply said, 5G is widely believed to be smarter, faster and more efficient than 4G. It promises mobile data speeds that far outstrip the fastest home broadband network currently available to consumers. 5G also has a much lower latency, meaning consumers and businesses can download and upload files quickly and easily, without worrying about network delays or issues. For the business world, which is moving at a rapid pace with technology adoption, we need to provide our customers with 5G networking, ensuring they can benefit from emerging innovations, and ultimately transform their business.”

And many of the UK’s major mobile service providers are preparing for 5G to change the business landscape. A spokesperson from Three said: “5G isn’t just another mobile upgrade; it’s a massive step forward in combining many advanced network and computing technologies, to create the platform on which the world’s digital economy will run. It will generate new jobs, products and services that will power future economies and societies.

“We will see industries like manufacturing, agriculture, transport and healthcare, significantly evolve to be far more accurate and efficient. As 5G becomes more and more readily available, the opportunities it brings to a wide range of services will become even more exciting.

“In the shorter term though, it will be a key enabler for a range of technical developments and capabilities – something businesses will particularly notice, is the ability for colleagues to work more remotely with more efficiency.”

HOW WILL 5G CHANGE BUSINESS?

In this era, virtually every business is a digital business, which means 5G will arguably impact every facet of business life – from the way employees operate and communicate, to the way businesses cater to its own customers, and to the way entrepreneurs innovate.

Vickery comments: “With a growing global workforce, a shift in media consumption and an increase in remote working, access to mobile and virtual technologies has become a necessity for many businesses. “The biggest enabler of a mobile-first ecosystem will no doubt be 5G. Flexibility for employees to work anywhere, anytime is made possible with a mobile-first approach. For businesses, this will mean streaming high-resolution video, audio and images with practically no latency.

“5G also has the potential to bring improved safety and productivity to workers in construction, manufacturing, transport and logistics. It can also deliver improved patient experiences and outcomes by moving diagnostic and clinical expertise closer to the patient. For the first time, 5G will enable high quality video, audio and diagnostic services to run in real-time to link field practitioners with remote expertise.”

HAS THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK SHOWN WHY IT IS NEEDED?

With businesses across the world reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of millions of people are now being forced to work from their homes during lockdown. With devices being spread across a wider area – and more internet being used for calls, video conferencing, etc – it has shown the need for 5G to make future work faster and more reliable.

Shaw comments: “COVID-19 has ushered in an era of remote working, highlighting the importance of connectivity to our personal and professional lives. Increased usage has certainly put pressure on service providers to upgrade networks and monitor demands on the country’s bandwidth – perhaps the situation could have been be different with a nationwide 5G network.”

WHAT CHALLENGES DOES IT FACE?

Away from the current pandemic, clearly there is a strong business case for wider implementation of 5G across the country, to improve companies in every sector.

However, 5Gs widespread acceptance and integration into the business community has several challenges to overcome.

Dr Paul Carter, CEO Global Wireless Solutions, summarises: “Investment, government involvement, and public relations are crucial if we are to see the widescale adoption of 5G across the UK.

“Perhaps these are viewed as challenges, but hopefully they can be turned into opportunities to ensure that 5G can be deployed across the UK so businesses and consumers can take full advantage of the benefits available from this new generation of wireless technology.

“Operators are obviously investing in spectrum and infrastructure; however, will availability of spectrum match the market needs? Do businesses understand the full potential of 5G and are they starting to invest in updated or new products and services to take advantage of the power of 5G? What more could the government do to spur investment and development of 5G networks and applications?

“Lastly, with so much misinformation swirling around 5G, the public at large needs help in separating fact from fiction and in understanding what 5G will bring to them and all within a safe environment. Whether it’s the operators, the government, consumer-facing experts, or all of the above, consumers need to hear more realistic messaging about 5G.”

With investment and the subsequent infrastructure in place, cities across the UK will be able to benefit from al that 5G can offer businesses.

HOWEVER, CONNECTIVITY WITHIN RURAL BUSINESS AREAS ARE CURRENTLY BEING AFFECTED BY POOR CONNECTIVITY. CAN 5G CHANGE THIS?

RootMetrics’ Chief Commercial Officer, Kevin Hasley, comments: “One challenge will be extending beyond urban areas into rural environments. 5G infrastructure involves a requirement for denser deployment of smaller equipment, which makes it more suited to urban, more populous areas from an ROI standpoint.

“However, that does not mean that the rollout of 5G in Britain’s cities and towns will not have a positive impact on rural connectivity. Because 5G will ease capacity constraints on 4G networks in urban and suburban areas, this will make it easier to expand 4G more widely in rural areas.

“It’s unlikely that initial phases of a 5G rollout will make a dramatic impact on rural broadband. This has been shown in several countries, including our recent testing in South Korea. The excitement around 5G is justified, but 4G networks will be crucial to help expand coverage across rural areas.

“As we move forward and 5G becomes the norm, operators will have the ability to re-farm the existing spectrum for new uses. In this type of ‘trickle-down’ scenario, 5G could ultimately help rural areas – not necessarily by expanding 5G service itself but by allowing the growth of additional 4G resources.”

And much like the wider business community – whether urban or rural – the rapid development of industry has created a skills gap. This has affected 5Gs current state in the UK and could threaten its future implementation.

Beaumont comments: “The adoption of 5G and deployment has been pushed at a greater speed than any recent network infrastructure, fuelled by international and national competition. This competition creates a huge need for skilled engineers and support teams to deploy network infrastructure. Plugging this skills gap is essential to secure the continued growth of 5G and future network technologies.”

ARE THERE ANY SECURITY RISKS?

Perhaps the largest challenging factor immediately facing 5G in the UK is its supposed security concerns, which has hit the headlines in recent months.

In January, Chinese tech giant Huawei was selected by the UK government to be used in its future 5G networks.

US President Donald Trump’s government warned the UK against using Huawei’s 5G mobile networks and said the current plans are ‘nothing short of madness’.

But is Huawei really a threat to national security? Is their involvement crucial to it being swiftly and correctly implemented across the UK?

Shaw comments: “While security concerns over Huawei’s technology will likely linger, the government’s decision to allow the Chinese company partial access to the UK 5G network may well be critical to its successful rollout. The security concerns of the public and enterprise must always remain central with regard to advanced technologies, but the company’s involvement should catalyse implementation.

“We know that China is a leader in 5G and having Huawei contribute to ‘non-core’ elements of the network could well prove crucial to our timely deployment, which is essential for Britain’s broader business community – particularly in the current context. The partial access granted should ensure that, at the very least, collaboration with Huawei is not disruptive to the rollout, while ensuring that we benefit from its technical expertise.

“Excluding a company like Huawei from the UK’s digital future is to fundamentally remove it from the conversation on 5G in this country. This could cause profound harm to UK digital infrastructure, which should not ignore expertise from the world-leading Chinese tech sector.”

WILL WE SEE MORE INNOVATIONS AS A RESULT OF 5G?

With the security question set to rumble on until the government creates a clearer roadmap on its future implementation and impact on the economy, businesses will be focusing on what opportunities it could provide in the future after the current crisis.

Federation for Small Business, National Chairman, Mike Cherry, comments: “The new 5G network will have a tremendous effect on the economy and could potentially revolutionise the way we do business.”

Dr Carter believes innovators and disruptors will revel in all that 5G will have to offer.

He said: “For innovators, 5G is a blank canvas, a new playing field. Activities, applications, equipment, products, and services that exist today are built, manufactured, designed, or offered around today’s network, in terms of speed, latency, capacity, reliability and coverage.

“5G promises to change all of that. Significant improvements in all of those network areas will foster innovation, as commercial and public enterprises will be able to do or provide something that wasn’t possible before.

“Today, the industry is discussing and even designing and preparing for innovative concepts that we feel confident can be rolled out on 5G networks at some point – autonomous cars, connected infrastructure and communities, AR and VR applications, remote robotic applications, IoT, and more. However, certainly we are only just scratching the surface of possibilities and opportunities. To put it another way; ‘we won’t know until we get there’.”

The post The Future Is 5G: What Can Businesses Expect? appeared first on GWS.

It’s almost commonplace now to say we’re in uncharted territory. The type of social behavior that was said to be the driver of innovation in mobile technology — our greater mobility and wider social circles — is today, and for the near future, a danger to humanity. The economy into which some in our society are all too eager to emerge, is already suffering from an artificial, though necessary, shutdown.

Nothing more pointedly epitomizes the tremendous confusion among the very people that a global 5G Wireless infrastructure would seek to bring together than the arson attacks against wireless transmitter masts in the UK and throughout Europe. The motive behind these attacks is believed to be the widely propagated conspiracy “theory,” backed by an ample supply of lack of evidence, that Chinese technology embedded in 5G towers is intentionally creating coronavirus spores and spreading them with high-frequency radio waves. There’s so much to disprove the very notion of this mechanism, the “theorists” argue, that it must be true.

The abundance of disposable income that was supposed to fuel the world’s transition to a more practical, easier-to-manage, energy-efficient wireless infrastructure, has already been ransacked by SARS-CoV-2. Now the business model and the value proposition for the technology portfolio — or, at the very least, what parts of that portfolio may be salvaged — must change. As countries are faced with 20% unemployment or worse, 5G must transition from a cool feature into a national priority.

Made by China

In China, that transition has already happened. On March 24, that country officially launched its nationwide transition program to a full 5G Wireless infrastructure — not 5G paired with 4G LTE as the US and Europe is deploying now, but weaning China off of the high-power, high-cost 4G network, which was the original purpose of China Mobile’s first idea. With hopes that its virus spread and transmission rates are under control, China is doubling down on wireless as the engine of its economic restoration.

“China is halfway through its Made in China 2025 plan, where they want their companies to be essentially dominant, or have control, in the global marketplace,” remarked Dr. Paul Carter, CEO of Dulles, Virginia-based independent wireless network testing firm Global Wireless Solutions.  “Certainly, the growing dominance of Huawei and Alibaba illustrates that effort. However, countries and companies across the globe are perhaps waking up and realizing what’s taking place.”

“The question, however, is whether or not other countries and their companies can react quickly or not to maintain — or, in the case of a government, help their domestic companies maintain — commercial market share and prominence,” continued Dr. Carter, in a note to ZDNet.  “For example, will the EU stop fracturing long enough to put policies in place to help its domestic companies maintain or establish themselves in their own markets let alone the global marketplace? Will large players in the industry, like Cisco and Ericsson, fall by the wayside or step up their game? And who will be the next darling startup that develops a killer 5G app, product, or service — and from what country?”

“The challenge posed by an ascendant, increasingly global juggernaut championed and backed by our primary geopolitical rival — Huawei — is real, if at times overstated,” wrote Doug Brake, who directs broadband and spectrum policy for Washington, DC-based think tank Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, in a policy paper published last April 27.  “Next-generation wireless equipment is connective tissue for emerging applications such as artificial intelligence and automated smart-city controls. It makes little sense to allow control of such important infrastructure to be influenced by a government that does not have US interests at heart.”

There’s a plurality of ways one can interpret Brake’s word “control:”

• In the context of intellectual property (Nokia’s Bell Labs, for instance, holds the key patent portfolio for telephony itself);

• In terms of market influence, such as being designated the dominant player in a three- or four-player scenario;

• By establishing interfaces, firmware APIs, or network gateways into certain markets, such as China itself or even Russia, that supporting equipment would have to enable to gain entry into those markets; or,

• Whether by accident or design, making the most of a lucky situation where its own absence would result in a monopoly or duopoly on the part of the other players, that nobody can afford to regulate right now.

Control over any one department does not necessarily lead to dominance in the other three (just ask Nokia). To what kind of “control” did Brake refer?

“I try to break it down into the short- and long-term security aspects,” responded Brake, speaking with ZDNet. “Equipment providers don’t just turn their equipment over to operators. They continue to have an operating agreement — a contract between the two, where they continue to service the equipment, and provide software updates. So they have a certain degree of control over the firmware that runs the equipment itself.”

That gives such a provider a kind of unlocked door, if you will, for designating how the underlying network may be structured, particularly for wireless network-dedicated tasks such as distributing backhaul — the cache of data and services a transmitter must have on-hand to serve customers instantaneously. Global standards are nice to have, but especially now a telco does not have a running service contract with a globe. Huawei has a front-row placement in the race for 5G deployment in China, which is to be expected. For it to have real control, however, Huawei needs those service contracts outside of its home turf. Even a contract for maintaining old equipment can exert some influence here.

“There’s also a longer-term concern,” Brake continued. “Thanks to some of China’s unfair policies that made Huawei a real juggernaut, if that only continues and they gain more and more market share, and with Nokia on shaky financial footing — with private equity interests circling them — Huawei could push us into an involuntary monopoly on telecom equipment. That is not a good position to be in.”

China’s goal, according to its state news service Xinhua, is to accelerate its 5G program, and to have deployed some 600,000 stand-alone 5G base stations by the end of 2020. At the end of March, Xinhua said the country was about two-thirds of the way toward that goal. Breaking from the global 3GPP consortium’s portfolio, the country announced it would develop and deploy its own autonomous vehicle communications standard by 2025, with some services becoming operational between 2035 and 2050.

Last April 20, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) called for greater investment in what it is now officially calling 6G. It was the first unequivocal signal that China intends not only to take the lead with whatever follows 5G, but to pave its own way.

Remarkably, however, it will not be the monopoly that Doug Brake warned about. When China Mobile locked out Finland-based Nokia from renewing its contracts in the country (doing business as Nokia Shanghai Bell), that signaled to some that the country was closing its technological borders. What ended up happening was China Mobile awarding those contracts instead to Sweden’s Ericsson. That prompted Nokia to pack its bags and vacate China altogether, telling Light Reading’s Iain Morris upon its departure that it refused to take China Mobile’s direction in building specializations and derivatives of 5G just to suit China’s whims on technology standards.

“With the economies of scale that they’ve already had,” states ITIF’s Brake about Huawei, “they’ve reached escape velocity. On a purchasing power parity basis, the largest investor in R&D in the world. They’re massive, and only growing.”

Artificial symmetry

Nokia’s evacuation of China may have dealt it a crippling blow, after already having found itself reeling in the wake of the novel coronavirus. Last April 30, the company made substantive cuts to its full-year outlook, citing investment postponements by other telco customers. During a conference call, outgoing Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said he remained confident Nokia would be able to renew its contracts with China Unicom.

“We have consistently said we would take a prudent approach to pursuing market share given the profitability and cash challenges there,” Suri remarked (thanks to Seeking Alpha for the transcript). “Given that, we have prioritized our 5G radio activities on features that are required globally and for markets with better economics and have avoided specific local requirements.”

But are those global requirements changing, particularly with the dramatic reductions in consumer spending across the globe, and countries (not just China) adopting a more nationalist approach to supporting their communications infrastructures? Nokia invited ZDNet to ask it such questions. After we submitted them, along with a few others — which gently avoided the topic of whether the company was bracing itself for a hostile takeover attempt — Nokia officially declined to respond.

Back in December 2018, a complete overhaul of the European Union’s telecommunications code came into effect — an absolute necessity, given that the code up until that point treated telecommunications companies as national, rather than global, entities. Since the turn of the century, EU legislators had sought language in their telecoms law that resolved any question about the definition of significant market power (SMP). It took a decade-and-a-half for their arguments to make it into law: Market power, they decided, is not synonymous with “market share.” It’s a state of being whereby an entity can make whatever decisions it wants without any view to its competitors — essentially, as though it had no competitors.

There can be, as EU law now defines it, a state of joint SMP, where two (conceivably more, however impractical) entities act to the exclusion of all competitors other than themselves — as though there were no competitors — regardless of their respective market share numbers.

Under the current EU framework, the regulatory agencies of member nations all have “obligations” to make certain that SMP players ensure “symmetric access” in order to ensure a level, competitive playing field. Interpretations of this phrase, however, appear still to be split between what type of access would be regulated symmetrically: to the network, so that all service providers have equal interfaces and none are given preferential treatment; or to the market that these providers would build on that network. Some maintain that equal access to the network is equal access to the market — that the network is the marketplace.

If we absolutely believed that, then there would be no argument in Europe today about the dangers of Huawei, and no skepticism about its participation in what most will agree remains a global standards process. Granting any access to Huawei whatsoever, its opponents argue, gives it the opportunity for “control” — conceivably, to make deals and sign contracts as though there were no competitors.

Yet kicking Huawei out of Europe, even if it’s done country-by-country, could trigger exactly the class of regulation that the remaining competitors would rather avoid: an intensified oversight into how networks are managed in the interest of symmetric access, upholding the notion that networks are markets. It would be a government-imposed duopoly. What’s more, the type of access the law would compel equipment providers to enable, could be the very same type from which Huawei would be excluded, to create the duopoly in the first place.

EU law demands symmetries in all markets, with the methods of attaining those symmetries left to member nations to decide upon. That’s not the argument nations want to be having right now.

Nokia warned of China Mobile seeking specializations to its equipment, which it believed would go against the interests of a global standard — arguably, an asymmetrical access point in the network. Is there a danger that 5G could evolve from here, from a global standard into two (or more) hemispheric ones? Or in the alternative, would a Western 5G that is symmetrical for Nokia and Ericsson but not for Huawei, be in Europe’s interests?

“For the first wave of 5G RAN [radio access network] deployment in Europe and the UK, it will typically be NSA [non-standalone],” responded Sylvia Lu, an advisory board member for the UK national industry advisory council UK5G. “This is like a sandwich, 5G is deployed as an add-on to the existing 4G networks to improve capacity. Excluding Huawei from their 5G buildouts in some European markets means removing it from 4G, as some European carriers long ago installed Huawei products for their 4G networks, this would cost huge sums and given the current economic situation, in my view, still a very big ‘if.'”

Put another way, believes Lu, genuinely kicking a competitor off a network in a time of global crisis would mean the imposition not just of regulations, but of costs. In addition to UK5G, Lu is also head of technology strategy for Swiss-based wireless chip provider U-blox, as well as a board director for the industry consortium Cambridge Wireless. She believes the industry is capable of maintaining its own open access, without the intervention of government agencies or oversight frameworks.

“Technology companies and telecoms vendors saw value in developing 3GPP standards, a global standard helps to enable technology companies to build one standard, sell equipment globally, achieve economies of scales, and reduce the cost of equipment,” wrote Lu, in a note to ZDNet.  “Global standards are critical to ensure interoperability between vendors, but also interoperability between different segments.”

Governments talk about being the arbiters of fairness. But they would much rather have competitors define fairness for themselves, however unfairly they may come to that decision.

Interests at heart

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, European nations were poised to cautiously include Huawei in their respective markets, and the UK — now charting its own course in the wake of Brexit — was set to follow Europe’s lead anyway. Some of the skepticism Europe has expressed towards China’s handling of the pandemic, especially in the early stages, did appear to bleed onto its impression of Huawei. But so long as Nokia seems to remain on shaky financial footing, Europe’s telcos may not be in a position to tolerate the elimination of two players from its 5G market, let alone one.

Huawei finds itself in, as James Stewart declared to Donna Reed without her bathrobe hiding behind a shrub, a very interesting situation: It can’t afford to be seen as the singular SMP, not even in its own home country. As a result, it may be in the enviable position of being able to dictate the terms in which “symmetric access,” or market openness, occurs. That is to say, Huawei could build a technology platform that acts like a Chinese 5G for East Asia — with its own, exclusive portfolio for autonomous vehicles, IoT, and AI — and a 3GPP 5G for Europe. And it may have time to make those adaptations that it didn’t have before, now that the rollout process for Europe has slowed down. It would not have legal market or network supremacy in any market, but it would have sole discretion over the technical, legal, and diplomatic channels that keep things that way.

The word for that very interesting situation is “control.”

The downside of that strategy is that 5G ends up being a golden starburst sticker, for whatever wireless technology individual nations care to slap it onto. It’s China’s ticket to beating the US, not just to curing the virus but establishing infrastructural dominance. Not only will 5G be “done,” as in eggs. It’ll be used, as in tires.

The post Is 5G done? Controlling the damage, and controlling the outcome appeared first on GWS.

Before kicking off the ITV programme this morning, Mr Holmes said that ‘there is no connection between the present national health emergency and 5G and to suggest otherwise would be wrong and indeed it could be possibly dangerous.’

It comes after the presenter yesterday said it ‘suited the state narrative’ to dismiss bizarre theories that link 5G and the coronavirus.

This morning TV watchdog Ofcom said it is currently dealing with complaints made against Mr Holmes after the regulator received 419 complaints regarding his comments on Monday.

Speaking today a spokesperson for Ofcom told MailOnline that they are currently processing the complaints and that a full statement regarding his comments will be issued later today.

BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer told Radio 4 this morning that the presenter’s ‘wanderings of his mind’ on live TV amounted to a ‘stupid piece of broadcasting’.

Opening the programme today Mr Holmes said: ‘Before we go onto the programme I want to clarify some comments that some of you may have misinterpreted from me yesterday morning around conspiracy theories and the coronavirus and this involved the roll out of 5G.

Mark Damazer (pictured above) said the segment was ‘not something’ that broadcaster ITV would usually show

Eamonn Holmes has been branded ‘irresponsible’ by some viewers over his comments on bizarre theories linking 5G phone masts and the spread of coronavirus on Monday’s episode of This Morning

‘Both Alice and me agreed in a discussion on this very programme about fake news that it’s not true and there is no connection between the present national health emergency and 5G and to suggest otherwise would be wrong and indeed it could be possibly dangerous.

‘Every theory relating to such a connection has proven to be false, and we would like to emphasise that, however many people are rightly concerned and are looking for answers, and that’s simply what I was trying to do, to impart yesterday.

‘But for the avoidance of any doubt, I want to make it clear there is no scientific evidence to substantiate any of those 5G theories.

‘I hope that clears that up’.

It comes as the former controller of BBC Radio 4 this morning slammed the presenter for his ‘stupid piece of broadcasting’.

Mark Damazer said the segment was ‘not something’ that broadcaster ITV would usually show.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 today Mr Damazer said: ‘One of the many curious things about Eamonn Holmes’ wonderings of his mind yesterday morning was his attack on the main stream media.

Today Mr Holmes apoligised for his comments on Monday morning’s programme

‘As if ITV, an extremely important part of the British television landscape was not in itself a mainstream media outlet with an audience of millions based on the fact that it is very largely and quite rightly trusted by its audiences.

‘So what he did yesterday wasn’t a minor aberration or a blip, it was a hopelessly irresponsible, philosophically unbelievably light headed stupid piece of broadcasting and it will be up to ITV and Ofcom if they are interested to see what they want to do about it, but it was an aberration, it’s not what ITV usually does’.

Ofcom said they were assessing this as a ‘full priority’.

Mr Holmes was also yesterday branded ‘irresponsible’ for saying it it suits the ‘state narrative’ to dismiss bizarre theories linking the 5G network to the spread of the coronavirus.

He spoke out on the ITV show after presenter Alice Beer branded the conspiracy theories which link them as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘incredibly stupid’.

Holmes, 60, who was co-presenting with wife Ruth Langsford, responded that ‘it’s very easy to say it is not true because it suits the state narrative’.

He told Beer: ‘I totally agree with everything you are saying but what I don’t accept is mainstream media immediately slapping that down as not true when they don’t know it’s not true.

‘No-one should attack or damage or do anything like that but it’s very easy to say it is not true because it suits the state narrative.’

The presenter added: ‘That’s all I would say, as someone with an inquiring mind.’

His made the remarks after scientists dismissed any link, calling it a ‘physical and biological impossibility’ and branding conspiracy theorists ‘a public health danger’.

Viewers criticised the presenter’s comments and accused him of ‘legitimising’ the conspiracy theories.

@vickster51 wrote: ‘So I’ve just heard This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes legitimise the stories linking the coronavirus lockdown to 5G. On national television. Wow. How irresponsible can you get. Switching off. Hope Holly and Phil are back soon.’

Johnson McJohnson wrote: ‘Does Eamonn Holmes believe the ridiculous 5G conspiracy?!’

Andy Green wrote: ‘Well done Eamonn. You just added more fuel to this 5G conspiracy theory by legitimising what is utter nonsense. You need to research properly before pronouncing.’

MPs have called for social media companies to be held to account following reports of phone masts being attacked after theories spread online.

And Ofcom is assessing comments made by David Icke about coronavirus.

The media watchdog previously ruled that a local radio station had breached its rules after one of its guests suggested the Covid-19 outbreak was caused by the rollout of 5G mobile technology.

This morning Mr Damazer said the case involving Mr Icke was different to that involving Mr Holmes.

‘It’s rather different because it’s a much smaller audience on London Live, a marginal television channel but nevertheless, tens of thousands of people watched David Icke spout his particular kind on nonsense.

‘Ofcom are looking into that at the moment and we will see what they do’.

Earlier this month a mast in Birmingham caught alight in what was thought to be a 5G conspiracy-related arson attack.

Firefighters were called out to a mast which caught fire in the early hours of Friday, April 10 in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham

Firefighters were called to tackle a mast which had been torched on Coleshill Road, in Chelmsley Wood on Friday April 10.

West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service tweeted pictures of the 80ft mast which was engulfed in flames as they revealed the attack was being treated as arson.

The Sheldon Fire Station crew tweeted: ‘Mobile phone mast well alight in Chelmsley Wood. Do people really think 5G is the cause of COVID-19?’

Today a further 20 arson attacks were reported across the country on 5G mobile masts.

Incidents were reported across England, Wales and Scotland over the Bank Holiday.

West Yorkshire Police said a phone mast was found ablaze on Tuesday morning. The fire destroyed infrastructure that is currently being used by the emergency services.

Six fire engines attended the blaze.

This is while in Dagenham, Essex, three men were arrested on suspicion of arson this morning after a phone mast was also set on fire there.

Speaking to Sky News today a spokesperson for MobileUK said that theories being spread about the supposed link between the coronavirus and 5G were ‘baseless’.

‘Mobile operators are dedicated to keeping the UK connected, and careless talk could cause untold damage.

‘Continuing attacks on mobile infrastructure risks lives and at this challenging time the UK’s critical sectors must be able to focus all their efforts fighting this pandemic’, they added.

Arsonists attack 20 5G phone masts over four-day Easter weekend

The post How does 5G work and what are the weird conspiracies surrounding it? appeared first on GWS.

Stay-at-home orders have introduced many people to apps that enable them to order takeout food or groceries online, and when they do go to the store, more people are choosing to pay with their phones instead of touching cash or credit cards. Jason Gardner, founder of payment processor Marqeta, recently told Bloomberg Markets that since the pandemic started his company has seen a ten-fold increase in contactless payments made using apps like Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay, as well as online payments. “I believe that because of the coronavirus, people are going to move more to contactless,” Gardner said.

Not surprisingly, Marqeta has also seen huge increases in online delivery, much of which is initiated from a mobile phone. He said that demand for online delivery surged more than 30% the first week government officials started telling people to stay home, and then it increased 82% the following week. Like contactless payments, Gardner expects this behavior to also outlast the pandemic. “Once you’ve experienced convenience, it is hard to go back,” he said.

People are also playing more video games on their phones.

After people started staying home to avoid COVID-19, Verizon reported a 75% increase in video game traffic and T-Mobile reported a 45% increase. Some of this is of course driven by the large amounts of extra time many people now have. But people aren’t just playing the games they have; they’re also downloading new games, and people who didn’t play before are starting to. It’s reasonable to expect some “stickiness” from the increase in mobile gaming, especially as carriers continue to roll out 5G networks that can support augmented and virtual reality games.

Video calling increases

As soon as the pandemic started forcing people to separate, video calling increased. By March 23, Facebook was already reporting a 70% weekly increase in the number of people using Facebook Messenger for group video calls. On April 7, The New York Times reported that use of the group video chat Houseparty is up 79% since early March.

The pandemic is introducing some people to video calling for the first time. Increased use of video calling will be a “residual component of COVID,” according to Paul Carter, founder of Global Wireless Solutions, which uses drive testing to analyze mobile network performance and surveys to track the ways people use their phones.

Hopefully, people won’t try to join video calls from their cars, but from other places they may increasingly use their phones to join conference calls using video, even after the pandemic ends. Now that many office workers have had to learn how to videoconference on their computers, meetings that were once held through conference calls are likely to become video calls going forward. “With a third of humanity now in lockdown, video conferencing is fast becoming the normal way to communicate,” wrote Enrigue Dans, senior advisor for digital transformation at IE University.

One other change from the crisis is that Wi-Fi calling has caught on.

Carriers report that their customers are making more voice calls during the pandemic, and many of them are using Wi-Fi rather than cellular. Of course, many people may revert to cellular when calling from home in the future, but Carter thinks a significant number of mobile phone users will stick with Wi-Fi calling now that they’ve discovered it. He said that as recently as last June, half the people GWS surveyed about Wi-Fi calling “had either never heard of it or were not sure how to use it.” But of those that did find it, less than 15% “switched if off because they thought the performance was worse than the cellular network.” With the current stay-at-home orders, Carter thinks Wi-Fi calling is “coming of age.”

The post 4 ways COVID-19 is changing mobile phone usage appeared first on GWS.

Separating this pandemic from predecessors is that information technology is firmly on our side. In the absence of sport, Netflix is keeping families entertained. FaceTime or Zoom are connecting us safely from a distance while ordinary socialising presents a risk. And a plethora of cloud-based workplace tools are channelling business productivity from newly-distributed workforces.

Nobody doubted our dependency on connectivity before coronavirus, but the degree to which the thread of the internet holding society together during this crisis is striking. While restaurants, pubs, cinemas, cafes and more turned off their lights, data centres, network operations centres and internet exchanges geared up for an unprecedented rise in traffic.

What has changed?

Attention has been understandably directed towards the internet’s ability to operate as normal in these circumstances. Internet usage stats vary from country to country. But compared to expected trends, over the last few weeks, global internet usage is higher and more sustained, and there has been a shift from business and academic networks to mobile and home broadband networks.

Europe-wide telco Vodafone has seen a 50 percent jump in traffic since the beginning of March. Telecom Italia SpA fixed-line data volume is up 90 percent since Italy went into lockdown. And Openreach, which owns and operates most of the UK’s phone broadband lines, said daytime data consumption has almost doubled over the last three weeks.

Remote workers are probably not adding a great deal to overall broadband traffic. Tasks like sending emails, updating databases and writing reports have minimal data impact. It is rather the combination of a rise in data hungry tasks like video streaming and gaming, occurring in tandem with remote working, that is fuelling the surge.

The dynamic in mobile networks is less consistent. Telecom Italia SpA reported a 30 percent jump in wireless traffic while UK telco BT has seen a 5 percent decrease in mobile data usage. It’s likely that the majority of new traffic is going through home broadband networks instead of wireless networks, but carriers are dealing with a spike in calls as business landlines gather dust. Switzerland telco Swisscom suffered an outage it blamed on an “overload” of calls, while Three in the UK is handling 40 percent more voice calls than last week. “At a time like this, phone calls are only going to become more important as the country and the rest of the world adapt to a new normal,” said Paul Carter, president and CEO at Global Wireless Solutions.

Meanwhile, DE-CIX Frankfurt, one of the many global internet exchanges underpinning the internet, recorded an all-time traffic peak of more than 9.1 Terabits per second.

Cloud providers have not been exactly clear about how cloud demand as a whole has been affected by coronavirus. Microsoft Azure recently retracted a statistic claiming its cloud platform had seen a 775 percent jump in activity in regions enforcing social distancing, while AWS and GCP are quiet (although a source familiar with the matter told Techerati AWS usage is up around 30 percent).

The statistics we do have involve specific cloud-based service usage. Between 12-19 March, use of Microsoft’s Teams group-collaboration software grew from 32 million to 44 million daily active users. Last week, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian revealed Google Meet daily usage is more than 25 times what it was in January.

Need for speed

Fears that the internet may implode are misguided. The internet is a mix of fixed-line and mobile networks run by governments, telcos, ISPs, cloud providers and academic institutions, supported by a constellation of internet exchange points or IXPs. This distributed architecture means there is no danger of a global or even regional internet blackout.

But if bandwidth demand exceeds capacity in parts of the network, it could lead to temporary downtime or reduced download speeds. While that doesn’t sound too dramatic – it would hamper critical workers’ ability to work and halt a country’s newly-remote workforce in its tracks. “We must strive to maintain our critical infrastructure to ensure mass remote working communication equipment remains operational at optimum levels,” said Gabriel Bonilha, EMEA Professional Services Manager at Vertiv, a global critical infrastructure specialist.

IXPs

IXPs effectively serve as the ports for all of the internet’s networks. They improve the affordability and efficiency of global data transfer, in turn, easing bandwidth pressure on individual networks. If a major IXP suddenly became a bottleneck, all of its interconnected networks would see bandwidth capacity strained, dogging access and download speeds for users.

So far, the rise in data demand has not affected the bandwidth capacity of IXPs. DE-CIX, the world’s second-largest interconnection provider, said even if all companies in Europe operated entirely remotely and UEFA’s marquee football competition was broadcast in parallel, it would still “be able to make the necessary bandwidth available for seamless interconnection”. This is because IXPs like DE-CIX regularly increase bandwidth capacity to manage the yearly growth in data traffic and always leave reserves in the tank if necessary.

ISPs, telcos and cloud providers

Networks routed through IXPs must also be able to handle bandwidth demand to avert localised online gridlock or crippled speeds. Their ability to do so depends on starting bandwidth capacity and their ability to add or allocate more to deal with peak demand rises in certain areas.

Some are more advanced than others. Vodafone, which is reporting that its networks are coping fine with new demands, uses artificial intelligence to automatically assign capacity in busy parts of the network, for instance.

The latest results from speed tester Ookla reveal very few countries have seen decreases in service speed, and ISPs are reassuring customers that capacity is under check for now. Although, operators in Spain and France are signalling that demand is beginning to impact service quality.

When capacity is stretched, traffic can be prioritised so critical bandwidth is protected over less essential services such as video streaming or gaming. ISPs and telcos have the ability to reallocate bandwidth but are understandably reluctant to intervene as service quality is heavily regulated and the norm of net neutrality is widely supported. So far, in Europe, only French operators have explicitly stated that they are working with service providers to allocate bandwidth away from video-streaming platforms as an exceptional measure to reduce peak load traffic.

In a recent blog post, David Belson, senior director of internet research and analysis at the Internet Society, said cloud computing platforms should have the storage, compute and bandwidth capacity to handle increased demand. Recent cloud outage data from ThousandEyes bears this out, and actually indicates a decrease in outages compared to other years.

Nevertheless, Microsoft has said Azure will begin prioritising emergency personnel, organisations working on the frontline of coronavirus efforts, and remote workers using teams. “We are working closely with first responder organizations and critical government agencies to ensure we are prioritizing their unique needs and providing them our fullest support,” the company wrote in a blog post.

The preference is to tackle network strain with a bottom-up approach, but customer assent is by no means guaranteed. Spanish operators released a joint statement calling on customers to save data-intensive tasks for off-peak hours and many others have urged customers to surf sensibly. Bonilha added that if necessary home-workers could ease pressure on home broadband networks by “falling back” on 4G connections.

Group effort

Individual service providers have an important role to play, too. Video streaming platform Netflix agreed to reduce video bitrates in Europe for 30 days, the effect of which would be a 25 percent decrease in the service’s data consumption during the period, and Disney Plus has enacted similar measures.  Meanwhile, Playstation has limited its gaming network’s download speeds. “Prioritising bandwidth will require a group effort, not only from institutions and telcos, but also from people at home,” said Bonilha.

Sitting between commercial networks and services are content delivery networks (CDN), which ease pressure on networks and the services that rely on them by serving cached content from “edge” locations located closer to the user. One of the reasons Netflix is one of the most reliable and highest performing streaming services is that it runs its own purpose-built CDN of “edge nodes”, which handles 90 percent of traffic.

“Think of edge locations like local Amazon warehouses, smaller and local access points that help optimise on delivery. Edge capacity allows network operators to store and retransmit data closer to the final user and in turn this helps ease network delivery to remote locations,” said Bonilha.

Some CDNs are having to temporarily suspend content neutrality, too. One of the largest, Akamai, whose customers include Microsoft and Sony, is reducing gaming software downloads at peak times, completing the downloads at normal speeds late at night. “This will help ensure healthcare workers and first responders working hard to contain the spread of COVID-19 have continual access to the vital digital services they need,” wrote Tom Leighton, the CEO and co-founder of Akamai, in a blog post.

Possibly the biggest impact of the coronavirus so far stems from lockdown measures that have forced operators to limit maintenance and network upgrades. “Currently only critical interventions are being made on the networks as the priority is to keep workers at home,” said Bonilha.

This won’t affect an IXP like DE-CIX, which can monitor and maintain its data centres remotely. ISPs and telcos on the other hand typically have to physically access cabinets dotted across their network to perform maintenance.

Even though telecom and ISP infrastructure employees are widely recognised by governments as critical workers, operators are playing it safe by halting unnecessary maintenance. At the end of March, OpenReach revealed it was taking the unprecedented step of limiting or delaying new broadband and phone installations, repairs and engineer appointments nationwide. The likely long-term effects of all of these restrictions are further delays to many region’s fibre upgrade and 5G rollout plans.

The post Network strain: The risks and the reality appeared first on GWS.

Experts are seeing traffic surges in both home broadband Internet and, in some instances, cellular traffic — specifically, an increase in video conferencing on phones.

Network operators have confirmed the surge. As of this week, AT&T reported, “Wireless voice minutes of use was up 39% compared to an average Monday. Wi-Fi Calling minutes of use was 78% higher than an average Monday. Consumer home voice calling minutes of use were up 45% from an average Monday.” The company said its core network traffic, including “business, home broadband and wireless usage,” was up 27% on Monday compared with the same day last month.

Charter Communications shared with ABC News that it has seen “some increased daytime network activity — especially in areas with larger COVID-19 impacts.”

And in a posting on its website, Verizon said that the company’s “wireless and broadband networks handled more than 218,000 terabytes of data this past Monday alone.” The company also saw a surge in Virtual Private Network traffic. VPNs allow people to create a secure connection over a public network, such as like the internet, to reach a private network. VPN traffic was up 52% over a typical day on Verizon’s network.

Internet broadband and cellular networks have limitations. How sustainable are these networks, especially when no one knows how long coronavirus lockdowns will continue?

Doug Suttles, CEO and co-founder of Ookla, creator of the popular internet speed benchmark application, Speedtest.net said that Internet broadband, mostly, is in good shape.

“There is the core of the internet, which I think is fine,” Suttles told ABC News. But his company’s data shows problems are popping up in residential communities because “the internet built around them is not built for this usage.”

“Everyone’s working from home, there’s lots of video consumption, video conferencing,” he added. “We’ve seen, in select areas, a much larger degradation in performance, specifically in residential areas — dense, residential communities. The commuters are all at home.”

ISPs prepare for peak consumption in evening, when everyone’s typically home, not such an all-day “overdrive,” he said.

A school teacher teaches on her laptop from her roof in New York, March 24, 2020.

What’s causing that increase in demand? Suttles said it’s video conferencing, which “has a much greater impact on upload [speed],” he said.

Paul Carter, CEO of Global Wireless Solutions, said his company has also been keeping track of usage patterns, in particular cellular networks. He likened the current demand for connectivity to Super Bowl Sunday.

“When it’s time for the Super Bowl, operators spend millions of dollars [to meet demand]. Now, it’s like the whole country is kind of like the Super Bowl,” Carter said to ABC News.

He said COVID-19 has placed unique demands on carriers.

“Now, all of a sudden, everything has been turned on its head. There is a lot less mobility, people are sheltering at home, often in suburban areas. People are spending more time on their devices,” he continued. “There’s a blur between personal and work use. Currently, people are starting their day maybe earlier, so that the workday is longer. You are at home for the whole time, so you are doing more activities on your phone.”

Carter said network operators are seeing a spike in voice communications, particularly with Wi-Fi calling, in some cases a “75 to 100% increase.”

“You are using your home broadband to make the initial connection, and then it’s forwarded by your cellular service provider,” Carter added.

But he said he’s optimistic carriers can meet the demand.

They have been preparing for 5G, not just on the front end but on the back end, the core network,” he said. “So they have been building capacity into the network. Wireless network operators are working hard to fill [performance] holes, but it’s a testament to them that the networks are holding up so well already.”

In the case of dense residential areas that may not get the same performance as larger, urban areas, Suttles suggested operators may resort to throttling bandwidth, as was done recently in the EU.

“Just like [with] Netflix, [operators] could force lower resolution. [You won’t have] as good an experience,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of outages in Zoom, these platforms are getting taxed in ways they have not been before.”

Zoom, a video conferencing platform, has seen such an increase in demand that its stock rose earlier this month, despite Wall Street’s rollercoaster performance.

“We are confident that our architecture is built to handle these growing levels of activity. Our unified communications platform is architected from the ground up to address the most technologically difficult aspect of communications: video,” Zoom said in a statement to ABC News.

In the meantime, non-commuters can take steps to bolster their bandwidth while working from home. Suttles suggested using a combination of cellular and home broadband, especially since cellular networks are seeing less of a surge in demand.

“Tether your laptop, or one of your devices to [cellular], then [other devices to broadband] to spread the load,” he advised. “Perhaps if Zoom works great over [cellular], use that one computer connected to your phone for that Zoom call. Figure out which of your connections are best.”

The post Will coronavirus break the Internet? Here’s what the experts say. appeared first on GWS.

So how will it play out in 2020? And what else should the market be looking out for? We ask the experts.

Amdocs Open Network CTO Angela Logothetis

As incumbent communication service providers (CSPs) move to 5G, they will need more – and a broader range – of spectrum, ranging from low to high band. In 2020, we will see innovation in spectrum to deal with this demand.

Expect to see billions of dollars spent in auctions as operators learn where and how to best use spectrum such as millimetre wave (mmWave) to deploy technologies that increase efficiency and support “re-farmed” spectrum.

5G will also lead to new, disruptive players entering the market in smart cities, with new IoT devices and private networks. All these new players will also require spectrum, driving innovation in regulation and allocation.

Multiple countries, including the US, Japan, Germany and the UK are already regulating spectrum bands to be available through shared and priority access, and to be dedicated to enterprise applications.

As 5G begins to take hold in 2020, this will encourage innovation, disruption and competition. Traditional CSPs will evolve to open cloud networks, network-sharing, network-slicing and new spectrum to attain the cost structures, agility and innovation to compete on the new technology.

Samsung Corporate VP, UK and Ireland Conor Pierce

2020 will be an incredible year for the mobile industry: we’re on the cusp of some amazing innovations that will change the way we live, work and play.

Consumers are desperate to see how the smartphone will evolve in form and function as brands get innovative with materials and app functionality. The Samsung Galaxy Fold boldly pioneered a brand new category of smartphone that has set the tone for the industry and piqued everyone’s interest in what comes next.

The smartphone will become a remote control for our homes, linking us into a more connected way of living in which smart appliances will begin to learn our preferences and operate as a sixth sense.

By this year, most Samsung home electrical products will be IoT-ready and able to connect to its SmartThings Platform, so the smartphone will take on a new role as a home life assistant.

Having shipped the most 5G-ready handsets in 2019 with the S10+ 5G and Note10+ 5G, Samsung is excited about the possibilities for gaming, VR and the smart enterprise.

This is a huge leap for connectivity and the second digital revolution is upon us; enhanced connectivity will be the catalyst for major innovation in apps and connectivity.

Chargifi CEO and co-founder Dan Bladen

Never more than now has convenient access to power been in greater demand as a result of our ‘always-on’ lifestyles, with consumer demands shifting to prioritise power over anything else.

According to the latest survey by the Wireless Power Consortium, ‘battery anxiety’ remains high and has increased year-on-year, with 73 per cent of consumers experiencing it.

With Apple announcing last year that all devices from the iPhone 8 upwards were being shipped with wireless charging, this puts the number of wireless charging devices at around one billion at the time of writing.

As we enter the new decade, all the signs are that this is set to increase further, with more and more consumers carrying wireless-charging-enabled devices under the expectation of being able to power up seamlessly.

Indeed, the number of such devices was expected to rise to around 1.7 billion by the start of 2020.

Such charging will, meanwhile, become faster and we’ll see rumours about laptop wireless charging. Research has revealed that 50 per cent of employees expect wireless charging in their office space.

This type of demand gives businesses an opportunity to monetise on power, with the deployment of a cloud-managed, smart wireless charging service able to increase engagement, satisfaction and loyalty, enhancing service and driving revenue.

O2 UK Chief operating officer Derek McManus

5G itself will not arrive in big-bang fashion, but incrementally over the coming years as new networks are built out, standards are set, spectrum is allocated and new compatible equipment becomes available.

But with networks now live in many parts of the country, 2020 will be the year we’ll see the emergence of many exciting and transformative applications for businesses large and small across a whole range of sectors. The first 5G capabilities to become available this year will be greater bandwidth and faster data transfer speeds, with improved latency.

Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) will enable remote employees and mobile workers to enjoy seamless, high-definition video-conferencing on 5G-enabled smartphones, while engineers can harness 5G-enabled VR to faster diagnose faults from a central base, thereby reducing costs for the business.

5G also shifts wireless connectivity from something we experience through personal devices towards an integrated infrastructure of buildings, transport and utilities, providing unprecedented benefits for citizens, businesses and cities alike.

This ubiquitous connectivity will become the backbone of our smart cities, helping to make energy grids more resilient, slash unproductive commutes and free up time in our overstretched public services.

As the benefits of 5G become increasingly clear, I expect to see improved coordination and cooperation between regulators, governments, operators and vendors to help maximise its impact.

Pangea System architect Dr Arslan Usman

Now that all four UK MNOs have dipped their toes in the 5G waters, they’ll be competing to claim the most widespread coverage. This is great news for end users and providers alike: 5G connectivity sooner and in more locations is a definite win, and a big step towards the Digital Britain we’re all looking forward to.

Work can now start on the small cell base stations that will enable dense 5G coverage beyond key city deployments. And it’s now confirmed that we’ll see another Ofcom spectrum auction in the sub-60GHz band, which will further steer operators’ 5G developments.

In terms of devices, the big focus has been on 5G-ready mobile phones; but in 2020, manufacturers will join the fray with routers using the technology that can compete with fixed-line Ethernet speeds of up to 1Gbps.

We’ll also see the debut of IoT devices that support 5G by the end of 2020, focusing on network-slicing and efficient power consumption. But the star of the show, of course, will be super-fast 5G speeds.

In the meantime, we’ll see a lot more 5G trial solutions and demonstrations, such as Vodafone’s cross-country haptic rugby and Three’s live holographic ad in 2019.

Keep an eye on the automotive industry too: cellular V2X (vehicle-to-everything) tech is going to make leaps and bounds with the near- zero latency of 5G. Smart cars will make some serious breakthroughs with assisted driving and accident reduction, and we’ll be one big step closer to fully self-driving vehicles.

uSwitch Head of commercial broadband and mobiles Ernest Doku

2020 is a year in which all those esoteric, lofty promises of 5G will finally come into sharp focus for consumers.

We are expecting to see providers and MVNOs bring more fully formed and compelling propositions to market, with live networks stretching their legs in terms of use cases, speeds, coverage – and, more importantly, competition – in a meaningful way.

We will no doubt see a second wave of devices supporting 5G technology, including Apple’s. That means the race for faster speeds can begin in earnest and expand beyond the flagship sector.

This is great timing, given that end-of- contract notifications stand to potentially shake up the market in a huge way and introduce more competition, spurring disengaged consumers into action to reassess their options.

Three-year contracts – both to help hold onto such wavering customers and subsidise rising device costs – look set to become the norm.

Folding phones will continue to pervade the market in terms of column inches over consumer uptake, but will remain a curiosity until pricing is relevant to the average customer.

Lastly, fixed-mobile convergence will continue to be a big power play, and will serve to blur the lines of connectivity as broadband and mobile are bundled even more tightly as a utility for data-hungry customers. All those streaming services have to end up on our phones somehow.

GfK Director of technology Imran Choudhary

In 2020, we can expect to see the continued ramp up and rollout of 5G. This will come in two forms: firstly, from networks as they look to promote new services; and secondly, from OEMs, which will undoubtedly launch more 5G-capable devices.

As a result, we can perhaps expect to see a much needed boon for OEMs and networks as consumers come to take advantage of services using the new technology and acquire 5G-capable devices – bucking the wider trend of consumers holding on to their devices for ever longer periods of time.

In addition, we can expect a push on wider connectivity towards the end of the year as OEMs of devices such as wearables, laptops and tablets look to take advantage of 5G and the additional connectivity opportunities.

The year ahead will see a continued focus from Chinese challenger brands on the UK as they look to grow their footholds in the market.

From our research, less consumers are saying that it’s very important to know where and how their products are made, meaning Chinese players could have greater traction in 2020 given their focus and change in consumer attitudes.

This year, we can also expect to see more foldable devices coming to market as the technology to produce such devices improves and costs potentially begin to settle. We can expect at least a handful of foldable devices from a variety of OEMs in 2020 as this innovative space begins to reveal which type of folding devices can be made for mass consumer appeal.

Improved software and OS developments will see more AI arriving in mobile devices and integrated into functions such as taking pictures, while there will also be more development of AI assistants from the likes of Siri and Google Assistant. This will be coupled with continued growth in smart speakers as big brands and OEMs continue to drive this segment, which appears to have plenty of headroom to grow.

In 2020, we may continue to see more shifts in consumer attitudes as segments such as Gen Z find their feet in wider society and grow their purchasing power. This, coupled with wider social trends, will have an impact on what our industry does to cater for dynamic consumer segments.

Finally, we can expect to see further proposition development from MVNOs and MNOs, with more converged offerings coming to the market from those offering dual, triple and quad-play propositions.

We could see the arrival of more sub-brands and even more MVNOs in a crowded space, pushing the industry to focus on loyalty and reward mechanics in a bid to keep consumers happy in a post text-to-switch marketplace. We’re excited to see how 2020 unfolds.

Cobham Wireless VP of business development and technology Ingo Flomer 

For many building owners, there’s currently not the financial incentive to create the kind of 5G user experience touted by the press.

Most of us are happy today with the performance we receive when using our phones, or else don’t really give it a second thought. This will change when 5G devices become more affordable and more widespread, and new use cases are developed. This means building owners will have to be ready.

This year, they will request that current wireless coverage systems are easily upgradeable to 5G, offering the perfect cost- effective solution.

Venue owners and operators want longevity and return on investment for purchases; what they don’t want is to have to buy a whole new system in a year or two as demand for 5G in-building coverage grows.

From a technical standpoint, upgrading platforms to 5G will mean wider frequency bands (such as 400MHz in the 3.5GHz band). I expect 3.5GHz to be in most indoor environments, though this is not about increasing coverage but boosting capacity.

Ethernet-based protocols will, meanwhile, be used to increase data-transport efficiency.

Excalibur Communications CEO Peter Boucher

It’s an exciting time for telecoms and businesses now that superfast broadband and 5G are really here and rolling out.

I think that in 2020 we will all be working hard with customers to develop a new generation of services and applications using IoT, which will make a lot of things possible.

The telecoms industry has also been talking about unified comms (UC) for the last ten years, but I think this will become a reality in 2020.

With Microsoft Teams now being properly voice-enabled, the market finally comes together, integrating multiple mediums of communication across multiple devices.

MATRIXX Software Co-founder and VP of marketing Jennifer Kyriakakis

We predict we’ll see a huge uptick in 5G announcements this year from carriers bringing the technology into specific locations and creating ‘smart spaces’.

This is similar to what we’ve seen Verizon announce with NFL stadiums and Vodafone with London’s Gatwick airport.

While operators will continue to struggle with marketing 5G direct to consumers, the immediate opportunity will be the massive connectivity of devices, franchise businesses and people in transit driving substantial revenue from locations such as airports, train stations, conference facilities, theme parks and stadiums, where there is a high density of users and traffic.

Meanwhile, smartphones may start to lose equity in our digital life as wearables take centre stage.

As the industry waits with bated breath for the 5G iPhone to drop, 2020 will be the year in which we start to see more momentum with alternative devices.

Major tech companies, including Amazon, Google and Facebook, are working on an array of wearable devices that will offer consumers the same touchpoints to information, such as video, AR, VR, apps and search.

Expect to see an onslaught of watches, glasses, rings and bracelets that leverage 5G replace many capabilities of your smartphone.

CCS Insight Director of consumer and connectivity Kester Mann

Another big spectrum auction looms this spring, and it’s bound to be keenly contested once again. This one will be significant for the sale of low-band airwaves at 700MHz, which are best suited to providing widespread mobile coverage.

After fledgling network launches last year, 2020 will see 5G technology gain traction – with uptake driven by rapidly falling device prices and continued network expansion.

CCS Insight expects there to be nearly five million 5G connections in the UK by the end of 2020. With all four networks going live in 2019, keep an eye out for the first launches of the technology by MVNOs.

We should also closely monitor Three’s efforts in 5G fixed wireless. With an enviable spectrum holding, it believes it can make inroads into the home broadband market, but questions remain as to how the technology will perform and whether people would switch to a provider without a fixed- line heritage. Having delayed its 5G rollout in 2019 despite making significant noise, Three has much to prove this year.

In another hectic year ahead for UK telecoms, watch out too for expanding offers based on unlimited mobile data, an acceleration in convergence strategies, Vodafone’s continued turnaround, a ramping-up of competition on “full-fibre” broadband and initial impact from Ofcom’s recent initiatives – notably text-to- switch regulation.

IDC Research manager Marta Pinto

Unsurprisingly, there will be a lot of growth around 5G.

As auctions take place and carriers roll out networks and services – in whichever form of partnership, shared infrastructure or nationalisation of key infrastructure – and consumers start experiencing the benefits of 5G, selling hardware will become easier.

The introduction of more models in different price ranges will diversify the current offering and appeal to more consumers, with all eyes on Apple’s anticipated September launch. Hints in recent announcements from Qualcomm raise expectations of a 5G iOS device being launched within nine months.

The refurbished device market is, meanwhile, not just a consequence of market demand, but also a profitable way for responsible disposal of electronic devices. This market is forecast to continue flourishing and make first-hand sales more challenging.

While the dominant design is still the rectangular unibody device, the invention of the notch, the punch hole and pop-up cameras have seen smartphones evolve and now move on to the creation of the foldable device.

New form factors are expected to continue to show up in the market, challenging the status quo. As with other innovations, these devices are expected to continue as marketing pieces rather than mass market phones – at least until the technologies mature and price drops make them more affordable.

Separately, the evolution of 5G chipsets and batteries will be paired with eSIM technology that allows users to connect on the go. This will in turn require service providers to reinvent data plans, making them shareable across devices.

In the area of always-on connectivity, it is worth noting the opportunity for WiFi 6. 5G will be a slow rollout in some geographies, but WiFi 6 solutions can help improve the user’s connected experience.

ROKiT Phones CEO Michael Coombes

What a year 2019 was: consumers revelled in industry firsts, including the triple- camera set-up with wide lens and 5G-ready phones, and hardware improvements like greatly extended battery life.

We also saw exciting new players shake up the market with innovative launches.

Looking ahead, 2020 sees some equally exciting moves on the horizon. R&D teams have, for example, been working on innovations including the return of foldable phones and the rise of 64MP cameras.

These will come with a hefty price point, which will continue to eclipse £1,000 plus. We expect to see more consumers question the wisdom of spending four figures on a device with market leaders, when disruptors are offering the same or very similar features for a fraction of the price.

Consumers are already able to do so much on their mobiles, from watching movies to making contactless payments, and market intelligence suggests this will only increase.

BICS CMO and VP of mobility and IoT business Mikael Schachne 

People and ‘things’ on the move will drive 5G roaming – and operator revenues.

2020 will be (another!) 5G-focused year. More roaming trials for the technology will be fuelled by both consumer and business use cases, enabling next-generation connectivity to go global.

Last summer, we reported that data roaming traffic across Asia had surged 245 per cent over the 12 months to June, an uplift driven in large part by increased adoption of roaming, and new tariffs plans, travel SIMs and IoT devices across the continent.

But this isn’t limited to Asia: we also found that Q1 2019 outbound roaming traffic from Asia to Europe and the Middle East increased 88 per cent compared to Q1 2018, and inbound roaming volumes from the same regions grew 81 per cent. As 5G adoption increases, roaming traffic for that technology will follow a similar pattern, surging on an international scale.

Subscribers are enjoying more international travel and expecting the same quality of service wherever they are. And sectors such as the connected automotive industry and consumer electronics will become increasingly reliant on cross-border, ultra-reliable, low-latency connectivity.

Monetising 5G roaming will be a priority for operators, with industrial IoT (IIoT) presenting a means of doing just that. Companies operating in that sector have the funds and financial incentives to invest in and pay for 5G connectivity and, as many have a global footprint, will also be able to invest in and pay for 5G roaming.

We’ll see IIoT benefit from remote tracking, robotics, efficiencies in productivity and project management, and automation, while operators can unlock a major revenue opportunity and continue to monetise a core part of their service offering.

Global Wireless Solutions CEO Paul Carter 

The ongoing UK rollout of 5G will certainly command plenty of column inches in 2020.

The results that we’ve already obtained from our first 5G testing across London show that customers have plenty of reasons to be excited about deployment.

Expect operator investments in 5G to seriously ramp up as they deploy the technology both alongside and integrated with their 4G networks in more locations.

We shouldn’t expect 5G small cells to be blanketing the UK any time soon, as operators will continue to build out 4G to fill in those challenging coverage gaps across the country.

The net result will be the development of a more holistic and contiguous wireless network, meaning key applications such as IoT will come more into focus as the public realises their potential.

Meanwhile, this will be the year that the industry finally moves away from speed as the benchmark currency of choice.

Historical network performance testing shows that all operators currently provide mobile internet quick enough to stream video content and upload files on the go.

The focus in 2020 must now be to deliver a reliable, consistent experience that lets customers call, text, browse the web and stream content wherever they are without disruption. That’s why our OneScore rankings factor in which aspects of mobile network performance are most important in people’s daily lives.

Bastion Insurance Director of sales John Fannon

I predict a significant growth in all aspects of the recycling and second-life ecosystem during the course of 2020 as repairers seek to obtain more donor parts and global demand increases.

The good news is that independent dealers still have the edge over networks when it comes to providing a complete communications proposition, which is where they will continue to win.

There is little point in simply being a mobile dealer any more, as customers can get that from any network store or Carphone Warehouse. I believe the challenge for a lot of dealers will be how they take their business to the next step, when many will have reached a plateau and the investment cost of growing to the next level will prove prohibitive to some.

Despite this, the industry remains buoyant due to the constant new opportunities presented with additional products and services, and will continue to be so.

PP Foresight Analyst Paolo Pescatore

The UK is thriving with significant investment in next-generation networks.

It feels like we are in a golden era of connectivity that promises to transform the way we interact and engage with devices in the future.

With 5G now here, 2020 will all be about scale. Telcos are preparing their networks to cope with the impact of the new iPhone 5G, which is widely expected to launch this year. Most, if not all, new devices will support 5G and telcos will push it aggressively in the enterprise segment.

Convergence represents the next battleground in the UK, as one of the few areas of future growth for all providers.

In a rapidly converging landscape, it is paramount for players to differentiate beyond price. With this in mind, they need to offer a range of services including TV. This can prove an effective strategy in subscriber acquisition and, more importantly, retaining users through engagement.

Further M&A activity cannot be ruled out. Three UK might have a new owner and we may see a joint venture between Virgin Media and Vodafone at some point. Also, who will Comcast buy and can O2 continue to thrive as a pure-play mobile provider?

BT will hope its network assets give it the edge, while Vodafone continues to disrupt and maintain its growing momentum.

Fascinating times lie ahead in a vibrant industry that has regained its mojo, despite the background of political and economic uncertainty.

Doro UK and Ireland Managing director Peter Marsden

The mobile industry certainly had an interesting 2019, with exciting announcements by key players both old and new.

And much like last year, 2020 will see the industry remain highly competitive, with further consolidation among the key players intensifying the contest even more.

To win in this environment, mobile companies will need to own a distinct segment of the market with clear points of difference to the competition.

Hardware vendors will be increasingly focused on creating additional value by broadening service propositions to support their hardware offerings, which will come in many shapes and sizes. The successful ones will be those that bring brilliant benefits to the end user.

To outshine the competition, companies will have to drive greater efficiency while offering further flexibility.

Like every year in this industry, we can expect 2020 to be as fast-moving and exciting as ever.

Mobile Phones Direct Managing director Richard Baxendale

The rollout of 5G will continue to gather pace, with more cities and towns able to receive the benefits of this new technology.

The anticipated launch of a 5G handset from Apple will help to drive uptake with a much wider audience.

Growth of SIM-only propositions will, meanwhile, continue and we’ll start to see consumer credit and financing playing a bigger role in the way consumers buy the latest and greatest handsets.

The market can expect to see a lot more innovation in hardware in 2020, where there will be much more of a step change in form factor and functionality versus the incremental improvements we’ve seen in the past 12 months.

Exertis Commercial and services director for mobile Rik Hubbard 

Both Gartner and IDC have predicted that smartphone sales will increase next year, driven by 5G. The CES and MWC events are likely to provide evidence of that with smartphone announcements.

More foldable phones and dual-display devices are likely to be available from vendors other than Samsung and Huawei.

We are also set to see continued growth in streaming of entertainment and gaming on mobile devices, with subsequent growth in subscription services.

Multiplayer games are taking off on mobile, with 5G enhancing the gaming experience through its faster speed and low latency. AR accessories will come to market, taking advantage of 5G.

In the corporate market, expect to see more interest in device-as-a-service and trade-in programmes as companies take advantage of the benefits these bring in terms of keeping their devices top of range, making the most of the residual value

of their assets, recognising the need for sustainability and helping move to opex- based and subscription services.

ABI Research Analyst Stephanie Tomsett

While deployment of 5G connectivity for consumers started in 2019, this year will be important in determining its performance for enterprise.

With current 5G deployments resting on enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) capabilities, the most important release for enterprise verticals – such as industrial manufacturing and smart transportation – will be Release 16.

This will be frozen in the first half of 2020, defining key aspects such as time- sensitive networking and reliable and enhanced positioning capabilities.

More and more countries are, meanwhile, developing flexible spectrum models that will allow enterprise customers to set up and operate their own private 5G networks.

Most importantly, the US Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), which opened for enterprise use in September 2019, will be offered to even more businesses, while Germany will start to award local 5G spectrum to enterprises at an affordable rate.

With 5G becoming more relevant to enterprise verticals, a number of private 5G network deployments also look set to kick off during 2020, further increasing in the coming year and beyond.

That, however, rests upon the timely freeze of Release 16, with large players such as Bosch, Mercedes and Siemens eagerly waiting to bring 5G to the factory floor. Patience is not endless, so they all have contingency plans in place should there be any major delays.

While wearables benefit from cellular connectivity, giving them greater freedom from being tethered to smartphones and allowing people to use them when on the go, 5G wearables are not expected to be seen in 2020.

Component manufacturers have yet to announce any 5G chipsets for such products and are not expected to do so in 2020 because the market potential is small, with few device shipments compared to other mobile devices.

The requirement for the technology is low, as 4G is capable enough to support them, and there is the added complexity of fitting the required 5G components within a small form factor.

Parallel Wireless CEO Steve Papa

Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson will lose out to open-minded vendors.

The traditional radio access network (RAN) vendors – such as Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson – risk becoming outdated in networks demanding openness and flexibility. The closed nature of their technology means operators are unable to use multiple vendors in their networks, which means it’s difficult and expensive to adapt and upgrade technology once it has been deployed.

As we enter the 5G era, this traditional, closed model for building the RAN is no longer sustainable. In developed markets, the race to deliver 5G is in full swing, with operators spending considerable amounts building out their next generation networks. They need a new approach that will allow them to deploy and cost-effectively run 5G technology alongside their 2G, 3G an 4G networks.

Last year saw significant moves towards OpenRAN, illustrated by Vodafone’s announcement that it would be opening its entire RAN in Europe to OpenRAN vendors during the TIP Summit.

In 2020, the momentum behind OpenRAN will continue to grow as other operators realise it can help them reduce costs, drive more competition between technology vendors and stimulate higher levels of innovation in the industry.

Pier Insurance Managing director Toby Stubbington 

Telecoms will continue to see consolidation, with focused buy-and- build strategies by a number of funded companies in pursuit of a strategy aimed at increased market share and product diversification.

A focus on margins will mean that cross-sell and upsell from relevant bolt- on products such as insurance will be important.

5G and SD-WAN technology will continue to expand, offering greater networking potential and control – as well as services.

However, cybersecurity needs, threats relating to data loss and consumer awareness over who owns data will continue to grow. Unfortunately – and inevitably – there will be data breaches that will cost businesses financially and reputation-wise, the sector needs to continue to build resilience and products to counter these risks.

In a nod to the heyday of mobile growth, we will see the launch of several flippable phones on the market. Convergence of connectivity products, networks and AI will also help to offer seamless potential across B2C and B2B.

The post 2020 Predictions: What lies ahead? appeared first on GWS.

5G networks already operate in cities across the globe including London, New York and Seoul, and although availability is low right now, adoption is expected to climb quickly throughout 2020 and beyond.

The parameters for what would come to constitute a 5G network were defined in 2015 by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)’s IMT‑2020 standard.

According to the standard, 5G’s primary advantages over 4G are vastly higher speed (with a peak data rate of 20Gbps compared to 1Gbps) and lower latency (at 4ms on mobile broadband networks).

One way that carriers anticipate being able to achieve these advances is by making use of higher frequency millimetre waves (mmWaves) between 30GHz and 300GHz, although mid‑ and even lower‑band frequencies will still have a role to play in 5G communications.

IoT implementation

The networks will support up to one million devices per square km, 10 times the number currently able to connect on 4G networks. This will be critical for the proliferation of IoT-enabled devices, which include not just phones, but cars, wearable devices and smart appliances, drastically increasing the required number of connections.

The expansion of multi-user, multiple‑input, multiple-output (MU‑MIMO) technology will be essential to the support of this higher number of connections and will require basestations with many more antennae.

5G challenges

The difficulties posed in implementing 5G networks are unfortunately baked into its design. The mmWaves which are set to provide extremely high data rates are also subject to harsher propagation characteristics than their lower frequency counterparts.

In particular, high frequency waves are much more susceptible to disruption by physical objects in the environment, such as trees or walls. They also travel a shorter distance due to their shorter wavelength. This means the infrastructure requirement for 5G cells will be much higher, necessitating more antennas with shorter distances between them.

Thus far, South Korea has led on 5G implementation, with SK Telecom launching commercial services in December 2018 and the world’s first consumer 5G network in April of this year. Interestingly, Verizon derided SK’s launch as a “PR stunt,” noting that the network was only made available to a handful of selected celebrities. The US company launched its first consumer 5G network some hours after SK’s launch.

In the UK, 5G networks can be accessed in major cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool through EE, O2, Three and Vodafone networks. Recent testing by Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) in London showed promising download speeds of 350Mbps on EE’s network, however the latency measured was closer to 4G standards at 35-50ms.

GWS’s CEO, Paul Carter, says “For the time-being, 5G will involve a ‘mesh’ of both next-generation and existing networks all working together to deliver consistent coverage to customers.” Operators plan to roll out 5G in more towns and cities throughout the UK in 2020, although it’s unlikely it will reach the ubiquity of 4G just yet. As Carter says: “Ultimately, it’s the consistency and reliability that is most important.”

Case study: Air pollution monitoring with 5G

Announced in 2018, Megasense is described as a collaborative digital model for the tracking of air quality, that relies on 5G to communicate huge amounts of sensing data. The project is a collaboration between CMCC, Nokia Shanghai and the University of Helsinki, and uses SMEAR (stations for measuring earth surface – atmosphere relations), which record data on the interactions between small particles, air chemistry, soil and greenhouse gases.

Data is then transmitted across a 5G network, taking advantage of the technology’s high throughput and capacity, along with its positional accuracy. Aggregated, the information can then be used to visualise the city, displaying on a map which areas are the greenest and which are the most polluted.

Sasu Tarkoma, professor of computer science, at University of Helsinki says: “We have a dense mesh of sensors throughout the city, and then we have this near-real-time and very fine grained view of the air quality.”

The Megasense project operates on a massive machine type communications (mMTC) 5G network, one of the three categories identified by the ITU, in addition to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (uRLLC). mMTC networks prioritise high device densities, enabling this kind of large-scale air quality monitoring.

Ulrich Dropmann, head of standardisation at Nokia, says: “5G is the fabric for [the project]. If you want to have a mass of IoT sensors distributed all over the city, that’s where 5G is the answer. If you want to have reliable connectivity virtually over the network with network slicing, that’s where 5G is the answer. If you have more critical, high data rate transmission needed to the high quality sensor, that’s where 5G is the answer.”

The post Opportunities and challenges appeared first on GWS.

The year 2019 saw a couple of big new innovations dominate the headlines, with the advent of 5G and foldable phones.

On the 5G front, EE led the way as the first UK operator to launch the technology in May, with the other networks following one by one. There have also been innovations in hardware, with foldable phones entering the market.

Elsewhere, the second-hand smartphone market continued to grow in 2019, providing dealers and distributors in the UK with plenty of opportunities.

Chinese smartphone vendors, meanwhile, continued to land in the UK, with Oppo entering at the beginning of the year. But among the Chinese players, it was Huawei that made all the headlines this year… and not for the right reasons.

Mobile News spoke to some of the industry’s key names to gather their highlights of 2019.

CCS Insight chief of research Ben Wood

A key milestone in 2019 was the arrival of 5G. In contrast with 4G, the UK was one of the world’s first countries to deploy the technology.

EE was first out of the starting gate, as it was with 4G. Vodafone followed soon after, and we’ve since seen all the major networks announce their 5G plans. Three made bold claims about having game-changing spectrum and ‘real 5G’ in August, but failed to deliver on its promises, delaying availability to 2020.

In contrast, O2 went for a low-key launch, leaving the main battle for 5G mindshare between EE and Vodafone.

If you know where to go, it is possible to get eye-watering 5G speeds, but it’s still early days with limited coverage.

One issue that surfaced in 2019 was anti- technologists who waged war on 5G, spreading misinformation about the health implications. I fear this may be something that rumbles on for years to come.

The other big 2019 highlight for me was the arrival of foldables. Royole was first to announce a device, but the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X really put the category on the map at the Mobile World Congress in February.

Most recently, these have been joined by Motorola’s reboot of the iconic Razr. Samsung had some challenges with the Fold, but now it has been relaunched with a few tweaks, it has emerged as the most credible device to date.

Huawei won the plaudits for the Mate X, though we’ve yet to see it hit the shelves beyond some very limited distribution in China. The year ended well, with the unveiling of the Razr – probably the foldable that has excited me most so far – and there will doubtless be an avalanche of devices in 2020.

Another notable development was the arrival of unlimited data tariffs in the UK. Three had been offering these for a while, but Vodafone joining the party quickly saw rivals follow. This means that the UK probably ends 2019 as the one of the most competitive mobile markets on the planet.

O2 chief operating officer Derek McManus

2019 has been a real turning point for the mobile industry.

Firstly, most operators launched their 5G networks. The power of this next-generation network is going to unlock a world of possibilities for our economy and society.

We have been planning our intelligence- led rollout for many years, and I’m excited about continuing to use data and insight to deploy 5G where our customers need it most.

Secondly, the UK government pledged its support to a shared rural network, the significance of which cannot be understated. The SRN will virtually eradicate partial not spots and reduce total not spot landmass to just three per cent, providing a much-needed boost to rural communities and bridging the country’s digital divide.

The government must now continue to accelerate its planning policy reforms of recent years to put mobile connectivity on a par with other essential services and make network extension more efficient and more deliverable.

Mr Mobile managing director Bobby Singh

This year has seen lots of changes in the industry and the retail landscape in general.

I think 5G has been the biggest news, but it’s still early days in terms of consumers understanding the difference it can make. Only the latest devices have 5G capability, and Apple doesn’t even have one yet!

Apple itself has seen a lot more competition from new brands becoming more popular and established, with their developments in features and aggressive pricing giving them market share.

Efficiency in power delivery, wireless charging and USB-C capabilities are becoming more mainstream as consumers really see the difference these can make. This is especially the case when it comes to speed and convenience, with households increasingly becoming smart homes with tech everywhere.

Lastly, even the slow movers are now coming on board with multichannel retail, meaning retailers are seeing rising competition. One big step they are taking is becoming more responsible and aware of the impacts of plastic and other non-recyclable materials on the atmosphere and environment. By making small changes to the products they buy and sell, they can have a massive impact on things like the amount of waste going into landfill.

These steps collectively will help make a massive difference in counteracting negative effects to make the world a better place.

GfK global director Imran Choudhary 

A key highlight in 2019 was the arrival of 5G. With rollout now well under way, the first commercial propositions have been brought to consumers, making this a landmark moment in the development of 5G as consumers and industry become aware of what it can do. Operators are in the process of testing and refining their propositions while expanding their rollout.

On the device side, we saw the first 5G-capable models land in the market. It feels like we have only scratched the surface here, as many brands are yet to launch a 5G variant in their range. But despite the lack of hardware so far, it’s been an exciting start to the potential of our 5G future.

Throughout 2019, we saw the pace pick up on proposition development among operators, with MVNOs continuing to think outside the traditional box in their split tariff deals.

These innovative approaches from MVNOs have led to a market-wide refresh on key propositions. The ‘consumer is king’, as the saying goes – and that has never felt more true from a propositions perspective than in 2019, especially with the arrival of ‘text-to-switch’

in the summer. That development has helped maintain competition in an already highly competitive marketplace, ensuring consumers get real value and welfare.

This year also saw continued growth in the number of challenger brands operating in the UK. Chinese brands in particular continue to flock to the UK in a bid to disrupt the status quo. The mid-tier and entry-level price points have seen a real shake-up, with the arrival of some new players in these areas. This is again giving consumers more choice and better specs at these price points.

Meanwhile, you can’t have gone through 2019 without hearing about folding phones. With several announcements at MWC, the arrival of these devices really has been a breath of fresh air. While they are few and far between at the moment, and potentially not tipped for groundbreaking orders, they herald a path of innovation that is most welcome and ripe for refinement.

Our Perspective director Jason Kemp

The year began with an upbeat CES and MWC, with folding phones being lauded as a revolution in hardware development. However, until Motorola announced the new Razr last month, it has been more hype than reality.

We’ve seen Xiaomi and Oppo struggle to make a dent in the market, while Huawei was dealt a devastating blow from the US administration. Apple and Samsung continue to have a stranglehold on the market, and buyers seem to be taking a conservative approach to their product ranges.

Networks are looking at 5G to reinvigorate the market, but with a lack of coverage (and iPhone compatibility), I don’t really see the market taking off until late 2020. It seems to have been another good year for MVNOs, with Sky Mobile reaching the million customer mark.

Being a mature industry, we’ve seen more mergers and acquisitions than start-ups, with Data Select being sold to Westcoast and numerous B2B resellers selling out to larger companies. There have also been a few casualties that have ceased to trade.

In summary, 2019 has been a ‘treading water’ exercise for the industry, with a lack of innovation and economic uncertainty stifling the market. The most significant ray of light has been the continued growth of the second-hand and refurbished market.

Bastion Insurance director of sales John Fannon

As expected, 2019 has seen more consolidation and rationalisation of partners – the recent purchase/merger between Westcoast and Data Select being a case in point.

I see more of this continuing in 2020. In particular, it seems that telecoms players are buying or seeking to buy an IT element to their business, or expand upon one if they already have it. I believe this demonstrates increasing customer demand for communications as opposed to just telecoms now.

That trend has presented great opportunities for the fleet of foot in 2019, and will continue to do so.

Another factor in 2019 was the noticeable slowdown in new handset sales as those in both the B2B and consumer channels either kept their handsets for longer or refreshed them with recycled products. There is no longer a ‘round the block’ queue at the launch of the latest Apple iPhone, as users realise that the drip-feed of technological advances isn’t the huge leap forward every year that it once (possibly) was.

CCS Insight director of consumer and connectivity Kester Mann

Inevitably, 5G grabbed many of the headlines in 2019 as all four UK operators launched commercial networks. After the delays and controversy that surrounded the introduction of 4G, it has been hugely encouraging to observe the UK emerge as a global front runner this time around.

For me, though, the bigger story among UK mobile operators has been moves into offering unlimited data. Of course, this has always been a big play for Three, but Vodafone’s launch of speed-tiered unlimited plans became the catalyst for a new battleground to emerge.

EE and O2 quickly followed suit, meaning that all four networks now offer some form of all-you-can-eat data tariff.

Another highlight was an agreement between the four UK mobile operators to establish a shared rural network. The move – a rare example of successful collaboration between telcos – aims to boost UK mobile coverage to 95 per cent of the land mass by 2025 and will be cheered by rural communities.

This year will also be remembered as being one of renewed vigour at Vodafone after a turbulent few years. The operator’s turnaround efforts received a huge boost when it secured an MVNO deal with Virgin Media in November.

Other major stories in 2019 include a ramping up of competition in full-fibre broadband, the launch of Ofcom’s new text- to-switch regulation and a new brand identity unveiled at BT.

IDC research manager Marta Pinto

2019 was a very busy year for telcos and device manufacturers. The debut of the first 5G service and devices marked the long- awaited start of the new network generation.

In May, EE was first to launch the new technology in the UK, and Vodafone levelled the game by introducing the first 5G roaming service in its markets.

Samsung had a stellar year after several darker quarters. It was the only brand with more than three 5G-enabled devices in the market and is at the forefront of the European brand rankings.

Apple, which saw Sir Jonathan Ive leave the company, held back on releasing a 5G handset. That did not, however, prevent Apple from having a very good start with the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro Max, while sales of the iPhone 8 and 6S helped the brand keep its market share.

However, Huawei was the hottest topic of 2019. It was not the first time the US banned a Chinese brand – with ZTE coming before – but this time around the impact was bigger. This is because rollouts of 5G networks in Europe were relying on the upgrade of Huawei’s 4G gear at lower cost. The initial impact of the US ban on Huawei was an immediate halt in sales, hitting the brand’s market share more remarkably in 3Q19.

Meanwhile, Oppo expanded its footprint in Europe and its device portfolio, as well as striking up sponsorship partnerships that now include some of the most prestigious championships in the region.

Another big event this year was the launch of foldable and flexible displays.

PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore

2019 will be remembered for the UK starting to regain its network leadership. It is one of the few countries to have all operators offer a 5G service within a space of a few months. To see how the new technology is evolving far more quickly than 4G is truly remarkable.

There is also a fibre frenzy going on in the UK, with everyone jumping on the bandwagon in the race to deploy fibre broadband at scale. The early moves to offer 5G have undoubtedly brought forward plans for many providers to upgrade home broadband services towards gigabit connections.

Undoubtedly, competition is heating up and there’s no shortage of investment. This is great news for UK plc and the country’s digital infrastructure. It was about time that the traditional providers accelerated their own plans to keep up with the altnets such as CityFibre, WightFibre, Gigaclear, KCOM, Pure Broadband, Toob and the many others emerging from out of the blue.

However, huge uncertainty remains given that margins are squeezed and the business model for 5G is unclear. This is further compounded by moves to unlimited services.

GWS CEO and founder Paul Carter 

While 5G may have grabbed the headlines in 2019, the past year has been about much more than next-generation networks in the mobile sector.

UK operators have been busy deploying 4G sites across the country, as well as turning on advanced LTE features. Additionally, the government has joined with mobile network operators to put steps in place to address rural coverage gaps. All of this is aimed at ensuring reliability of coverage across the country, which we’re consistently told by both businesses and consumers is their top priority when it comes to the mobile network experience.

What we hear from our focus groups and consumer survey findings is that customer expectations around networks have significantly evolved. Just six or seven years since it was first launched in the UK, consumers have come to consider the performance of 4G as the new minimum standard for network technology.

To stay successful, operators need to tune in to these expectations and encourage the government to foster sensible regulations to help network builds, particularly when it comes to the needs of the higher 5G frequency bands.

Radius Payment Solutions managing director Ray Ferris  

This year has seen all three major networks roll out 5G at pace, with device manufacturers scrambling to keep in step.

5G is now live in over 22 towns or cities from at least one of the major providers, which is super- exciting for UK business. Ultra-fast bandwidth is just one of the benefits, and far greater capacity in congested areas such as railway hubs will mean a better user experience.

There is no doubt that UK MNOs are far better prepared for 5G than previous iterations such as 3G and 4G, having learnt some valuable lessons about carrier aggregation and call quality from earlier rollouts and technology upgrades.

This all bodes well for having a superfast infrastructure in place for when Apple releases its first 5G handset in the UK – with Apple launches often seen as the catalyst for mass uptake of a service.

Network operators have been busy introducing double-data deals into the B2B market and allowing more genuine ‘unlimited’ plans that offer greater degrees of tariff management and avoidance of bill shock. This in turn has meant that the channel has had to show greater agility around service and digital capabilities to differentiate in the congested marketplace.

Hosted telephony and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) continue to grow rapidly in the SME segment, and the likes of BT are pushing customers to consider SIP and alternative options as the ISDN switch-off looms on the horizon.

All the above means a growing market opportunity for the right providers with excellent services and innovative products, with the potential for technology to lead growth in uncertain political times.

Excalibur Communications CEO Peter Boucher

In 2019, the UK woke up to the fact that poor internet speeds were holding businesses back – large and small. This year, we have seen the rollout of gigabit-capable infrastructure to reverse this trend. Full-fibre networks will bring huge economic benefits to the country, with an estimated £120 billion over 15 years.

Cybersecurity has, meanwhile, hit the headlines far too often. The industry has had to raise its game in not only protecting itself, but also equipping clients to reduce their exposure to attacks and incursions.

This year, companies have become aware of the importance of evaluating risks and putting a security strategy in place. There is a great deal that can be done to protect businesses from potential attacks in addition to having up-to-date software. We have realised that training staff to be cyber savvy is a key part of any strategy.

Uplands Mobiles managing director Paul Hooper

In everyone’s home, and many offices, are smart speakers, with 2019 seeing a massive increase in these great IoT gadgets.

Many of us have our very own internet- connected speakers with integrated digital assistants, and it was the fastest-growing connected device in 2019: over 160 million units were sold globally, up from less than 100 million in 2018. The smart speaker market is expected to grow by more than 60 per cent year-on-year to a staggering £5.6 billion in revenue.

There is a lot to look back on in 2019, which shaped up to be a massive year for comms companies – but most significant must be the emergence of 5G and the thought of what is to come for countless potential 5G projects set to roll out across the UK.

We are seeing more and more new use cases in cloud computing and IoT, and will see even more when coverage becomes ubiquitous.

5G isn’t the answer for all, but it sparks the imagination and starts conversations, driving demand for high capacity and low latency connectivity. Smart cities, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things – these technologies are already starting to revolutionise business and, indeed, the way we live today.

Mobile Phones Direct managing director Richard Baxendale

This year, we continued to see the migration of sales from bricks-and-mortar retail to online, with more customers than ever choosing online retailers for the purchase of their new phone.

We’ve also seen users’ insatiable appetite for data continue to grow with the consumption of ‘content on the go’, driving huge growth in the purchase of larger data bundles of 50 to 100GB plus.

The launch of 5G services from all four UK networks (albeit with limited population coverage and device range) has breathed some real excitement back into the sector as organisations start to understand the benefits the technology will bring to their customers.

Exertis commercial and services director Rik Hubbard

Two key themes came to the fore this year: Huawei and 5G. Huawei’s growth was halted by the US-China trade war and the removal of Google Mobile Services from new device launches, thereby depriving Europe of the Mate 30 Pro. Other brands capitalised on this, most notably Samsung with its excellent A series.

The hype around the launch of 5G was predictable and eerily similar to the launch of 4G. The reality has failed to deliver against the hype so far, with 5G reserved for the most expensive flagship handsets and those customers luckily enough to live where there is coverage.

Apple’s decision to not include 5G in its new handset range looked like a mis-step, but ultimately didn’t affect its sales.

Lease Telecom director Simon Fabb 

2019 saw some interesting attempts to demonstrate innovation, with the likes of Samsung and Huawei putting a case forward for folding screens. Personally, I’m not convinced at all by this form factor or the retail price.

On the flipside, challenger brands such as Xiaomi looked within to offer an alternative message aimed at frustrated consumers who want high-performance tech without the profiteering.

Apple, meanwhile, returned with a play for the ‘prosumer’. For many, the new line-up came with a warm welcome – not least from the enterprise sector, which overnight gained access to last year’s line-up without the 2018 price tag. The deprecation of iTunes signalled another strong year for additional services, as Apple TV and Music look to become serious contenders for household streaming budgets.

Handset prices proved consistent, while market disruption continued throughout 2019 with unlimited data tariffs acting as a test bed for 5G. Expensive handsets and unlimited SIM- only tariffs further provided customers with great choice.

The year 2020 looks to be a year of service as we transition towards a marketplace in which consumers expect a pyramid of uncapped usage, the lowest prices and the fewest pains.

Iris IoT Solutions managing director Stephen Westley  

Wearing my two hats as a director of both an IoT solutions business and a mobile services and rugged hardware company, 2019 has been widely contrasting.

In the world of IoT, the furore and mystery around Huawei has alerted everyone to the fundamentals of security, particularly where data is the main rather than just secondary product. A focus on the integrity of the supply chain is good for home-based manufacturers and suppliers, and has also reinforced the fidelity of the supplier-customer relationship. Out of chaos comes a little sanity.

The year 2019 has also been a year in which those two great myths from both sides of the mobile fence – 5G and NB-IoT – have become more of a reality, courtesy of Vodafone.

While not yet perfected, both will have a major impact in enabling our world among consumers and the mobile industry alike, and Vodafone should be applauded for its efforts and leadership.

In the handset arena, it has been heartening to see the small shoots of re-emergence of those once great titans Nokia, with its rugged phone the 800 Tough, and Motorola with the Razr – even if in name only. This has tipped

at the great tide of Asian OEMs flooding our markets, where even tier-2 manufacturers (can they really be classified as such?) are producing some startling products.

On rugged turf, it’s exciting to see what was always regarded as a niche market launching handsets that compete favourably with the ‘latest and greatest’ consumer offerings. You have the Cat S61, Ulefone Armor 7 and the Defender 3 with barcode scanner and the like – giving the user not only outstanding performance, but also reliability and the useful life expectancy and value-for-money they deserve, as well as opening new mobile markets.

As more and more users have changed to SIM-only, we expect growth in the rugged segment to continue as end users look at the true RoI in hardware.

Pier Insurance managing director Toby Stubbington

The handset market has remained subdued, with little impact from foldable or 5G technology yet. The consumer is mindful of the ‘pound in their pocket’, and therefore products such as SIM-only, refurbished mobiles and the development of a variety of finance options have become attractive to a large segment of the population.

In terms of mobile networks, Vodafone is certainly showing renewed promise with recent net additions and the Virgin Media deal. A dynamic competitive environment is important, with government support and regulation where the market falls short in areas such as coverage or, potentially, innovation. The digital debate over the course of the election is welcomed, assuming it leads to action.

Mobile software developments, with a focus on AI and machine learning, are exciting. Mobile devices, alongside home smart speakers and IoT, offer a rich environment for further customer value, and devices will continue to become more intertwined and important.

The post End of Year 2019 review: 5G and foldable phones appeared first on GWS.

Early 5G network deployments, including those in the U.S., have been anchored in LTE, based on what’s known as non-standalone architecture. Operators like Verizon have said they plan to start moving to Standalone (SA NR) mode, where it no longer relies on 4G core infrastructure, in 2020. Standalone NR is expected to bring benefits beyond faster data speeds that are often touted today, with more optimized performance and enhanced 5G functions like ultra-low latency.

While 5G is closely tied to enhanced data-transfer capabilities, voice calling is still “essential” for mobile users, said Hannes Ekström, Head of Product Line 5G RAN at Ericsson, in a statement.

“So, 5G phones are expected to provide all the capabilities of 4G phones in addition to new 5G features and services,” Ekström continued. “Ensuring continued voice services on 5G devices must therefore be addressed properly.”

Paul Carter CEO of Global Wireless Solutions (GWS), speaking to FierceWireless earlier this month, echoed the sentiment about consumers’ continued need for voice capabilities. He said among findings from the network testing company’s consumer research survey and focus groups, was that making and receiving voice calls consistently remains the most-used cell phone function. Voice was followed closely by text in second and camera functions in third. Social media ranked eighth.

He said that while it isn’t necessarily a surprise, it’s a stat GWS continues to comfortably see. “Voice is still the number one choice of service,” Carter said.

Ericsson and MediaTek’s test, an industry first, was performed earlier this month at the Ericsson Lab in Kista, Sweden. It used an end-to-end solution from Ericsson and MediaTek’s commercial Dimensity 1000 chipset, deployed over a 3.5 GHz TDD band.

Current commercial 5G smartphones use dual-mode connectivity, meaning voice calls are made over 4G connections, but 5G helps boost data, according to Ericsson. However, in standalone NR, 5G networks will need to support native voice calling on 5G smartphones.

Qualcomm has dominated the initial 5G smartphone chipset market, and earlier this month took the wraps off its Snapdragon 865 Mobile platform, which provides peak speeds of up to 7.5 Gbps, and is expected to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2020. MediaTek and others like Samsung and Huawei are entering the scene though, as MediaTek unveiled its Dimensity 5G chipset family in late November, with plans to power sub-6 GHz 5G smartphones in 2020.

Before ultimately getting to SA NR and tapping 5G for both voice and data, Ericsson said the second step is to rely on 5G for data traffic, while voice calls use 4G with Evolved Packet System (EPS) Fallback.

MediaTek and Ericsson previously partnered to test EPS Fallback in scenarios where SA isn’t available. The pair also teamed up on interoperability trials involving 5G Core and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), to ensure voice support as networks evolve from 4G to 5G.

“MediaTek is committed to bringing unrivaled 5G experiences to consumers around the world,” said JS Pan, General Manager of Wireless System Design and Partnership at MediaTek, in a statement. “This technology milestone will let device makers support native voice calling services on 5G networks, providing users with a seamless connectivity experience as SA 5G networks are rolled out in the coming year.”

The post Ericsson, MediaTek prep for standalone 5G with Voice over New Radio test appeared first on GWS.