ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘5g’ CATEGORY

Ericsson has been selected by Swisscom, the largest telecommunications service provider in Switzerland, to enhance the consumer experience for its subscribers through deployment and integration of the Ericsson Expert Analytics solution into its existing big data ecosystem.

Ericsson’s solution will deliver data analysis and actionable insights for the service provider’s 5.3 million 4G mobile broadband subscribers using video and other OTT applications on the nationwide mobile network.

Daniel Staub, Swisscom, says: “Delivering a superior experience to our customers is at the very centre of Swisscom’s strategy, and Ericsson Expert Analytics will help us to pursue this vision even further by providing us with end-to-end visibility of our services across our 4G mobile broadband network. With this solution, we will now be able to monitor and proactively optimize our service level performance, as well as take action on any issues we see."

Arun Bansal, President and Head of Ericsson Europe and Latin America, says: “Satisfied customers are loyal customers. Not only will Ericsson Expert Analytics enhance the customer experience and improve network quality for Swisscom, but it also paves the way for smoother entry to 5G, IoT and cloud services with the solution’s advanced capabilities. We will continue to provide Swisscom with the most advanced network technologies and support as they move rapidly toward commercial availability of the next generation of connectivity.”

Swisscom is a pioneer for 5G services with Ericsson as its strategic partner. The two companies have already achieved a number of significant milestones in making 5G a commercial reality, highlighted recently by Europe’s first end-to-end, multivendor 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) data call on 3.5 GHz band. Swisscom was also the first announced customer for Ericsson’s strengthened end-to-end mobile transport solutions.

 

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5G is expected to reach more than 40 percent global population coverage and 1.5 billion subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband by the end of 2024. This will make 5G the fastest generation of cellular technology to be rolled out on a global scale, according to the latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report.

Key drivers for 5G deployment include increased network capacity, lower cost per gigabyte and new use case requirements.

North America and North East Asia are expected to lead the 5G uptake. In North America, 5G subscriptions are forecast to account for 55 percent of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024. In North East Asia, the corresponding forecast figure is more than 43 percent.

In Western Europe, 5G is forecast to account for some 30 percent of mobile subscriptions in the region by end of 2024.

The uptake of NB-IoT and Cat-M1 technologies is driving growth in the number of cellular IoT connections worldwide. Of the 4.1 billion cellular IoT connections forecast for 2024, North East Asia is expected to account for 2.7 billion – a figure reflecting both the ambition and size of the cellular IoT market in this region.

Diverse and evolving requirements across a wide range of use cases are prompting service providers to deploy both NB-IoT and Cat-M1 in their markets.

 

Mobile data traffic grew 79 percent between Q3 2017 and Q3 2018 – China a key engine

Mobile data traffic in Q3 2018 grew close to 79 percent year-on-year, which is the highest rate since 2013. Increased data-traffic-per-smartphone in North East Asia– mainly in China – has pushed the global figure notably higher. With a traffic growth per smartphone of around 140 percent between end 2017 and end 2018, the region has the second highest data traffic per smartphone at 7.3 gigabytes per month. This is comparable to streaming HD video for around 10 hours per month. 

North America still has the highest data traffic per smartphone, set to reach 8.6 gigabytes per month by the end of this year – which can be compared to streaming HD video for over 12 hours monthly.

Between 2018-2024, total mobile data traffic is expected to increase by a factor of five, with 5G networks projected to carry 25 percent of mobile traffic by the end of the period.

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks, says: “As 5G now hits the market, its coverage build-out and uptake in subscriptions are projected to be faster than for previous generations. At the same time, cellular IoT continues to grow strongly. What we are seeing is the start of fundamental changes that will impact not just the consumer market but many industries.”

The Mobility report also features articles on fixed wireless access and how to make it a reality, streaming video from megabits to gigabytes, and developing the smart wireless manufacturing market.

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Fujitsu Limited and Ericsson have entered an agreement to deliver end-to-end 5G network solutions and related services under a strategic partnership. The two companies are joining forces to develop this based on their combined portfolios – spanning radio access and core network – for the dynamic 5G market in Japan, connecting communications service providers to the global 5G ecosystem.

The two companies aim to initially provide systems and solutions for the Japanese market, and seek to further expand their collaboration to other customers globally.

In the 5G era, mobile communications service providers anticipate the ability to provide highly scalable, and intelligent services through open and globally standardised technology for core and radio access network for more efficient network operations.

Ericsson and Fujitsu’s strength in research and development will ensure the best path for bringing global 5G solutions to Japan, as well as exploring a wider global market.[/quote]As a leading network technology provider, Fujitsu is making concerted efforts to support open standards activities driven by major telecommunications providers and aims to achieve broad interoperability for its radio access products in global markets.

As a world leader in 5G, Ericsson has worked closely with mobile operators around the world in the development of 5G, through standardization, trials, and prototyping.

Ericsson and Fujitsu’s strength in research and development will ensure the best path for bringing global 5G solutions to Japan, as well as exploring a wider global market.

Tango Matsumoto, Executive Vice President, Head of Network Business Group at Fujitsu, says: "Through this partnership with Ericsson, we will provide flexible 5G network systems that are open and standard compliant, and will leverage our expertise in wireless technologies and network integration to a wide range of customers in and outside of Japan. From mobile broadband, expected to be the first widespread use case of 5G, to the Internet of Things (IoT) and beyond, this partnership holds out the promise of exciting new business opportunities."

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks at Ericsson says: “Our global expertise in 5G combined with our understanding of the local market puts us in an excellent position to support the introduction of 5G in Japan. By working closely with operators and partners, we are creating solutions that will bring successful use cases and applications to the market. With Fujitsu we get an excellent partner to accelerate this development.”

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With mobile computing and field service operations now becoming inextribably linked many field service organisations will benefit greatly from the full 4G coverage and in the not so distant future 5G could possibly make interactions between the field and the back office lightning fast and seamless. It will, therefore, be of interest to US field service organisations that Ericsson announced last week that the company has increased its U.S. footprint by expanding its 4G partnership with Verizon to include new markets.

This extended partnership includes Ericsson Radio System 4G LTE equipment which, in addition to enabling the latest advances in 4G LTE capabilities, will provide a 5G-ready platform that will allow Verizon to rapidly transition sites to 5G when they deploy the service in those markets.

The new markets will be deployed using Ericsson’s latest baseband and dual-band radios, an optimized solution for widescale high-capacity deployment. The solution will be software upgradeable to 5G and will deliver CAT-M and NB-IoT for Massive Internet of Things use cases, as well as industry-leading network capacity.

Verizon and Ericsson have partnered closely to drive the evolution of LTE by using LTE-Advanced features, enhancing capacity and speed on the Verizon 4G LTE network. In 2017, Verizon and Ericsson used these latest technologies to hit several industry milestones, including:

• Achieved 953 Mbps by combining licensed and unlicensed bands with four-carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM in a real-world network environment in Florida
• Exceeded 1 Gbps speeds on the Verizon 4G LTE network using three-carrier aggregation

Verizon and Ericsson reached another milestone in 4G LTE-Advanced technologies that will serve as a stepping stone to 5G by completing their first deployment of FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing) Massive MIMO (Multiple Input – Multiple Output) on Verizon’s wireless network in Irvine, CA.

Ed Chan, Senior Vice President of Technology, Strategy, and Planning, Verizon, says: “We continue to be committed to bringing the best network to Verizon customers. Working with Ericsson allows us to deploy the latest technologies on our 4G LTE-Advanced network will be an important component of our rapid transition to 5G.”

This 4G LTE deployment will improve both spectral and energy efficiency, increasing network capacity for current devices in the market.Yossi Cohen, Head of Customer Unit Verizon, Ericsson North America, says: “We continue to work closely with Verizon to expand the strategic partnership between our companies, enabling Verizon to unleash the latest in 4G technology and simultaneously prepare to launch 5G in these new markets.”

This 4G LTE deployment will improve both spectral and energy efficiency, increasing network capacity for current devices in the market. Further enhancements are expected as the 5G ecosystem evolves. For customers, the result will be faster speeds for using apps and uploading and downloading files.

To prepare for 5G, Ericsson has released its first commercial 5G RAN software, allowing operators to turn on 5G in commercial networks when ready. In addition, the installed base of Ericsson Radio System radios from 2015 onwards can run 5G NR technology with a simple remote software installation.

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Ericsson and MTS, the largest telecommunications operator in Russia, have agreed to upgrade the network of MTS. Ericsson will deliver the newest software features that will be continuously developed during the next three years.

The scope of the agreement also includes 5G-ready radio hardware, Ericsson Radio Systems and core network with the latest Ericsson Mobile Softswitch Solution (MSS), as well as User Data Consolidation (UDC), providing consolidation of user data for all network functions.

These solutions will upgrade the mobile networks for 2G, 3G and 4G. In addition, MTS will prepare the network for 5G with Ericsson software for Massive IoT solutions, including NB-IoT and Cat-M1 technologies. This enables a wide range of IoT use-cases including metering and sensor applications.

The agreement fully supports MTS’s strategy of preparing the network with 5G and IoT-ready hardware to enable a fast commercialization of these technologies. The deployment starts Q4 2017 and total value of the contract is expected to exceed EUR 400 million.

Andrey Ushatsky, MTS Chief Technology Officer, says: “In April 2017, in Moscow our companies demonstrated 5G technology with peak data rates up to 25 Gbit/sec. Now we have reached an agreement with Ericsson, which will supply MTS new equipment enabling our network to deploy first solutions based on 5G technologies starting 2020. After upgrade, MTS network will provide higher data rates, increased capacity and low latency. These characteristics are critical for IoT and digital services that we are starting to implement today".

 

According to latest edition of Ericsson Mobility Report, many operators will deploy 5G commercially from 2020, in line with the time plan for 5G standardization. In 2022, the number of 5G subscriptions is forecast to reach more than 500 million. The adoption rate of 5G mobile broadband is expected to be similar to that of LTE, and rollout will commence in major metropolitan areas, reaching around 15 percent population coverage by 2022. 5G will enable a wide range of use cases for massive IoT and critical IoT.

Arun Bansal, Head of Ericsson in Europe and Latin America, says: “Early deployment of IoT and 5G technologies positions Russia as an early adopter of the most advanced ICT solutions. Ericsson supports MTS in the company’s goals to meet growing capacity needs and be ready for huge opportunities that will come with 5G and IoT. 5G will be a major technology in booming industrial digitalization, creating and enhancing industry digitalization use cases such as immersive gaming, autonomous driving, remote robotic surgery, and augmented-reality support in maintenance and repair situations.”

This announcement represents a milestone in the large-scale commercialization of IoT and 5G technologies in Russia. It follows the agreement of an extensive 5G Memorandum of Understanding signed by MTS and Ericsson in December 2015.

To further demonstrate the capabilities of 5G and IoT technologies, the two companies will roll out 5G demo zones during FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia.

 

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Spectrum allocation, cybersecurity and the connected car at the centre of discussion at the 5G Huddle in Copenhagen this week. Security and privacy emerged as key concerns across sectors

The allocation of radio spectrum, new business models, cybersecurity and the connected car took centre stage at the 5GHuddle, organised by the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF) in partnership with DI ITEK, the Danish technology trade association.   Over 150 delegates including leading scientists, high-level industry and government representatives from Europe, North America and Asia discussed the disruptive nature of 5G technologies, with security and privacy emerging as the key challenges in delivering a sustainable 5G ecosystem.

Stuart Revell, former Chief Technology Officer of Tech UK , the organistion that represents over 850 UK-based technology companies, led the discussions on the main challenges for the 5G community by presenting the Wireless Test & Innovation Centre (WTIC) whitepaper. Ming Lei, Huawi presented the Chinese Government-backed IMT-2020 5G promotion group and the FuTURE Forum initiative, discussing their international co-operation projects and how to rethink mobile communications of the future in their 2020+ White Paper.

Spectrum Allocation
Spectrum allocation was identified as one of the main challenges to making the leap forward in 5G deployment. The debate over what spectrum should be made available for 5G will be, as Andrew Hudson, Policy Director of the Spectrum Group at UK telecoms regulator Ofcom, said, “uncomfortable”. Leaving too many bands under consideration could make a positive outcome less likely, he said, as "lots of people might have to give a little bit", adding that it's not regulators' job to "make everyone happy" but to "debate the important questions."

Chih-Lin I, Chief Scientist of Wireless Technologies at China Mobile, added to this, saying that in the short term, C-band would be the core spectrum of 5G: "we want it to become key piece of 5G architecture.”

Anders Bohlin, Senior Economist at the European Investment Bank, warned that “If governments auction 5G spectrum to fill their treasury coffers and then operators don't invest because there's no market, that won't be good for 5G”.

Business Models

As Mischa Dohler, Head of Centre for Telecommunication Research in the Department of Informatics at Kings’ College, London, commented, business models may be the main shift in a 5G era, as the change to B2B could be attractive for the cellular industry.

For Pasi Kemppainedm, NNE Pharmaplan, this is the telecom industry's "last chance" to stretch its services to compete with big players like Google and Facebook. The disruptive part of 5G isn't the radio access part, but the services infrastructures. Facebook, Google and others will "eat your lunch" in future services if telcos don't deal with services infrastructure. Also, telecom companies shouldn't let 5G limit the start of service enablement. Services should be agnostic, and when 5G becomes ready, operators can move to better capability to provide those services.

Automotive Industry

Opening a session at the event that focused specifically on the potential of 5G in the automotive industry, Preben Mogensen, Principal Engineer at Nokia Network said: “We would like to see 5G as a framework to be optimised for the automotive industry”. Research challenges Nokia is working on for connected mobility include being able to support higher mobility, a lot of devices in a small space, ultra-reliability of networks, radio latency less than 1ms, network slicing and optimized service delivery for heterogeneous use cases. “As a telecom operator, our challenge is enabling a new generation of latency critical services. We are working on research to improve resilience to network failures,” he said.

Peter Vermaat, Principal ITS consultant at TRL, an independent research organisation, brought the road operator’s perspective to the 5G debate, agreeing that the connectivity requirements of vehicles are highly dependent on high network reliability and low latency, as well as co-operative services: “No single communication channel will be sufficient,” he said, “we don’t want the whole network to break down because a base station is running out of power.

“Without connectivity, research shows that, with the connected vehicle, safety goes down compared to a manually operated one. “Self-driving cars”, he said, “are a long, long way off.” Even Google cars, he said, are “fully autonomous, but not in all circumstances.”

Cybersecurity

Aside from the challenges faced in implementing 5G, come the concerns – in particular the risk posed by cyber crime. Focusing on these potential vulnerabilities of the IoT and 5G era, Zolten Precsenyi, Government Affairs Manager at Symantec, said explained that cybersecurity challenges arise not just from 5G in particular, but also from the connected world at large. Wearable devices, connected cars, e-health systems, smart grids are all vulnerable to attack. Current public policies for the telecoms, e-identification, network security and other areas “don't go far enough to protect against novel security issues. Self-regulation should be a credible alternative to government regulation,” he said.

Conclusions
“The business model this year has moved to the centre of the discussion and is not seen only from the telecom industry at large, but from the user’s point of view,” said Dr Nigel Jefferies, Huawei, Chair of WWRF, closing the 5G Huddle.

 

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