While 5G is being widely deployed on a global basis, we haven’t even begun to see the full potential of this technology, according to GlobalData.

The leading data and analytics company notes that 5G is yet to make a significant mark in terms of the faster data speeds, latency and other hallmarks that will enable advanced features such as self-driving cars and immerse gaming. However, more advanced telecom bundles are appearing, and GlobalData expects 5G subscriptions to increase as more powerful applications come through.

THERE WILL BE 3.9 BILLION 5G MOBILE SUBSCRIPTIONS GLOBALLY BY THE END OF 2026, WITH WORLDWIDE SERVICE REVENUES EXPECTED TO HIT $609BN

Lynnette Luna, Principal Analyst with GlobalData, comments: “Although we have not yet seen all that 5G is capable of in early deployments, the technology has a multitude of future opportunities for telecom operators. Not only will capacity bring down the per-bit cost for carriers, the basic cost efficiencies that 5G brings will enable operators and developers alike to create new applications for the technology as it becomes to mature and develop.

“This growing innovation will contribute to an expected rise in 5G mobile subscriptions worldwide. At the end of 2026, GlobalData predicts there will be 3.9 billion such subscriptions, representing a whole 35.1% of total subscriptions. Global 5G service revenues will total $609bn.”

Some revenue-generating strategies seen in the US and Europe on 4G networks also resonate on 5G networks. Within the US postpaid wireless market in particular, operators have always enticed users to sign up for premium plans through service bundles, such as video streaming and gaming.

Luna adds: “5G ARPU in 2026 is expected by GlobalData to greatly outpace that of earlier technology generations, with 5G bringing in monthly ARPU of $14.15 per month versus 4G’s monthly ARPU of $5.48.”

In some markets, we are beginning to see more advanced bundles marketed with 5G. Vodafone is in the process of rolling out Nreal smart glasses in its 5G markets across Europe, offering an interest-free hardware bundle and an app called Vodafone 5G Reality AR. In addition, a number of 5G operators are beginning to sell cloud gaming services. Telia in Sweden and EE in the UK are selling Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate memberships that include cloud gaming. Telia customers can also buy a dedicated cloud gaming promotion featuring an Android phone, Telia plan and a free Razer Kishi universal Android controller and the Xbox Game Pass in one bundle.”

Luna concludes: “Operators will continually improve their bundles with new 5G features. Eventually they will take advantage of ultra-low latency and consistent gigabit data speeds.”

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about 5G @ www.fieldservicenews.com/5g
• Find out more more about GlobalData @ www.globaldata.com
• Read more about GlobalData on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/globaldata
• Read more about Mobility on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/mobility

Despite the anticipated decline of 5.6% in total value in 2020, the enterprise mobility market in Singapore will maintain a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2% over the 2019-2024 period, driven by the rising adoption of remote working and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) strategies across enterprises, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. 

The uncertainty in business environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced enterprises in Singapore to take a conservative approach towards their ICT spending in 2020, which has hurt the demand prospects for enterprise mobility solutions and services for most part of the year. As business activity picks up, enterprise mobility spending is expected to recover in 2021. 

GROWTH IN MOBILITY APPS SEGMENT WILL BE LED BY MOBILE APPLICATION PLATFORM MANAGEMENT

Nidhi Gupta, Technology Analyst at GlobalData, says: “With businesses adapting to the new normal, and allowing employees to work-from-home and use their personal devices to access corporate networks, their investments on enterprise mobility solutions will recover in 2021 and grow up to US$347m in 2024.” 

Mobility software/applications comprising mobile application platform management software, mobile content management software, mobile device management software and telecom expense management software categories represent the largest market segment in the enterprise mobility market in Singapore, in terms of value.  

Growth in mobility software/applications segment will be led by mobile application platform management (MAPM) software, which is expected register a CAGR of 12.1% over 2019-2024. With several companies expected to retain their remote working strategies even in the post COVID-19 era, their investment on MAPM software, which can equip their remote workforce with enterprise apps and secure access to the same on devices, will increase going forward. 

Ms Gupta concludes: “Managed mobility services segment will see its market value grow at 8.1% CAGR during the forecast period. The rising complexity of managing the huge number of mobile devices and apps that connect employees operating remotely with enterprise data and network will be instrumental in driving the demand for managed mobility services.” 

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Find out more more about GlobalData @ www.globaldata.com
• Read more about GlobalData on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/globaldata
• Read more about Mobility on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/mobility

BSO, the leading global telecoms operator powering the digital age, today announced the enhancement of its Singapore network to enable seamless performance for its customers.

BSO has partnered with Australia-based network provider Superloop to provide the underlying fibre optic infrastructure to support new ultra-high capacity DWDM across an initial four Singapore major hubs located at Equinix SG1, Equinix SG2, Global Switch 1, and Singapore SGX. BSO now seamlessly delivers up to 100G client connectivity for its OTN, low latency and SDN product range within the metro and meshed to its high-availability global backbone.

BSO HAS UPGRADED ITS SINGAPORE NETWORK TO PROVIDE INCREASED PERFORMANCE TO ITS CUSTOMERS

“As bandwidth demands continue to grow, we are constantly scaling our capacity. The latest enhancements to our network are yet another example of how serious we are about providing businesses in Singapore with faster and more reliable connectivity,” said Stephen Wilcox, Chief Product Officer of BSO. “We are pleased to partner with Superloop and to benefit from their extensive expertise in fibre deployment”.

BSO has been passionately investing and increasing its offering on the very busy Asia-Pacific (APAC) market. Singapore, specifically, is undeniably a major global telecommunications hub with highly developed connectivity and a very progressive regulatory environment. With this newly enabled DWDM/OTN service and the upgrades to its low Latency and SDN global products, BSO offers a world-leading, resilient and scalable solution for companies with growing bandwidth requirements or requiring bespoke solutions over this cutting-edge, high-capacity network, whether within the Singapore metro area or to BSO’s global network spanning  250+ nodes in 30+ countries.

“We are very excited about further building our relationship with BSO and very grateful for the trust that they have placed in us to supply and run their backbone in the incredibly important market of Singapore,” said Paul Tyler, Superloop CEO. “This collaboration helps provide BSOs customers with the confidence that their security, latency and bandwidth requirements are future proofed.”

This partnership with Superloop is the result of growing demand in the region for high-quality local access and high- speed international connectivity.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about Digital Transformation @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Find out more more about BSO @ www.bsonetwork.com
• Learn more about Superloop @ www.superloop.com
• Follow BSO on Twitter @ twitter.com/BSONetwork
• Follow BSO on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/bso-network-solutions/

As part of our partnership with Field Service Asia and just ahead of their conference running on the 4th and 5th November Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief Field Service News spoke with one of the key speakers Jamie F. Morais, General Manager Aftersales Dealer Operations Asia and Oceania. 

This video was recorded for our brand new channel the Field Service News Digital Symposium which is only available to our Premium Subscribers. However, to shine a light on the calibre of speakers at the next Field Service Asia event, Field Service News has made this interview available on our free-to-access channels as well. 

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You can sign up to attend Field Service Asia's Digital event for free and hear both Morais and Oldland plus a huge range of other top notch speakers https://bit.ly/30zNugP

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If you would like full access to the Field Service News Digital Symposium where we publish in-depth interviews with senior industry leaders in our industry every week plus a huge range of other benefits then head over to https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en/subscrition/premium-subscription

There are also a ton of other benefits which you can find out about on the link above. 

 

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Already a premium subscriber? Don't forget to check out Field Service News Digital Symposium regularly for new content!

Field Service News is in the middle of an in-depth global research project. As we reach the half way stage we share some of the initial findings including that cover three quarters of service companies see an opportunity to improve service delivery in the next 12 months...

The study is being conducted across three key global regions, EMEA, APAC and North America and is run in partnership with WBR Asia, More Momentum and Field Service News. The aim of the research is to assess the global impact on the field service sector of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We all know that our industry has been hit harder by this crisis than anything we have faced before. However, if we are to plan both a speedy recovery, and mitigation of future challenges should we be hit by a second wave or another similar pandemic, we simply must understand in quantitate terms what that impact has been. 

As Peter Drucker famously stated, we cannot measure that which we do not manage. Now, more than ever before, is the time for strong management, strong leadership. So clear wide reaching data on that outlines the damage we have faced is crucial. 

While the survey is still running, already there are a number of emerging trends from companies as they react to the crisis

• 56% of companies see acquiring digital competencies and a establishing a service culture as the a critical success factor to thrive in the upcoming disruption
• 71% are enhancing their service sales model and capabilities
  • However, only 25% are developing their earnings or pricing model
• 83% of companies see opportunities today to increase efficiency of service delivery, hence improving the margins
• 50% see growth opportunities for services focusing on operational solutions for their clients, beyond product related services

We are seeking to build as accurate a picture as possible which will be distilled into a detailed report for the industry. The report will be available for purchase at a price of $195. However,  all participants within the research will be given a complimentary of this report. 

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If you would wish to be part of this project and claim a free copy of the report as a participant then you do so by clicking this link

Taipei, Taiwan – June 8, 2020 –RuggON Corporation, a leading provider of rugged mobile computing solutions, has rolled out the compact rugged touch monitor CHASER to serve the needs of increased mobile productivity and efficiency.

Designed to function in a road vehicle, CHASER comes with MIL-STD-810H certification to withstand shock and vibration, while offering a wide 9-36 VDC power input compliant with ISO7637-2.

 

The Efficient Solution for Utmost Convenience

With user-friendly I/O design, CHASER is no doubt the perfect mobile and multifunctional workstation for industrial vehicles. Keeping workplace ergonomics in mind, the monitor is specifically designed with a USB port at top, making it convenient for plug in/out and system service and maintenance. In line with the proactive mindset, the 1000 nits sunlight readable display with optional anti-reflective coating delivers an optimal viewing experience and reduce eye strain for a more comfortable and productive workflow.

 

Creating Desktop Experience with Ease

Connecting to smartphones through USB Type C, CHASER gives on-duty mobile workers indescribable desktop experience on DeX with a large screen and extended keyboard. Outfitted with rich USB ports, it allows easy connection to multiple peripheral devices without using a hub, while providing a physical button for switch between two different input sources. CHASER makes everything you need at fingertips as if in an office environment.

 

Space and Safety

Designed with downward USB ports and smart lock brackets, CHASER minimizes the plug in/out difficulty and possibility of cable entanglement for uncompromising safety and a neat cabin space. The black-out button for turning on/off screen backlights intends to avoid driver distraction and conceal information at critical moments.      

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Further Reading

• For More Information: RuggON CHASER @: www.ruggon.com/en/product_list/rugged-monitors )
• Read more about RuggON @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/all-about-ruggon
• Read more about mobile computing solutions for field service engineer @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/hardware
• Read detailed reviews of rugged computers, smartphones and tablets @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=hardware+review

Scandinavian telecoms and networking giant partner with a number of Chinese companies and Swedish telecoms provider Telia to deliver significant 5G roll out in major field service operations across both regions.

 

5G roll-out paves way for enhanced field service mobility

China Telecom and China Unicom have selected Ericsson as a 5G radio access network (RAN) vendor as part of the Communication Service Providers’ (CSP) joint nationwide 5G network. China Telecom has also selected Ericsson as a 5G Core vendor.

Ericsson will provide outdoor and indoor site solutions to build capacity and coverage in the 3.5GHz and 2.1GHz bands. Network services including provisioning, installation and testing will be provided to meet the CSPs’ technical needs and enable them to build and share 5G networks.

China Telecom has also selected Ericsson 5G Core portfolio solutions. These include Cloud Packet Core, Cloud Unified Data Management and Policy products, built on cloud-native technology for operational efficiency and agility to launch new 5G services.

In Europe, Swedish communications service provider Telia Company has launched commercial 5G in Stockholm with Ericsson (RAN) products and. Initial services on the 700Mhz band will cover most of central Stockholm by mid-June.

Telia aims to enhance and supplement its low-band 5G commercial services with additional nationwide 5G coverage, including mid and high-bands, following the auction of the related spectrum by the Swedish government later this year. For this launch Telia is using its existing 700MHz spectrum, boosted by LTE and New Radio (NR) carrier aggregation.

Having already partnered successfully on 5G in Sweden including the country’s first industrial 5G network, Telia selected Ericsson as its partner for the launch network. Earlier this month Telia’s sister company Telia Norway also launched its first commercial 5G services, with Ericsson as its 5G RAN supplier.

The service sector is set to take advantage of global 5G coverage as increased speed of mobile connectivity offers further enhancement to mobile computing in the field.

Commenting Allison Kirkby, CEO, Telia Company, said: “As we roll-out 5G across Sweden, we will open up new user experiences and accelerated innovation in areas such as entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing and transport, that will collectively strengthen and protect everyone living and working in Sweden, and Swedish competitiveness in the world.

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Further Reading:

• Read more about 5G usage in service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/5g
• Read more about mobile computing in service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/mobility
• Read more about more about empowering field workers @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/managing-the-mobile-workforce
• Read more about digital transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
• Read more about Ericcson from their blog @ https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/2020/5/the-key-to-mobility-robustness-5g-networks 

Mark Glover spoke to Roy Chikballapur about the role of edge computing in Industry 4.0, how a comparison with the cloud is not useful and why bringing the two technologies together could benefit the smart factory.

 

In a recent LinkedIn post I pondered if edge computing would ever replace the cloud. 

service innovation from Automation

A comment from Roy Chikballapur from MachIQ caught my eye. “I would say that they are heavily complementary, and neither can deliver without enough advancement of the other,” he wrote, “The edge hyperbole is an automation-industry led backlash that doesn’t fully capture the opportunity of the speed with which innovation can be implemented on the cloud and distributed to the edge.”

This was all great stuff. I quickly messaged Roy and we arranged an interview the following day. This was the kind of insight I was hoping for, however the Skype call we set up had other ideas, booting Roy off the line halfway through.

Skype operates via the cloud, having moved there in 2016 after existing primarily in P2P networks. However, as proven by my call with Roy, connections can drop out as the application gobbles up bandwidth. 

Our connection used a trickle of data compared to that of a connected smart factory and it seemed ironic that our video-chat set-up to discuss the role of cloud and edge computing should drop out.

“You can’t have (connection issues) like we just had right now,” Roy says, using our dis-connection as an example of what can’t happen in an industry setting. “You can’t afford that break in the network when you’re running any type of factory because machines just can’t stop.”

Roy is absolutely right. For manufacturers time is money and asset downtime is loss making. The digital sinews that connect smart factory assets need to work all the time and Roy’s initial comment in response to my LinkedIn post, that the cloud is unable to handle these intricacies (that it was unable to handle our Skype call is another article) made sense.

Of course, the cloud is not in the sky, it’s very much on the ground, stored on data centres and server farms, sometimes a long way from the asset that’s asking to communicate with it. It’s this geographical distance that causes ‘lag’ or latency in “cloud speak”- the time it takes to get the data sent, dealt with and then sent back. A lag of several seconds may seem trivial but for industry it’s pivotal.

The news item that prompted this piece, centred on an analyst report from GlobalData who suggested edge computing was primed for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. 

"Edge computing operates by being physically closer to a device..."

The APAC consists of East and South Asia, South East Asia and Oceania and is made up of large sprawling countries like China and Australia. It covers approximately 2.8 billion hectares of land blanketing nearly 22% of the global land area. It’s huge.

In the report, GlobalData predicted benefits for the region’s manufacturing sector if it fully adopted the edge including the streamlining of industrial processes, supply chain improvement and more autonomous use of equipment.

The uptake, the report claims, is due to the widespread adoption of connected assets in the region including smart homes. It forecasts by 2024, given the current adoption rate, it will become the second-largest market of edge computing, second only to North America.

In contrast to the cloud, edge computing operates by being physically closer to a device, rather than stored in a data centre several hundred miles away; operating on the ‘edge’ of a network thus transporting the digital instructions quicker and negating lag. 

The report says China will spearhead the adoption, and given the country’s size (9.5 million km²), lag from a server in a Beijing datacentre for example to an end user in Shanghai could be avoided.

If, as the report claims, manufacturing is to benefit, it’s important to understand Industry 4.0; the fourth industrial revolution as it were, where data is the new coal and a natural environment for the edge to operate.

In our home, we tinker with the heating while on the train home from work; or look through our security camera while waiting for a bus. It’s this societal shift in the use of connected devices, Roy says, that has pushed the fourth industrial revolution forwards. 

“If you see where the Internet of Things came from, it has origins in implementations such as Google’s Nest,” he explains. “Here the sensors would send signals to the Cloud to make sense of the data, determine what action the device needed and carry them out.”

This was a step on from Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), the first industry-based conduit for connecting machines to networks and a significant step in manufacturing’s development. 

Pre-internet and pre-big data their use was limited but large B2C tech firms: Microsoft and, in this instance, Google, with the eventual advent of the cloud, took the technology further. Today can get your living room lights talking with your mobile phone. “That was basically how Nest really started,” Roy says.

"The industrial firms knew that the cloud alone could not sustain the real-time demands of smart factory operations..."

PLCs were game changers for of GE and Schneider in terms of industrial automation (Schneider would eventually purchase Modicon, the company credited with producing the first PLC), they understood the value of real-time data in a factory setting; that continuous uptime and production was paramount to their operations. Which bring us back to Roy’s point on industrial continuity and how the lag from cloud connectivity will not only affect output but, most importantly, employees’ wellbeing too.

“If it takes multiple seconds for data to travel back and forth, for instructions to be sent from a cloud-based controller to a device in the factory,” Roy says, “it can sometimes literally mean the difference between life and death as there are cases when worker safety inside the plant is affected. And that just can’t happen.”

The edge vs cloud debate was fuelled by industrial actors like GE, Schneider and Siemens responding to IT players including the aforementioned Google, Amazon and Microsoft’s assertion that the cloud could oversee everything, including industrial, operational technology.

The industrial firms knew that the cloud alone could not sustain the real-time demands of smart factory operations. It just wasn’t possible. The stand-off went on for some time until Moore’s law – his 1965 theory that over time, more and more transistors would fit into silicon chips - made it economical to embed sufficient data storage and processing capacity within the asset itself, enabling much of the real-time computing that make smart factories “smart”.

“Computing that was initially supposed to be carried out in the cloud could eventually be carried out on the device itself, by attaching a processor inside. This is basically what edge computing is.” Roy says before suggesting the technology could and should work in perfect harmony with the cloud, particularly in industrial environments. ”There is a space for both these technologies to operate side by side and complement each other perfectly well, to deliver exponentially higher value to industrial plants than either one being utilised alone.

There’s more to discuss here, particularly around edge and the Cloud working together, but I’m saving this for an episode of the Field Service Podcast with Roy as my guest.

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Further Reading: 

• Read more about cloud computing in field service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/edge
• Read more about customer servitization in field service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
• Read more articles by Mark Glover here.

Tech that reduces data lag by is set to grow across region and bring benefits to industrial sector.

A report from data and analytics company GlobalData says the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is on the cusp of wide-spread edge computing adoption with industry verticals set to benefit.

Streamlining Service Management

It predicts several sectors in the region taking advantage of the technology including manufacturing, which it says could streamline its industrial processes, improve supply chain movements and even operate heavy equipment more autonomously by adopting the technology.

Driven by Japan and China it foresees APAC second only to North America in terms of the edge computing market, with the two nations together accounting for 61 per cent of its revenue stream. It says the market will grow at an annual compound rate of 21 per cent between 2019 and 2024, reaching a $5.8 billion value.

The rise of edge computing has increased exponentially with the surge in connected assets which require greater band-widths that in some cases, the cloud is unable to cope with, producing lag.

It operates by being geographically closer to a data gathering device where computation is carried out locally avoiding a central processing cloud-based location meaning latency issues can be negated.

Its influence is expected to reach beyond industry, working alongside society's rapidly evolving connected devices ecosystem, including the growth of smart cars and smart cities. As larger data volumes are produced then Edge Computing will be expected to produce swift and accurate processing. Shamim Kahn, Senior Technology Analyst at Global Data says Edge Computing has the capability to keep up with the increase. "Edge computing would be key in handling most of these challenges, as decentralised processing would allow for excellent reponse times and reduced latency," he explained.

Several big tech firms have, in recent weeks, stepped-up their development in the technology including Amazon Web Services who updated their 'Snow' family of edge computing; Microsoft announcing Azure Edge Zones; and Google revealing its Global Mobile Edge Cloud strategy.