Fiber is quickly becoming the single unifying infrastructure connecting everything and everybody. It’s deployed in nearly every country in the world by traditional telecom operators, alternative operators, cablecos, investors, utility companies, national governments and local municipalities. Leading industry analyst firm Omdia estimates that 70% of all broadband connections will be through fiber by 2026. 

The attractiveness of fiber is threefold:

Most fiber broadband in the world today uses GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) technology. But in the last few years, XGS-PON (the “X” stands for 10 Gb/s and the “S” for symmetrical bitrates) has taken off, enabling operators to increase speeds, converge more services on a single fiber infrastructure, and extend connectivity beyond residential broadband to businesses and mobile transport. 

Now, though, a new generation of PON technology has come to market: 25G PON. Already deployed by Proximus in Belgium in a live network, 25G PON promises to solve some pressing challenges for both fixed and mobile operators. 

The need for (more) speed

Despite many operators only just starting their upgrades to XGS-PON, there are already some compelling arguments for a new tier of fiber capacity. 

It’s easy to focus on residential broadband, where demand — though high and accelerating all the time — still only requires hundreds of megabits or sometimes gigabit services. However, we must not forget the applications outside of consumer broadband that are crying out for much greater bandwidth. 

For example, there’s increasing reliance on high-bandwidth connectivity by large-scale enterprises. Analysys Mason forecasts a 30% growth in fiber-connected enterprises in the next four years, and for large enterprises, the gold standard they’re after is 10 Gb/s. That can’t actually be delivered by XGS-PON (due to overheads XGS-PON delivers 8.5-9 Gb/s), and 25G PON will be needed. 

Broadband is also essential for Industry 4.0, and as such, this area is a key profitability driver for operators, because it creates higher margins through additional product upsell opportunities like LAN, mobile and vertical services. With automation on the rise, industries are processing large amounts of data, like high-definition images and videos, which are analyzed in the cloud to improve design, production, process flows and decision making. These applications are already pushing the 10G capacity limit of XGS-PON. 

5G changes everything 

And, of course, there is 5G. 

The deployment of 5G will deliver a real change compared to LTE, but to succeed, it needs a transport network with much higher capacity and lower latency. And, of course, the transport network needs to be cost-efficient and able to support the massive scale of a 5G network with thousands more 5G small cells. 

PON is the technology that delivers that efficiency; especially as we go to mmWave, with its higher speeds but weaker propagation. That’s primarily because PON, in the shape of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks, already exists where 5G cells are needed most. In addition, PON creates zero additional footprint at the cell site and is future proof. For example, a Nokia Bell Labs study shows that using an existing PON network for 5G transport has 50% lower TCO than alternatives (point-to-point fibre and microwave).

Although XGS-PON could be sufficient for many backhaul and midhaul applications, greater capacity will be needed for 5G fronthaul, and especially for high-density areas with high throughput such as city centers. This greater capacity is delivered by 25G PON. 

In 2020, the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector started a project to validate if PON technologies were ready for 5G transport, focusing on midhaul and backhaul. And, of course, operators and vendors have been interested as well. 

Using PON for 5G transport is a great opportunity for both fixed and converged operators. They can either wholesale fiber to mobile operators as a new revenue opportunity or use it for their own 5G to accelerate deployments and lower costs.

Perhaps surprisingly, the business case for PON-based 5G transport also works for mobile-only operators without a FTTP network, especially if they operate in a fiber-rich market and have 5G mmWave plans that involve cell densification. Their strategy is to lease dark fiber and deploy their own fiber access equipment with XGS-PON or 25G PON and small form factor optical plugs at the cell site. This system works out to be more cost effective than deploying their own single-use, fiber backhaul network. 

Why 25G? 

You may be wondering how the industry has arrived at 25G PON as the next best step for PON when both 50G and 100G PON have been touted as possible successors. There are several reasons. 

To be successful, any new technology must hit that sweet spot between bringing a significant enough advantage at a low enough cost. The experience of the ethernet industry has shown that, in evolving from one generation to the next, a bandwidth capacity boost of 2 to 2.5 times is optimal for commercial success, and 25G PON brings that 2.5 times boost over XGS-PON. 

It’s also thanks to the data center world that the price point of 25G PON works. The 100G ethernet technology connecting data centers uses 25G channels, and it’s these massively deployed optical technologies from this mature market that provide the components for 25G PON at an optimal price point. In contrast, 50G and 100G PON require significant technology breakthroughs in signal processing which won’t be available — let alone cost optimized — for many years. 

Another advantage of 25G PON over others is that it can co-exist with existing PON technologies on the same platform, the same line card and even the same piece of fiber. This enables operators to deploy 25 PON tactically on their existing network; keeping, for example, GPON or XGS-PON for residential services and businesses, while 25G PON takes care of mobile backhaul and enterprise services. 

This leads us to the next point: imminent use cases. Bandwidth demand from enterprises is spiralling with the increasing use of high-definition video and cloud services. The gold standard for business broadband is now 10 Gb/s, which previously could only be delivered by a dedicated point-to-point fiber connection. With 25G PON, an operator can deliver a premium — and highly profitable — business service and have room to spare for the other pressing use case we’ve already discussed: 5G transport. 

And, of course, 25G PON is available today. First-mover advantage is a compelling and lucrative play in the broadband world, so those able to quickly adopt 25G PON to deliver premium business, 5G transport and even residential services (with the right split ratios), stand to gain.

Why wait? 

Fiber broadband is unstoppable; 25G PON has already arrived, 50G PON will be with us by 2030 and we have even seen the first demo of 100G PON, which will only be a few years behind 50G. Opportunities are here today to tactically deploy 25G PON for 5G transport and business services, and those investments will be future proof, as there is no let-up in demand for higher speeds and greater capacity. Each new generation of PON technology brings us another step closer to the ultimate goal of a unified fiber infrastructure capable of connecting everything and everyone.  

The fact that 5G is so mysterious to some people, to the point where they think it can cause covid-like symptoms, is really telling, and reveals how poorly 5G providers are doing at explaining the basics of the tech.

Physically, 5G lies at the very top of the electromagnetic spectrum. It’s a radio frequency and is actually less dangerous than sunlight. To put it even more simply: 5G is basically a 4G software update. So let’s talk about what that means, in terms of how it will revolutionize the world’s workforce.

The rise of low latency networking

For a conversation to happen, one person should speak at a time while the other listens. Such an interaction can take maybe three seconds: I speak the question (one second), you think about it (one second), and reply (one second). That three-second duration is called latency: the lag between what I say, and how you respond. Three seconds is extremely high latency. When you call someone on the moon using the radio, it takes two seconds for the signal to reach them and two seconds for their response to return to earth. The greater the distance with radio communication, the greater the latency. 

Now, if I have 100 people asking 100 questions at the same time, I get 100 responses after 3 seconds. The amount of people talking is the bandwidth of the interaction. Simply put, that’s the difference between bandwidth and latency. Bandwidth grows as the number of respondents increases, latency stays the same. 

And what 5G does is introduce the ability to define parameters that previously fixed in 4G. These parameters affect bandwidth and latency; they lower latency and they increase bandwidth. That’s all.In 4G radio transmissions, ‘time’ is cut into time slices or time slots. So, when I speak you listen. But let’s say we’re talking about sending controls from a joystick to move a robotic arm – when you press on the controls you want an instant response. With 4G, the time slots (speak/listen/respond) are cut into slices of 10 milliseconds. You input the control, it travels to the robotic arm, the arm moves: 0.01 + 0.01 + 0.01. The idea with 5G is to remove lag when controlling robots, when controlling machines. This new technology will be used to power the next generation of industrial robotics.

In 5G, the time slots are cut into increments of 0.001 seconds. That means, if I’m remotely controlling a robot with a joystick and I want it to go forward and then want it to steer around an object, I need to have a low-latency network. When I tell the robot to steer left and it takes 0.01 seconds to get to the robot, and 0.01 seconds to reply, the robot might run into something.

In Paris, we are working with a company for an interesting new use case for this application. They sell robots that will be used for remote office cleanup. So, you have someone using a VR headset and handheld controls to dust furniture, clean surfaces, organize the pens on the desk, close drawers, and take out the trash. For this, it is very important that there is no lag. You need no-lag for these applications. 

The 4G and 5G networks of traditional companies are controlled from a very long distance. You send a signal to the network from your factory in Minneapolis, the signal travels to where the network is headquartered (NYC, for example), and then the signal is sent back to your robot on the factory floor 10 feet away, and you maybe lose a few milliseconds. But if the network is in your building, you get less lag and more resiliency, which is perfect for industrial applications. 

With 4G, you need four antennae to get one gigabit; with 5G, you need one antennae to get one gigabit; so it’s better for the environment, uses less power, and also requires less material. With 5G, you can connect 10x more terminals because with the small timeslot; with the low latency, you can have 1000 questions and answers at the same time compared to the 100 mentioned in the example above. 

Right now, telcos providers are putting in more antennas, because there are more users, and the newer the antennae, the easier it is to switch to 5G. This enabled a telecommunications company in France, which operated 10,000 antennas, to move from 4G to 5G by simply updating its software. They achieved this by using Virtual Radio Access Network (VRAN), which is the most modern technology to date. If companies use traditional technology, then they will need to change the majority of the hardware, too. 

Be your own Telco

And so, taking all the above into consideration, the fastest way to get a no-lag 5G network for your factory or office is to be your own telco. In Germany, Japan, France, the US, and many other countries, you can acquire a 5G license and create your own telecommunications network with some simple hardware, a private frequency, and the right setup.

This means that you don’t depend on a third-party provider based outside your factory. So if a cable gets cut somewhere, or there’s a blackout, your internet stays up. This will be crucial for delicate 5G use cases like remote-controlled surgeries and possibly for drone pilots who are required to take control of fully automated commercial aircraft on landing or in the event of an emergency. 

A versatile regional solution with infinite applications

The speed of light in an optical fiber is 200,000 km per second, and the distance from the East to the West coast of the United States is about 4,000 km. It’s 1/50th distance but it’s not a straight shot. So the latency is between 0.035 and 0.050 seconds, if we take into account one way, and return of the light. But having your own telco means you don't have to deal with the latency associated with distances. Sometimes telco providers will be based in a big city far away, and you end up having to account for the lag in the information going to their servers and then back to your factory. 

What’s going on with these networks is similar to what occurred with IP addresses in the switch from IP Version 4 to IP Version 6. In ‘IPv4’, old IP addresses used to be configured like this: 10.2.8.1… Since the start of the internet, we’ve used up all the IPv4 addresses. We’re now on to IPv6 (IPv5 was not an official release).

In IPv6 we see addresses comprised of: 0-9 + A-F, bunched into 8 slots, with each slot having four characters, so: 2b02:8440:4102:418a:2847:f242:b63a:81d3.

IPv6 has billions upon billions of potential combinations – every object in the world can have an address. This is similar to the 4G to 5G upgrade. And with the right hardware, we can go from one to the other by simply changing the configuration of the software. Same machine, same device, same everything, we just change some software configuration. So it can’t be that different, right?

This is the whole idea of latency and 5G, low latency means no lag. You can control robots remotely in real-time, fly planes, perform brain surgery, and a litany of other services that used to be done exclusively in person. 5G is the network for the remote-working world. 

Every year, mobile network operators spend nearly a quarter of their revenue on network management and maintenance. They have little choice.

It goes without saying that network outages annoy customers. This is not just bad for an MNO’s reputation, it is also potentially ruinous for their bottom line.

Why? Because downtime is one of the biggest drivers of churn. In one study (of cable customers), 60 percent of subscribers who had churned cited network performance as their main reason for quitting. Among ‘conditional churners’ – those considering leaving – 75 percent reported network issues.

In addition to lost customers and damaged credibility, network outages can also lead to costly employee overtime and possibly even penalties for not meeting service level agreements (SLAs).

It all explains why one study estimated that network outages cost the world’s MNOs around $15 billion a year.  However, that study was carried out in 2013. Today, the stakes are so much higher. This is because traditional telecommunications carriers have become Internet service providers. Thanks to the widespread adoption of 4G, people and enterprises now depend on mobile networks for their connectivity.  

So, a network outage no longer leads merely to dropped phone calls but – potentially – to the failure of critical enterprise services. Now, as the industry prepares to evolve to standalone 5G (SA), the volume of data signals generated by the network is set to escalate yet again. 

It raises the question: how can MNOs predict and fix network faults in such a complex environment filled with so much ‘noise’?

The solution for more forward-looking operators lies with handing over diagnostics to advanced analytics systems that use machine learning to:

•    Accurately analyze millions of network alarms 
•    Instantaneously identify alarms most likely to lead to a fault
•    Discover alarm relationships and alarm families 
•    Eliminate ‘noisy’ alarms 

Before we dive deeper into ML-based analytics systems, let’s look at how the majority of today’s network fault detection systems work.

Network diagnostics now: people, rules and alarms

Every day, the world’s MNOs engage in a battle to keep their networks operational. Unfortunately, there is plenty that can go wrong. In addition to technical faults (physical link failures, traffic congestion/overload, chip failures) there are other, more unpredictable factors – from cyberattacks to thunderstorms.

When something in the system does fail, it shows up as an anomaly in the network data. So MNOs put in place monitoring systems that trigger alarms when these anomalies occur. Network Operation Centers (NOCs) staffed by teams of human analysts then scrutinize this data and try to answer three key questions:

•    What happened to the network?
•    Why did it happen?
•    What will happen next?

The problem with this human-centered approach is obvious. NOC agents can only process a limited amount of information. They have to prioritize their attention. For this reason, they ‘mute’ the majority of the alarms they receive. In so doing they risk ignoring small problems that might develop into bigger faults and bring the network down.

Most fault detections systems use rules that were defined and tuned by experts based on their experience.  But these systems can only find what they are looking for. And they rely on people to update them. The problem is that humans are unreliable. Engineers write things down and maybe don’t pass them on. Meanwhile, rules get too complex to maintain or they change and then you get false alarms. 

Also, network engineers can’t look at every signal, so they put in silencing features. As a result, they miss things. They look through their logs after an outage, and often find a signal from weeks before that they muted.

Clearly, these human-centered alarm-based systems are struggling to cope with the volume of signals generated by today’s networks. However, things are about to get vastly more challenging. Standalone 5G is coming – and it will drastically increase network complexity yet again.

Standalone 5G: an explosion in network data

How much greater is the challenge of analyzing the data emerging from standalone 5G networks than their 4G predecessors?  The simple answer is: exponentially.

Why? Because the ‘standalone’ 5G Core is a new kind of network.  It is virtual – with foundational technologies (Network Function Virtualization and Software Defined Networking) that turn physical network components into software. 

Virtualization will make 5G networks much bigger and able to support millions more connections. MNOs can use this extra capacity to allocate bandwidth to enterprises. Effectively, this network slicing gives private companies the ability to run their own mini-networks. 

All of which vastly escalates the amount of data generated by the network as a while. And to further complicate matters, the vast majority of connected 5G devices will be machines. So when there is an outage, these devices will not be able to report a problem.

People also lack perspective when it comes to 5G. As an analogy: they think, well I can already ride a bicycle, so now I am going to ride a motorcycle. But this move from 4G to 5G is more like going from a bicycle to stepping into the cockpit of an Airbus plane. The sheer amount of data and telemetry involved is orders of magnitude greater.

The exponential increase in complexity is compelling operators to consider a new automated approach to network analytics. In the past, MNOs have used rules to solve problems.  But the truth is, rules-based systems won’t work in a 5G world where there are millions of elements rather than hundreds. In this world, you need systems that can perform advanced network analytics. They are no longer a ‘nice to have.’ They are mandatory if you are going to efficiently run your network.

How to mitigate the risks: ML-based fault detection

In the world of network fault analytics, everything comes back to three acronyms:

•    MTTA (mean-time-to-acknowledge)
•    MTTD (mean-time-to-diagnose)
•    MTTR (mean-time-to-resolve) 

Mobile networks have to reduce these numbers if they want to reduce the number of damaging outages. 

However, we have already established how difficult it is for rules-based systems to handle the sheer volume of alarms generated by today’s mobile networks. For this reason, many forward-looking MNOs now use ML-based probabilistic algorithms to do the work instead. These systems carry out the task of monitoring network activity without human intervention. They can manage millions of alarms simultaneously. Over time, they can identify which to act upon and which to ignore. 

Here are four ways in which ML-based analytics systems produce better results.

1. They escalate alarms for predicted incidents

Probabilistic algorithms prioritize alarms that have a high probability of leading to network incidents. Typically, this is just 10 percent of all alarms. Engineers can then resolve these issues without relying on network inventory, topology or static rules.

2. They reduce the noise of low-impact alarms

Conversely, ML-based analytics systems learn over time which alarms don’t indicate serious problems. They deprioritize them. They can also suppress any alarm related to scheduled maintenance events.

3. They consolidate alarms

Sometimes a single event can trigger multiple alarms. ML-based analytics systems can consolidate them into one. This avoids having engineers waste time investigating multiple trails. 

4. They reveal relationships between alarms

Similarly, ML-based analytics systems can gather a set of alarm families together for further root issue analysis.

Of course, the ultimate pay-off of advanced analytics solutions is that they are self-healing – and can even anticipate faults before they occur. These models are continuously training themselves – and they get more accurate over time. So let’s say the operator adds a new cell site. This changes the network architecture, and it means a new model needs to be created. An ML-based analytics system will automatically adjust itself. Within days it will be very accurate again. And no person needs to be involved.

For many network operators, the prospect of a fully automated network operations centre (NOC) is compelling: a zero touch, lights-out NOC has a lower requirement for human presence and manual interventions in day-to-day network operations, which in turn minimizes OPEX and reduces network downtime and Mean-Time-To-Resolution (MTTR). Whilst this sounds great in theory, the reality is a little more complex. Whether full automation in the NOC is an achievable goal is a matter for debate.

In green field environments, or where incumbent operators are in the process of building brand new stand-alone networks—as can be the case with some 5G roll-outs—operational automation is introduced at inception. Even in these scenarios however, the picture isn’t that clear-cut. Maintaining operational automation is a process that requires consistent on-going investment and continuous effort. Without these two elements, the automation aspect of your operations will degrade over time.

It is also difficult to transition from a manual or semi-automated legacy environment to a zero-touch network management approach when you have to upgrade existing tools and processes, whilst also having to prove that there is a valid business case to do so.

There are many practical hurdles to consider when it comes to embarking on this type of large scale, long-term NOC automation project but it can be achieved if a more pragmatic, balanced approach is taken. By automating the ‘low hanging fruits’, with a step-by-step phased approach, CSPs can demonstrate that the journey to automation in the NOC is a marathon, not a sprint.

Finding value in automation

The incentives to create a zero-touch service assurance environment are varied, but what often motivates CSPs to roll-out their automation initiatives, is an acute need to achieve an increase in overall productivity whilst not increasing OPEX costs. These types of phased projects often occur organically and are conceptualized tactically to overcome a specific challenge or issue and to achieve performance and cost-saving goals. For the NOC, this might be achieved, for example, through the reduction in the amount trouble-tickets and the required for intelligent trouble-ticket creation through transition from rules-based to machine-learning driven tools and processes. This kind of automation typifies the long-term, incremental approach to network management automation that evolves over time towards a more comprehensive zero-touch service assurance environment – where you take an existing known process and replace the manual or rules-driven approach with ML and AI.

Even if automation is not part of a larger corporate plan, individual departments can act autonomously where they apply their ingenuity and resources to tackle ‘bite-sized’ projects. From this focused vantage point, it is possible to easily identify opportunities that make processes more efficient, whilst simultaneously justifying the business case. The preponderance of smaller, more manageable projects that quickly prove ROI and demonstrate measurable gains assure the executive level that additional investments into service assurance automation generates value. Once proven in isolation, optimization opportunities are then easier to scale-up and roll-out across the entire organization.

Contrastingly, the inverse strategy to this bottom-up approach emerges when the executive management level aims to build a foundation from which an organization can continue to innovate, as part of an overall Digital Transformation strategy. With a significant budget and resources behind it, a large-scale automation project can be led by a long-term corporate vision that is achievable within a well-defined roadmap. With key mile-stones that are specified early and communicated clearly, will help gain buy-in can from all departments to ensure automation policies are permeate across all levels of the organization. For example, part of the strategic plan might be conducive to helping a telco fully automate a certain percentage of their processes by a specific date, or substantially reduce overall network downtime.

Grabbing the ‘low-hanging fruits’

Once the incentives and objectives towards automation are clearly defined, it is important to assess existing network operations from an IT perspective. A rationalization process of the current infrastructure can help to identify whether the right tools and capabilities exist to achieve the desired automation goals. Network operations teams should evaluate what tools need to be retained and modernized and judge which legacy items should be retired since they are not able to support the required level of automation. 

One option would be for operators to retain reliable solutions that deliver a high-level of functionality and efficiency whilst integrating new features and advancements in order to meet business objectives. For instance, it is possible to apply machine learning-based root cause analysis and predictive analytics to the existing service assurance platforms to achieve desired business outcomes without replacing the underlying basic event collection and processing functionalities. 

In terms of achieving full automation in the NOC, a greenfield scenario is a much more amenable place to start as it allows planning and implementation from inception, rather than having to backport automation into existing and established practices and systems. However, it is unrealistic to expect the same vision to be achieved in a manual or semi-automated environment as it is necessary to change and upgrade existing tools and processes, and at the same time justify the investment. 

For mature operators then, full NOC automation can only ever be a gradual progression, as opposed to a ‘big bang’ event. Despite this, the availability of ‘low hanging fruit’ that can be easily addressed could make progress towards this goal swift and meaningful.

A tipping-point

As operators continue to seek ways to optimize and modernize their networks, there is a clear and critical need to assess the current state of their existing service assurance operations and OSS estates to ensure that they meet the demands of current and newly deployed 5G networks.

The tipping point arrives when it is no longer viable to support advanced and dynamic network functions via manual means, regardless of the costs. At this stage, service assurance automation tools need to be readily available and mature enough to support operators with their automation goals. With said tools in place, it will be much easier for organizations to switch to the zero-touch mindset, embrace a new culture and set operators on the path to full, or near full, automation. 

5G use cases tend to rely on the increased speed and consistency of 5G, as well as the latency reductions it offers, and they promise to disrupt both traditional and digital sectors. And there are a plethora of opportunities for 5G technology over the coming months, years and decades.  

5G use cases will pave the way for automated vehicles, smart cities, automated factories, and a new wave of business communications. According to the results of a study by Accenture, 79% of businesses worldwide believe that 5G will have a significant impact on their organisation. And 57% of those believe that it will be revolutionary.

 5G use cases across sectors 

According to small business portal Bytestart, 5G will allow communication between a million devices per square kilometre (compared with 100,000 for 4G). The enabling of these IoT sensors, combined with speed and low latency, will lead to many benefits across a range of business and prosumer activities. 

IoT connectivity will lead to fully integrated smart cities, which will be essential as urban populations grow. The United Nations (UN) predicts that 68 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050, which will place increasing  pressure on our cities, such as pollution, crime, overcrowding, congestion, and social disorder.

There are already some amazing 5G use cases out there. That's what this feature is all about - the ways in which 5G is already being used across the globe. Because 5G networks are still being rolled out, many of these use cases are actually in the test or proof-of-concept phase, using prototype networks, devices or other technology. But the idea of gathering them here is to show the huge future potential of 5G technology.

1. Smart cities

Network operators are already looking to showcase what can be achieved with 5G technology, and one such 5G use case is the Alba Iulia Smart City, which has been developed in conjunction with Orange, and has seen congestion monitoring, parking sensors, and smart waste management introduced in the Romanian city. 

Smart factories will also be enabled by 5G, including more robots in production lines, and drones in last mile delivery. It will also enable car to car communication around hazards and incidents, as well as fully automated cars. 

2. Autonomous vehicles

The CTO of Waymo, which started life as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, believes that 5G is a crucial “enabler”, when it comes to developing the company’s autonomous car fleets.

“I think it’ll help in terms of communication [and with] latency and bandwidth,” explains Dmitri Dolgov, Waymo’s CTO. “Our cars still have to rely on onboard computation for anything that is safety-critical, but 5G will be an accelerator.”

O2 has also now announced a project to trial driverless cars in London using its 5G network. The UK's second-biggest phone network has partnered with the Smart Mobility Living Lab - a research organisation comprised of experts from the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), DG Cities, Cisco, and Loughborough University - to develop what it claims to be the ‘most advanced driverless testbed in the world’. 

The organisation is based in Greenwich as well as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The aim is to develop a road management system with the focus on a 10 percent reduction in the time that motorists spend in traffic. Other figures include a positive benefit to the economy of £880m a year from improved productivity as well as the reduction of CO2 emissions by 370,000 metric tonnes a year.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2020, Samsung and BMW showcased the companies' efforts in connected cars, revealing the 5G TCU (Telematics Control Unit). The TCU will be included in the BMW iNext, coming in 2021. The iNext will include technology from Samsung subsidiary Harman. The companies are talking up the benefits of the technology as not only enabling greater levels of autonomy but also detailed and specific information such as whether there's something in your blind spot.

Elsewhere, Huawei, in partnership with Thailand National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Communication (NBTC) and Siriraj Hospital, has launched a new project to use 5G-powered self-driving vehicles to deliver medical supplies.

According to data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics, jobs such as bus drivers and hospital porters are particularly at risk from catching Covid-19 whilst at work, with both jobs in the top 20% when it comes to exposure. And this scheme enables the transportation of goods around the Siriraj Hospital campus in Thailand, where workers face a similar risk to those in the UK. In the initial stage of the project, driverless vehicles will be used to transport and distribute medicines, which will be delivered via a contactless system, which will help reduce workload and infection risk among frontline workers. 

3. Improved viewing experience at sporting events

Connectivity is increasingly important at sporting events with, as an example, the average Bundesliga match attracting 43,000 spectators, who consume an average of 500GB – a figure which has risen by 50 percent over the past 12 months,.

Because of this, some sporting organisations fear that spectators will stay at home if they can't stay connected. However, existing mobile and Wi-Fi networks lack the capacity for such densely-populated environments, which is why venues and operators are so excited about 5G. Research from Amdocs and Ovum suggests 91 percent of the world’s leading mobile operators plan to hold trials of 5G sporting experiences at stadiums, with the likes of Verizon announcing the 5G availability at selected NFL stadiums.

This will not only increase fan satisfaction, but also enable new experiences. The German FA plans to let fans view data insights in real time – such as how fast a player is sprinting – using Augmented Reality. 

4. Better crowd management at sporting venues

Verizon and Cisco are partnering to deliver a number of new capabilities to stadiums, such as the ability to use analytics to estimate waiting times at gates, restrooms and concession stands. Supporters will also have the ability to access digital signage, and via a mobile app they will also get tailored updates, information on crowd density, and tips on the best ways to avoid crowds and maintain social distancing.

To deliver these new 5G capabilities, venues in Cisco’s Sports and Entertainment portfolio will be able to access Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband with mobile edge computing (MEC) capabilities. Cisco innovations, which will be able to tap into Verizon’s MEC include Cisco DNA Spaces for secure location analytics; Cisco switching and data center technology; connected venue analytics; and more.

5. Sports broadcasting

Sports broadcasting is arguably the most developed use case for 5G to date, with ready-made innovations driving efficiencies and unlocking a raft of creativity options. 5G-enabled cameras eliminate the need to use cables, making it easier to cover sports that take place over a wide area. Fox Sports has trialled 5G at golf’s US Open (with Intel, AT&T, and Ericsson) allowing its team to cover more of the course, while 5G was used to capture some events at the 2018 Winter Olympics. In the UK, BT Sport is able to join football fans in the pub before the game, travel on the team bus, capture the game, and do post-match interviews using the same camera.

Meanwhile, 5G-enabled remote production enables video feeds to be sent back to a central hub, rather than an outside broadcast truck. This massively reduces costs and allows production teams to work across multiple events in a single day. Already, the likes of Verizon and Sony have joined forces to demonstrate how 5G can enhance live sports broadcasts.

6. 5G drones

Verizon wants to be the first telco to use 5G to enable a million connected flights of 5G drones to take place. That's some ambition, but the idea has some backing since Verizon bought Skyward in 2016 - an organisation specializing in drone operations for businesses and enterprises. 

Skyward provides drone operators with detailed mapping while operating industrial drones plus there are also tools for overseeing multiple drones in action and, basically, work out what needs to go where. 

Verizon's plan is to enable as many drones as possible to be connected and to transmit video footage in real-time but also to relay back other intelligence such as levels of stock in a warehouse situation

“We've already started testing connected drones on 5G on the Verizon Network,” said Mariah Scott, president of Skyward. “We knew early on that connectivity would be critical for drones. And now 5G Ultra Wideband will usher in a new era in aviation, where we connect and integrate drones into the national airspace.” 

Elsewhere, Irish startup Manna has partnered with Cubic Telecom to fly delivery 5G-connected delivery drones in Ireland and England by the end of 2020. It is currently testing the tech at a base in Pontypool, Wales. 

The intention is for the drones to charge $1 per delivery. Each drone will have three batteries on board, meaning that they can make five deliveries per hour. Even so, that doesn't seem that profitable to us, but Manna believes that by keeping the drones flying as much as possible it can make it work. 

7. Immersive entertainment 

Verizon showcased its 5G tech in real-time rendering of effects from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The network partnered with Walt Disney Studios’ StudioLAB for a demo at the premiere afterparty in in Hollywood where guests were able to interact with Sith troopers in real-time.

Two actors played the troopers working in a remote location 15 miles away. Those who took part in the demo could approach a screen and interact with the two Sith troopers. The troopers were able to react in real-time. 

“Both the StudioLAB and Verizon believe 5G will fundamentally change everything about how entertainment media is created, distributed and consumed,” said Nicki Palmer, chief product development officer at Verizon. 

“The speed and low latency of 5G can unlock incredible creative capabilities,” added Ben Havey at Disney Studios StudioLAB. “We want to give storytellers early access to this new technology so they can continue to bring unparalleled experiences to audiences around the world.”

In November EE streamed a 360-degree augmented reality (AR) Bastille concert from Birmingham New Street station to Edinburgh and Liverpool. 

As well as being covered by various media outlets, the stunt wasn't just for fun - the event will be featured in a new EE brand campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi 

Members of the public in Edinburgh and Liverpool could watch the gig on devices provided by EE reps including the Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G and some AR glasses. Of course, AR visuals surrounded the band which could be seen on the glasses.

EE has used other music stars to promote 5G - it held a gig with Stormzy on the River Thames to promote the launch of its 5G network. The network also sponsors the Glastonbury Festival each year. 

8. Overground trains

Virgin Trains has been testing out 5G-powered Wi-Fi on its trains. The company believes it is the first railway company to trial the new tech. The trial happened on services between London Euston and Birmingham New Street, and between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly. 

However, Virgin Trains hasn't yet said if and when it plans to offer 5G-powered Wi-Fi on board its trains. 

The Vodafone 5G network was used to provide the 5G service - the red network has installed 5G in key transport locations including Birmingham New Street station. 

Virgin says the speeds seen were up to ten times faster than current on-board Wi-Fi. 

9. Going underground

Whilst companies such as Virgin Trains are looking to get 5G into the UK's biggest stations, a private and public sector consortium, led by Cisco, has gone underground to test 5G use cases on the Glasgow Subway.

5G RailNext has announced a pioneering new project to explore new 5G use cases for underground commuters, by setting up a unique private 5G network to connect passengers travelling by train on Scotland’s historic Glasgow Subway.

5G RailNext is a private and public sector consortium led by Cisco, and it includes companies and organisations across the technology, marketing and transport sectors, including the University of Strathclyde, Ampletime, Sublime, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, and Glasgow City Council. And as part of the UK Government's £200 million 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme, it aims to maximise the opportunities around 5G applications and services.

10. Manufacturing 

With 5G networks using URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications) latency can theoretically reduce that to a single millisecond, essentially rendering the issue of latency meaningless. The advantages to manufacturers are many; think high-precision assembly lines where all machines and robots are perfectly in sync in real-time, the mass-adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), and even humans controlling machines via touch. However, the first generation of 5G networks tend to offer around 10ms latency, so, for now, latency is still an issue. Expect second-gen 5G networks to be mostly about reducing latency.

5G in a manufacturing context is not about making use of publicly available 5G connections as used by consumers. No, 5G for industry is about constructing custom-made, private 5G networks that essentially bring alive the idea of an Intelligent or ‘smart’ factory. Also known as Industry 4.0, this is about abandoning the old ways to embrace connected systems to encourage more streamlined automation in a closed environment. With the Internet of Things (IoT) in full deployment and connected sensors on every machine, the aim is to predict problems, see problems emerge in real-time, and reduce production downtime. The secret sauce will be AI-capable analytics software to crunch real-time data on every machine and piece of equipment.

11. Smart factories

In the US, mobile network Verizon has partnered with specialist glass maker Corning to investigate how 5G can improve the factory environment. 

The maker of Corning Gorilla Glass (used on vast numbers of smartphones) are looking at how 5G can improve control across a factory environment on a large scale by tracking supplies across the whole complex, autonomous vehicles - so they can be called in from other parts of the facility - as well as moving product around. 

"As artificial intelligence starts using this data and improving our process, making our processes more efficient, that's when we're going to start seeing the value,"  says Claudio Mazzalli, Corning's vice president of technology. 

Could it actually save Corning money? "We are not speculating right now, but I can tell you that this question is a very important question for us. We don't want to start just adding devices everywhere if we don't see the value."

12. Connected cows and calving

Traditional industries such as agriculture will use 5G sensors to collate real-time information about fertilisation, livestock, and moisture needs, helping to conserve energy. And we are already seeing the emergence of smart farms, with services such as the MooCall calving sensor and app now being powered by 5G. MooCall is a sensor that attaches to the tail of cows, and then alerts farmers when a cow is about to give birth (cows move their tails more just before and during labour).  

“With the growing prevalence of IoT and 5G, we expect to see increasing innovation in the agricultural sector,” says Anne Sheehan, Director, Vodafone Business. “By using digital tools, farmers can gain better control over processes such as raising livestock and growing crops, improving overall productivity, efficiency and financial performance … technologies such as IoT and 5G must be viewed as a priority for the farming sector.”

13. Healthcare

The health industry will offer remote diagnosis and operations, as well as e-health and responsive wearables, and AI assistants might help people with disabilities. Companies such as the interactive physiotherapy specialist Immersive Rehab are already looking at how 5G can improve their offering, and 5G is being used in various trials such as the Liverpool 5G Testbed.

5G has even made its way into the operating theatre, when Telefónica, with the help of a hospital in Malaga, already presented the first assistance system for surgery that runs entirely on 5G technology. The howcase took place at the IV Advanced Digestive Endoscopy Conference, where Telefónica broadcast medical training sessions live, and in 4K quality. It achieved this with “almost no latency,” according to Telefónica.

Elsewhere, O2 has developed a deal with Samsung and the NHS to test out “smart ambulances” equipped with 5G technology. O2 will test the technology on six ambulances which will allow for new services such as real-time video technology and high-quality scanners (read the full story here).

14. Construction

The construction industry has always looked at new technologies as a way to improve safety and working practices, and 5G is no different. 

KT and Hyundai Engineering & Construction have announced that they will work together to build 5G networks at construction sites, with a aim to develop construction and automation technology.Using 5G infrastructure, we could see autonomous construction robots, and 5G will also be used to improve other technologies with better productivity and monitoring at construction sites.

KT will help Hyundai to build these 5G networks at its construction sites. The trials of the 5G solutions will commence later this year. If the trial all goes to plan, then the two companies aim to apply their technologies to many more construction sites next year. 

KT has said that its 5G technologies will provide "ultra-fast data transmission speeds and ultra-low latency with top notch security". And the companies have both said that the development of autonomous robots will give Hyundai the opportunity to carry out work on sites with limited to no human access (read the full story here).

15. Energy preservation

There are many interesting user case studies, but the increased use of 5G connected drones or autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for service or production delivery is one with some very interesting permutations. One of these might help with disaster relief situations via the sharing of real time data. They could help with search and rescue missions and deliver medical help, according to OnQ a blog from US telecom operator Qualcomm. And 5G drones can also be used as small cells to prevent gaps in 5G coverage.  

Another interesting end result of 5G is the huge potential for energy savings. Including all the currently unconnected, energy consuming devices via 5G IoT connections into the grid will allow for better management of energy. 

Where there are outages, 5G and smart grid technology can help with early diagnosis, speeding up repairs and reducing down time. Smart lighting will see street lights dimmed when no one is present, again saving power. 

In fact, a recent McKinsey report, Future proofing infrastructure in a fast changing world, argued that cities deploying a range of smart solutions could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10–15 percent.   

16. IP broadcasting

The broadcasting industry is currently looking at whether 5G technology can deliver both linear, and nonlinear broadcasts, whilst supporting them with enhanced media services (EMS), which are a combination of both. (‘Linear media’ refers to conventional TV or radio channels where programmes such as news, sport, entertainment and documentaries are scheduled by a service provider to be viewed at the time of transmission; whereas ‘nonlinear media’ is a type of media content that is offered on-demand at the request of the user.)

In 2019, a consortium of European broadcasting companies – led by virtualized media production company, Nevion – received a grant of €2 million from the European Union to create a remote production studio, powered by 5G technology. The project, known as VIRTUOSA, was selected from a list of 225 applications, and it has announced that it has taken its first technical step, opening an IP-based production studio, at Nevion’s Service Operations Center (SOC) in Gdansk, Poland. 

This initial phase involves setting up an IP-based studio, built on industry standards (SMPTE ST 2110 and NMOS) and integrating equipment from multiple vendors, including: video cameras, a vision mixer, and a server from Sony; a multiviewer from TAG Video Systems; an audio mixer from Stagetec; a media analyzer from Telestream; IP switches from Mellanox; a PTP-compliant time and frequency synchronization from Meinberg; software-defined media nodes from Nevion; and all of it managed by an orchestration and SDN control system from Nevion.

17. 5G-powered studio lighting

Telia, together with the government-owned subscription station TV2 Denmark, and leading lighting company BB&S, has developed a partnership to showcase 5G-connected lamps, which can be used in TV and film production, and could one day transform the broadcasting industry.

Telia is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company, and mobile network provider, which operates in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. And as a ‘Tier 1 network’ operator, it is particularly focussed on 5G, and its ability to deliver new services.

And Telia has worked closely with TV2 and BB&S to test how 5G networking could be employed to improve lightning set-up and cost efficiency in broadcasting.

Since it was founded in 1999, BB&S Lighting has worked with numerous broadcasting clients around the world, and on movie projects such as Star Wars - The last Jedi, Interstellar, Alien: Covenant, Pirates of Caribbean, and Independence Day 2. 

These set-ups can consist of 100s of lamps, every one of which needs to be connected with a power and a control cable. But using 5G, lights can be managed remotely, in real-time, providing huge efficiency and cost benefits.

18. Oil and gas

Centrica Storage and Vodafone have entered a partnership that will build the “gas plant of the future” at their Easington site, providing a 5G-ready mobile private network (MPN) for the facility, which will be the first of its kind in the UK’s oil and gas sector.

The new 5G infrastructure will enable Centrica Storage to automate, monitor, and centralize much of its critical maintenance and engineering operations. Real-time data will enable Centrica Storage to monitor its facility, streamline operational resources, and reduce costs. And the 5G network will even improve safety, enabling engineers to use virtual reality headsets to undertake training and critical maintenance tasks.

The 5G mobile private network will be built by Vodafone using Ericsson equipment, and will enable a number of industrial 5G use cases, such as connecting workers to digital data and applications across the entire site, increasing productivity whilst reducing cost, and all in a much safer environment.

19. Communication

Although the first wave of video calls over 5G will be on phones (which is why most 5G phones have better front cameras), in the long term expect full HD, 4K and even 8K video streams to be exchanged between 5G-enabled augmented reality (AR) devices and virtual reality (VR) headsets. With 5G’s ability to stream high capacity data packets in real-time, video-calling applications are about to get super-charged and go 360°.

And once video calling over 5G has improved, expect another giant leap to be made with the advent of live 3D holographic phone calls. Last year UK network operator Vodafone conducted the UK’s first live holographic call using 5G technology, with England and Manchester City Women’s footballer Steph Houghton using 5G tech to make a holographic call from Manchester. She appeared as a live 3D hologram on stage in front of an audience at Vodafone’s UK HQ in Newbury. European network operator Cosmote in Greece has also used the same tech to ‘holoport’ musicians in different physical locations on to a virtual stage where they played a piece of music together. 3D holographic calls require about four times as much data as a streamed 4K video – itself pretty data-intensive – though 5G’s low latency is just as important. In the long term the tech has potential applications for medical imaging, video conferencing and gaming.

20. Quality control

Logistics company Ice Mobility is testing on Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge platform, integrated with Microsoft Azure.

“When I heard that [Verizon] were partnering with Microsoft, it kind of sealed the deal for me,” said Mike Mohr, CEO of Ice Mobility.  “We have always been a Microsoft house for everything we do in our business, and so it became a natural selection at that point.

Ice Mobility is using 5G and MEC to help with computer vision assisted product packing. By gathering data on product packing errors, in what is essentially real-time, the company has the potential to improve on-site quality assurance and save 15% to 30% in processing time.

“The goal is to make sure that the customers have the right product on their shelves when they need to sell it, and one of the ways we've always achieved this by making sure we double check every single shipment so that it has the right product in the box,” said Mohr. 

“We're improving our quality control process through computer vision. We were able to do this by installing a high definition camera above every one of our pick lines. These cameras are powered by the 5G network, matching the data for a particular order to what the high definition camera is looking at inside the box. This validates that it's the right materials, and flags it up if it's not. The mech is that it literally knows the entire journey of the box.”

21. Empowering the high street

Verizon has partnered with TechUnited:NJ – an organization set up to help empower entrepreneurs and innovators in the New Jersey area – to create the “5G Impact Challenge”, which aims to provide a number of small businesses with new ways to use 5G technology, from solving operational pain points to improving the shopping experience for customers.

"In times like these, the world leans on technology to help us stay connected,” said TJ Fox, president of business markets at Verizon. “This is especially true for our local communities and retail shops, which is why Verizon has joined in this effort to show small businesses how 5G connectivity can open the door to new and immersive solutions as a way to interact with customers."

TechUnited worked with Verizon to select five small businesses within Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband mobility service footprint.

“Without the help of technology, we wouldn’t still be in business today,” said Dominic Yun, owner of SOHO Flower & Garden. “Prior to COVID, we had a website but didn’t do online sales. Thankfully, we were able to quickly shift to online orders which helped us stay afloat."

The companies selected for the “5G Impact Challenge” received Inseego MiFi M2100 5G hotspots and Samsung Galaxy S10 5G phones, as well as access to Verizon’s suite of small business services.

One of the most innovative 5G use cases in the scheme involved giving visitors to SOHO Flower & Garden the opportunity to view flowers in an augmented reality environment, so they could see how they were going to look before deciding to purchase them.

22. 5G use cases in port authorities

In 2020, Zeebrugge, one of the world’s busiest ports, with 45.8 million tons of goods annually transshipped through its docks, announced the completion of the first phase of a 5G-ready, industrial-grade private wireless network for the port.

By implementing the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud platform Zeebrugge hopes to streamline the logistical challenge of moving and tracking almost one million tons of goods each week. And the new platform will provide private wireless connectivity to more than 100 endpoints across the entire port operations. 

The network is now being used for connectivity with tugboats, air pollution detectors, security cameras and quay sensors. And this partnership will enable Zeebrugge to deliver a range of new and enhanced 5G use cases to improve the port’s operational performance, and also showcase Zeebrugge as a leader in port transformation and digitalization.

And in January 2021, Terminal 5 of the Port of Seattle joined Zeebrugge in utilizing Nokia's DAC platform, working with Tideworks Technology, a provider of terminal operating technology for maritime facilities, to deploy Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) at Terminal 5, which is part of the Northwest Seaport Alliance, one of the largest container gateways in North America. 

The LTE/5G private wireless network will be used to augment Wi-Fi, for enhanced redundancy and availability, and will support cable-free port and terminal operations using overlapping LTE Bands (B53 and B48). And it will be a valuable addition to Nokia’s growing list of industrial 5G use cases.

The introduction of an industrial-grade LTE/5G private wireless network will, the companies say, deliver major increases in efficiency, worker safety and terminal handling performance by “reducing the complexity of port flow”.

“These use cases illustrate the benefits of private wireless in a port or intermodal terminal operation,” said Matt Young, vice president of US Enterprise Sales, Nokia Cloud and Networking Services.

The new network will deliver connectivity indoors, and out across Terminal 5 operations, cranes, trucks and lifts, with Nokia DAC also being incorporated into ruggedized tablets and smartphones for comms and inventory applications.

23. Improving education facilities with 5G

Nova Southeastern University is a private Hispanic-serving multi-campus research university, with around 20,000 students, and its main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida, which has partnered with Mobilitie to deliver 5G to its students. 

“We’re thrilled to provide our students, faculty and staff with an ultra-fast, state-of-the-art wireless network across our Davie campus,” said Tom West, Chief Information Officer of NSU.

This partnership with Mobilitie, the largest privately-held wireless infrastructure firm in the US, will enable the deployment of a cutting-edge 5G network across the Davie, Florida campus of Nova Southeastern University.

The 5G network will cover the 314-acre campus, including offices, classrooms, the library, residence halls, computer labs and athletic facilities, providing 5G access to students and faculty.

24. Transforming tourist attractions

Azoomee/Da Vinci, a media company focussing on children’s entertainment, has released a new Augmented Reality (AR) experience, which enables young visitors to Vienna’s Rathaus building to experience digitally enhanced environments as they move through the building.

“We’ve been very impressed with the quality of contributions to Vienna’s challenge to find new 5G use cases, but Azoomee’s work in this space has been especially noted for the way it combines new technology with the city’s heritage,” said Dipl.-Vw. Klemens Himpele, chief information officer (CIO) der Stadt Wien. “The way its AR app transforms the Rathaus into a digital environment that combines both fun and learning for children is the perfect example of what we hope to achieve with 5G. We are excited by the possibilities that this AR experience could be adapted to other locations both in Vienna and beyond.”

The Azoomee/Da Vinci  AR app enables kids to see historical figures jumping on trampolines, playing football, and performing skateboard tricks, whilst also transforming the landscape, even placing some rooms underwater, with sub-aquatic creatures swimming around features and furniture.

25. 5G-powered service bots

 At the 2021t Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, OrionStar, a company specialising in robotics tech, launched three service robots that include Qualcomm technology, enabling 5G connectivity and enhanced AI processing capabilities.

Powered by AI tech, OrionStar’s 5G Robotic Coffee Master served up beverages to attendees visiting Qualcomm Technologies’ booth at MWC Shanghai 2021. And based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System, this 5G bot can make 1,000 cups of coffee every day.

Elsewhere, the OrionStar Restaurant Service Robot roamed the convention floor, delivering beverages to guests. Whilst the 5G HomeBot was on display at the ‘5G mmWave’ booth, where it used Qualcomm’s Robotics Platform to answer questions from guests, conduct live Q&As, and provide personalized tours.

26. 5G IoT via nanosatellite 

Open Cosmos, a UK company that specializes in satellite-based technology, has launched two commercial nanosatellites, one of which is a 5G IoT satellite for telecom operator Sateliot – the first of its kind to provide continuous IoT connectivity, merging satellite and terrestrial networks under the 5G protocol.

Both nanosatellites were created entirely at the Open Cosmos HQ in Harwell, known as the heart of the UK’s space industry, with the company having dedicated £4 million in R&D to the project, courtesy of funding from the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency.

“These launches mark a major milestone for Open Cosmos, demonstrating the capacity of low-cost satellites to provide IoT connectivity to remote parts of the world and collect data,” said Rafel Jordá, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos. “With £300bn of wider UK GDP supported by satellite services, Open Cosmos is key to unlocking these services and making them more accessible for businesses and governments across the world."

27. 5G-in-a-box

5G isn't merely an iterative change in existing network technology; it's a step change of an update, which enables a plethora of new opportunities, especially for the industrial sector. 

One challenge, though, is how you test whether 5G is the right technology for you, without a massive commercial investment?

Thankfully, Singte is one company addressing this problem, with the launch of GENIE, the world’s first portable 5G platform. This new 5G technology will allow enterprises to experience 5G’s capabilities and trial use cases at their own premises.

GENIE creates an independent 5G network at any location where it is deployed, without the need for prior installation of equipment or infrastructure. And it has been designed to be compact and transportable, coming in a suitcase-sized container, which consists of a 5G network control kit and a standing mount with 5G radio antenna. 

28. 5G 'digital twin' technology

Digital twin technology, as it sounds, enables you to create a digital version of a physical object or environment, which can then be interacted with remotely. This could entail the virtual recreation of a work space, where people could train safely using VR equipment, or, as is the case at Hyperbat, one of the UK’s largest independent vehicle battery manufacturers, it can be used to create ‘digital twins’ of products, which can be manipulated and viewed using VR headsets.

The Coventry-based company has partnered with BT, Ericsson and NVIDIA, to enable remote teams to connect, collaborate, and interact using a virtual 3D engineering model. And this digital twin project will be a world-first, which will allow design and engineering teams to walk around, and interact with, a 3D life-size model in real time. 

Hyperbat colleagues in different locations will be able to work with a 1:1 product scale hologram of the design in-situ on the factory floor, review designs in real time, and manage workflows much more effectively.

29. 5G in airports

China is currently pushing ahead of western countries with its 5G roll-out, and it has now announced the world's first wall-to-wall gigabit 5G available in an airport.

China Mobile Chengdu used Huawei's 5G distributed Massive MIMO solution to deliver 5G in the new Chengdu Tianfu International Airport. Huawei's field tests showed that the user-perceived rate across the check-in areas exceeded 1Gbps, with the single-user rate increasing by 26% on average over common 5G networks, up to a peak of 1.25Gbps.

With major airlines like Chengdu Tianfu International Airport launching 5G-based smart travel services, such as VIP recognition, luggage tracking, and AR map navigation, to improve travel experience, high 5G speed is essential. In using Huawei's digital indoor small cells combined with 5G distributed Massive MIMO software functions, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport certainly achieves this.

30. World’s first 5G substation

Constellation, a smart substation trial from UK Power Networks, will utilize Vodafone 5G connectivity to help make them more efficient, and enable the freeing up of capacity for clean energy, in a bid to help reach the UK’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

UK Power Networks is the UK’s biggest electricity distributor, delivering power to more than eight million homes and businesses across London, the South East, and the East of England. (Electricity network operators, unlike energy suppliers, who focus on selling electricity, take care of the maintenance and operation of power lines and substations.)

The Constellation project is a world-first in 5G use cases, and will connect parts of the UK’s electricity network with high-speed 5G connectivity, with computers being installed in electricity substations so they can communicate with each other in real-time to improve efficiency.

Initially the Constellation project team will select multiple testing locations across UK Power Networks areas in the south-east of England, and at the University of Strathclyde’s Power Networks Demonstration Centre. And the companies say that it could save 63,702 tonnes of CO2 by 2050, which is the equivalent of 38,607 return flights from London to New York. 

31. Indoor farm monitoring

AeroFarms and Nokia Bell Labs have announced that they have formed a multi-year partnership to combine their expertise and expand their joint capabilities in cutting-edge networking, autonomous systems, and integrated machine vision and machine learning technologies to identify and track plant interactions at the most advanced levels.

Nokia Bell Labs, the industrial research arm of Nokia, will contribute its ground-breaking autonomous drone control and orchestration systems, private wireless 5G networks, robust image and sensor data pipelines, and innovative artificial intelligence (AI) enabled mobile sensor technologies. Meanwhile, AeroFarms, a Certified B Corporation and global leader in indoor vertical farming, will contribute its commercial growing expertise, comprehensive environmental controls, an agriculture-focused data platform, and machine vision core foundation. This combination of innovative technologies allows AeroFarms to reach the next level of imaging insights that further enhance its capabilities as an industry-leading operator of world-class, fully connected smart vertical farms that grow the highest quality plants all year round. 

How should you get 5G ready? 

Prosumers and business owners will need to swap their old phones for a 5G ready version. There are already several 5G smartphones on the market, and EE markets five of them (the Oppo Reno 5G, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, LG V50 ThinQ 5G, the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and Huawei Mate 20 X 5G). You can also pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus. Similarly, you will also need a 5G plan, either from one of the big telecoms operators, or an MVNO. We are likely to see more offerings from mobile operators as 5G develops.  

• Discover the best 5G networks in the UK and US
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• 5G towers: everything you need to know

The Ericsson Mobility Report states that 5G mobile subscriptions will exceed half a billion by the end of 2021 — making 5G the fastest adopted mobile generation in history. The 4G rollout taught mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that  they must take a more proactive approach if they are to successfully compete with larger mobile network operators (MNOs). Here, Hamish White, CEO of telecommunications software provider Mobilise, explores the 5G future of the MVNO. 

When 4G became widely available, for several reasons, MNOs were slow to share it with MVNOs not least being the desire to keep those high spending data customers all to themselves for as long as possible. More than a decade later, the development of the MVNO market and evolution of consumer demands means that MVNOs need to find ways of increasing their own competitive advantage, to prevent being left behind. 

The delay in 4G availability from MNOs to MVNOs caused countless problems. For example, Spanish MVNO MovilDia had to make a costly and disruptive host provider switch from Orange to Vodaphone Spain to be able to offer its customers 4G back in 2018. Experience tells us that a host migration can result in between five and 20 percent customer churn, high costs in a competitive industry such as telecoms and even more so in the MVNO space where margins can be razor thin.

As consumer demand for greater reliability and data speed rises, the pressure mounts on MVNOs to provide the same 5G services as the MNO’s themselves and raises the question, how can MVNOs compete in the 5G era?

Stand out from the crowd

It’s been predicted for some time now that 5G will be the catalyst for the rise of specialised MVNOs and at the MVNOs World Congress 2020, this trend was reinforced by the industry —growth potential lies in enterprise 5G, not just consumer 5G. This has led to the recognition that to differentiate themselves from the competition, MVNOs should consider specialising in business to business (B2B) use cases.

These 5G use cases rely less on Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and more on Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communication (mMTC) of 5G networks. 

Commenting at the congress, Dario Talmesio, principal analyst and practice leader at Omdia, said becoming specialised was “a great opportunity for MVNOs since many MNOs are starting to offer multiple, niche-focused brands to serve specific segments of the market”. This move by MNO’s to target specific segments versus their traditional “one size fits all” approach works to compete against MVNO’s specialised or segmented offerings, potentially reducing some of the market opportunity for MVNO’s. 

To become 5G specialised, MVNOs must delve into market trends, analyse and identify  where the 5G opportunity  is prominent. Such an opportunity is in the development of Smart Cities. For instance, the United Nations predicts that 68 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas by 2050, and IoT connectivity is going to be  integral to the success of the smart cities that can efficiently manage power, transport and communications. The possibilities of 5G in smart cities was demonstrated with Romania’s first smart city, Alba Iulia, which was developed with Orange in 2018.

Take also for example, Standard Bank Mobile in South Africa, which specialises in finance and rewards its customers with one megabyte (MB) of data every time 20 South African rand is spent on a credit card.

Other areas that benefit from specialised 5G networks include healthcare and smart factories, where there is the potential for mass-adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT).

eSIMs

It is in the area of embedded Subscriber Identity Model Technology (eSIMs) that are becoming increasingly popular and necessary for both consumers and operators — which can also help MVNOs to shine. Research from the Telco Consumer Behaviour Survey by Capgemini Research Institute, found that over 40 per cent of consumers would prefer to activate mobile services using eSIMs, rather than visit a store to activate a physical SIM card.

The 5G future of SIM cards lies in eSIMs, which still play the same integral role in 5G networks as previous SIM cards, but a fully integrated 5G-capable eSIM offers greater flexibility as device owners can switch carriers without having to switch SIMs, as well as reduce costs to the operators

Understandably, giving customers more control over their plan and easier access to switch providers can be off putting for Telcos who fear a loss of control over their customers, but it’s important to recognise how todays digital savvy consumers demand the convenience of digital  products such as eSIMs. For telcos of all types, a digital strategy if properly understood and managed, will be reflected in enhanced revenue generation and customer retention. 

Removing the need for a physical SIM card offers cost savings and greater efficiency opportunities for MVNOs, as it eliminates complex logistics processes, fulfilment charges and production costs. In addition, eSIMs are instantly onboarded into the device, making it both simpler for the customer to use and ultimately replacing the logistics of the operator with a cost efficient digital only process.

eSIMs are already being placed in a host of new cellular-enabled devices, such as wearables. Utilising 5G as it becomes ubiquitous , these devices will possess processing power that will rely on fully integrated eSIMs to manage their connection.

Helping drive this eSIM shift for MVNOs is Mobilise, which offers eSIM as a service. Mobilse makes the digital solution more user friendly by eliminating the need for a QR code, and instead uses in-app eSIM activation, which allows users to activate their eSIM profile in a simple one tap onboarding process. MVNOs can therefore offer eSIM technology, and ever increasing 5G capabilities, in a way that’s easier for customers to access.

Take a slice

Amongst these growing opportunities that will further support the era of 5G and increasing consumer expectations, MVNOs will also be able to adopt “network slicing”. Slicing allows the subdivision of one physical network into multiple networks (slices). Each ‘slice’ delivers specific network features tailored to the consumer or business segment dependent on use case.

This presents opportunities for MVNOs to tap into different segments with tailored products and regain control over resources. For example, different sectors benefit from different characteristics such as lower latency for medical and automotive sectors that require greater speed, security and resilience for data transmission, whereas logistics and smart manufacturing processes will benefit from streamlined machine to machine capability. 

MVNOs must take advantage of network slicing, in order to share the opportunities that this business model offers to telcos, which is forecast to be worth $300 billion by 2025, according to The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA).

Consumer and business demands are changing and more is expected from network operators. Although MNOs often have the monopoly over spectrum via licencing and play an integral part in the adoption of new technology, MVNOs also play a key role in driving innovation and must seize the opportunities that 5G presents. By adopting new technologies and business plans, MVNOs can continue to prove their competitive advantage, reduce MNO dependency and gain more control over the market. 

5G will play a significant role in transforming the capabilities of first responders by giving them access to advanced technologies and communication tools more effectively, more efficiently and in real time.  

When looking toward the future of a 5G-enabled emergency medical service (EMS) force, it’s important to consider the current status of the 5G rollout from a technology perspective before understanding the use cases 5G will enable. With a solid grasp of 5G’s capabilities and critical evaluation of the ways in which 5G can affect positive change, EMS teams will be able to better allocate their budgets to prepare for this next wave of connectivity. 

The status of the 5G rollout

The enterprise and consumer worlds have been talking about the impact of 5G for a while, especially since the 3GPP’s global standards for 5G came out in 2017. Most recently, carriers have been prioritizing their 5G deployments with different spectrum allocations, mmWave and Sub6, focusing mainly on urban markets. Since every carrier is at a different stage in their deployment – with some covering more than 100 cities – there is still time for the public sector, and EMS teams in particular, to solidify their 5G strategies. 

Many EMS teams are starting to explore the potential of 5G and it’s likely that the rollout among EMS providers  in the US will grow now that the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) has announced it will support 5G connectivity. The network has already deployed 5G in 38 cities and experts are saying that first responder teams will primarily notice the increased speeds in comparison to 4G LTE. As applications develop over time, EMS teams will soon see the benefits of the ultra-low latency and high bandwidth. 

At Panasonic, we partner with all major carriers, including AT&T’s FirstNet and Verizon’s Frontline dedicated first responder networks, to ensure that we provide EMS customers with the right solutions. With speeds 10x faster than 4G, reduced latency by up to 90% and increased capacity for uploading and downloading data in seconds, 5G will significantly transform the efficiency of daily workflows. Further, 5G’s strong encryption rate will allow first responders to more securely and effectively leverage some of the industry’s trending advanced technologies from drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) to Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). 5G’s ability to truly unlock and maximize the potential of such technology, as EMS teams strive to stay connected to communities in near real-time, is an exciting prospect.

5G’s potential to transform remote patient care  

Regardless of how you view 5G, it’s important that EMS teams consider the impact of the technology from a solutions perspective, and take a holistic view of the use cases that will help them best serve their communities. This extends to broadening the impact of technologies already being used in the industry – such as video – to serve a greater purpose when it comes to not only connecting paramedics and front line workers with hospital staff, but also bringing greater situational awareness through communication, visibility and monitoring. 

5G will transform the capabilities of the connected ambulance, a concept that has emerged in recent years as a way to streamline communication between paramedics and ER staff. Time is of the essence when it comes to servicing patients, so any vitals or patient data they are able to collect while in route to the hospital could be crucial insight for ER doctors to leverage. With the right 5G-enabled mobile devices and IoT wearables, EMS teams can efficiently collect this data and transmit it quickly and securely to the hospital, so doctors and nurses can better prepare to service the patient. Further, IoT solutions, like Biotricity’s remote patient monitoring platform developed in collaboration with Verizon’s 5G First Responder Lab, can help doctors and paramedics monitor vitals remotely to detect issues before they arise, leading to more timely patient care.

Video is already a critical component of the connected ambulance, but 5G will significantly enhance streaming capabilities to boost EMS providers’ situational awareness and communication with the ER. At Panasonic, we work with the Houston Fire Department’s ETHAN Project, which aims to conserve the city’s resources by reducing the number of ambulance trips and ER visits for low-acuity patients. The city’s fire department is often the first to arrive on-site, so they leverage one of Panasonic’s rugged tablets to access patient records and hold video conferences between the patient and ER doctor, as necessary. 4G LTE has already introduced first responder teams to the power of real-time video conferencing, but 5G will enhance that video quality and streaming speeds to boost real-time communication even further. Specifically, the level of intelligent video 5G can enable will provide EMS teams with real-time visuals of accidents unfolding to help them prepare for emergencies in advance.

5G-powered augmented and virtual reality applications can work alongside these video capabilities to provide real-time medical support and assistance to EMS teams. Through augmented reality, doctors can walk paramedics through an incident to make sure they offer the best level of patient care. For example, in Birmingham, UK a clinician was recently able to perform a procedure remotely by viewing the patient through zero-latency camera footage and leveraging a VR headset and joystick to guide the paramedic through the procedure with haptic glove technology. This combination of 5G-enabled technology empowered the emergency care team to deliver efficient care from the field with the same level of oversight the patient would have received if present in the hospital.

Outside of the ambulance, the use of 5G-enabled drones will help EMS teams supervise arenas and large venues during sporting events and concerts. Specifically, drones have the potential to support and conduct real-time temperature checks to monitor for any symptoms among crowds entering a stadium. Further, drones can capture real-time, close-up video of a scene if a player becomes injured and requires immediate care, for instance. The ability to view this real-time footage will enhance first responders’ situational awareness, so they can support the individual quickly and efficiently. 

Many cities, like New York City, have combined their EMS and fire response teams, so 5G will play a key role in powering the real-time communication and collaboration necessary between both entities. Most of the 5G-enabled solutions that will support EMS teams have the power to streamline work for fire departments as well. 5G’s ability to power Sidelink communications in which devices communicate without relaying their data via the network will be critical in powering real-time communication between fire and EMS teams. 5G will also help with data transmission to the command center, so dispatchers can help coordinate response when visibility on the ground is low. 

From powering the connected ambulance to supporting first responders’ situational awareness, 5G will play a key role in the future of emergency response.

Preparing for 5G 

Given that 5G will enable so many different technology applications for EMS providers, preparing for its deployment will require teams to consider how they can streamline their current workflows. Since everyone’s wireless conditions are different, connectivity needs should align with the following key criteria: compatibility, battery life requirements, cost, timing and environment (indoors vs. outdoors). 5G-enabled devices will be well-protected from a security perspective with better encryption and authentication, so teams won’t have to place too much focus on overcoming cybersecurity hurdles. Ultimately, selecting the right technology partner is crucial to make sure EMS teams deploy the best solutions now and in the future based on their needs, budgets and the industry landscape. 

Once EMS providers plan out these 5G use cases, they should begin taking advantage of 5G network capabilities. By 2025, it’s estimated that 40% of all mobile connections will have 5G access and the use of 4G LTE will be up to 59%. Further, by 2022, data use will grow so exponentially that 5G will be critical to support the increased strain on 4G. Procurement and vendor management leaders for EMS providers should work closely with carriers to understand the terms of current and planned coverage and determine the details around corporate plan structures to ensure a plan that’s customized to their unique objectives.

While 5G may seem like an end point for companies and the public sector to achieve, it is not a final destination because technology will always evolve and new applications will emerge. Therefore, it is critical that EMS providers establish clear goals from the beginning and partner with the right organizations to ensure that they stay up-to-date on the latest developments.

The future of connected EMS care

Given the critical and fast-paced nature of emergency medical services, it is crucial that teams take advantage of the latest technology applications available. While 4G LTE has introduced the industry to many new concepts like video conferencing, 5G will have the ability to enhance these use cases and open opportunities to leverage new solutions. 

As long as EMS providers have a solid understanding of the use cases made possible by 5G and allocate financial resources accordingly, they will be able to give paramedics greater situational awareness and remote support, transforming the level of care they deliver to their communities. 

There’s substantial demand for 5G connectivity, so much so that available spectrum is already in short supply. Spectrum is broadly split into three main ranges of frequencies - low band (1 GHz and below), mid band (1 to 7 GHz), and high band (24 GHz and above). That high band is also known as millimeter wave (mmWave), and is rapidly becoming one of the big battlegrounds for researchers and developers in the 5G universe. 3GPP Release 16 and beyond contain a wide variety of capability, performance, and efficiency provisos that make mmWave increasingly practical. 

What and why mmWave?

Millimeter wave or mmWave is so called because the wavelengths in these high-frequency bands are measured peak to peak in millimeters, with wavelengths ranging from ten to one millimetres. Research into their use dates right back to 1894, when Indian physicist Jagadish Chandra Bose recorded transmission and reception of 60 GHz waves.

High frequency mmWave has seen rising interest due to its capability to offer data speeds akin to terrestrial fibre, especially in focussed environments. Common examples might be in Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), offering broadband connections to a small community by using mmWave as the often prohibitively expensive ‘last mile’ connection, lowering costs for the whole community. Other key applications are for providing large numbers of high-speed mobile connections in a specific space, such as stadiums, concert halls, airports, venues, train stations, and dense urban areas. 

Barriers to uptake 

While the promise of ultra-wide bandwidth in the mmWave frequencies has drawn much attention, there are a range of barriers that have made practical applications challenging. Indeed, for many years mobilising mmWave was widely held to be ‘impossible’ by key researchers. A key starting challenge is the fact that mmWave frequencies have high atmospheric attenuation, they are absorbed by atmospheric humidity, and conditions such as rain can have a dramatic impact on range. 

A further complication is that mmWave devices face significant additional power and thermal performance challenges over standard, traditional cellular systems. This is because they are operating at much wider bandwidths, for example 400/800 MHz. Fortunately 3GPP Release 16 and 17 introduce a multitude of power saving features such as reduced signaling overhead and faster link feedback that will help to mitigate this issue. 

Solutions in the ether 

The key to bringing mmWave to the market has been a huge body of research into sidestepping that attenuation problem, much of which has been on the antenna side. Mobile 5G phones using mmWave would theoretically be blocked by a human hand, so reference designs contain multiple antennas on different sides, operating on the assumption that the whole phone surface won’t be covered. 

At the base station end, the proliferation of antennas - 32 in Release 15, and rising through later releases - has led to the term Massive MIMO or mmIMO. In addition, techniques such as beamforming - which uses multiple antenna elements to focus energy in one direction using a narrow beam - and scanning techniques have transformed possible throughput and connection densities. This is particularly significant as it enables a solid data connection without direct line of sight, using the reflective properties of mmWave signals to bounce off nearby objects, such as the interior walls of a shopping mall or sporting stadium.

Such indoor deployments are likely to become increasingly popular in the future - a recent economic study conducted by GSMA Intelligence found that an indoor office space deployment generated cost savings between 5% and 20% when a significant share of data traffic needs to be supported by indoor 5G services.

City-wide C-V2X with mmWave? 

Inevitably, the fact that these initial challenges have been solved has spurred more innovation. One recent example being Movandi’s May 2021 demonstration of mmWave repeaters to create a vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications network. According to the company, an mmWave repeater installed inside a car enabled greater than 10x performance gains with an average throughput of 1.5 gigabits per second (Gbps) on the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network. 

This is particularly significant as the demonstration overcomes the assumption that fast-moving cars are poor candidates for mmWave due to the signal blocking properties of steel and glass. According to a recent Gartner report, the attach rate of 5G interfaces in embedded automotive telematics will increase from near-0 per cent in 2019 to 51 per cent by 2029, reaching just under 180 million connections in connected cars by 2029. 

Another boost for mmWave comes courtesy of Qualcomm, which announced successful 5G data call trials in April 2021 that combine mmWave with FDD or TDD sub-6GHz spectrum by utilising 5G Standalone (SA) mode Dual Connectivity. This combination should allow newer 5G devices to use whichever radio frequency offers the best data rate at the time, optimising speeds and minimising contention at busy locations or areas of limited coverage.

Future potential is unlimited 

It is clear that the future potential of mmWave is vast, and is already a cornerstone in 5G network provision. The next 5G standard release, Release 17, will expand the reach of mmWave to lower-tier devices such as IIoT sensors and small wearables, thanks to 5G NR-Light, as well as a focus on beam management for mmWave bands, multi-transmission-point operations and higher mobility. 

Release 17 is currently scheduled for completion in 2022, with a freeze in March 2022, followed by a coding protocols freeze in June 2022.

5G promises to not only redefine the network, but completely transform digital experiences as we know them. Its introduction, dubbed as ‘a digital revolution’ and the ‘bridge to the future’, promises faster download speeds, improved latency and enhanced connectivity for billions, and should see 5G networks cover about half of the world’s population by 2025, according to estimates.

We mustn’t forget however that these advancements will open up new opportunities for malicious disruption and cyber attacks, as with any rapid technological advancement. In fact, cyber criminals and nation states are already exploring the new dimensions of potential implications and vulnerabilities 5G will create. And we should, too.

To help organisations navigate the evolving 5G threat landscape and ensure the UK remains at the forefront of the 5G rollout, the Commons Defence Select Committee published a seminal report looking at the security risks of the 5G network in late 2020, and advising organisations everywhere on the key considerations for remaining cyber-secure during the rollout of 5G. Almost a year since it was published, we’ll summarise the opportunities the technology presents, and share some high-level recommendations on how both consumers and industry players can continue developing a secure approach to 5G adoption.

The potential of 5G connectivity

5G will usher in a new age of virtual experiences and digital content, especially for consumers. It’s not only next-generation gaming, augmented reality, and immersive experiences that make 5G so exciting; faster speeds and lower latency will impact virtually every aspect of life and work, driving internal efficiencies, and sparking innovation.

The opportunity to deliver new customer experiences and offerings for communications service providers is tremendous, and the same is true for the 5G network operators who will build and operate the systems architecture underpinning these new business models.

Inevitable risks from the 5G rollout

This transformational mobile bandwidth is coming online while the Internet of Things (IoT) is reaching its peak. A wave of connected devices and services may open up endless possibilities for consumers and workers, but it will also expand the number and types of identities in an organisation’s infrastructure.

Attackers often rely on compromising identities — linked to humans, devices, and applications — and subsequent manipulation of ‘privileged’ user credentials to reach their targets’ most sensitive data, applications, or infrastructure.

5G networks provide foundational connectivity for innumerable services while also transmitting and storing private data for consumers, businesses and governments. All this, means attacks can quickly reverberate far beyond the initial incident.

Take the Verkada IoT breach in early 2021, for example, which showed what can happen when thousands of interconnected devices are not secured like other sensitive network assets. The late 2020 revelations that Google was hit with a DDoS attack also demonstrated what is possible in terms of attack scale.

As the 5G roll-out intensifies, attacks are already becoming more frequent, sophisticated and larger in scale; the telecom industry, for instance, was the number one target of DDoS attacks in the first quarter of 2021.

Analysis of 5G Threat Vectors: A paper

As previously mentioned, the Common’s report ‘The Security of 5G’ aims to inform on cybersecurity risks and drive collaborative solutions.

Launching a ‘lively debate’ on the 5G security risks in Parliament and across the country, the inquiry led to a significant Government announcement placing restrictions on high-risk vendors. After digging into the potential threats of 5G, the paper discovered that attacks can come from anywhere, including individuals and nation states, can be diverse in nature, and that the vendor market for 5G equipment isn’t diverse enough.

Alongside this, other major threats include the 5G supply chain and systems architecture. Both of which we’ll look into in more detail.

Ensuring security within the 5G supply chain

The global battle over 5G supremacy and resulting rush to establish necessary 5G critical infrastructure has created a perfect opportunity for attackers to conduct cyber espionage campaigns, foreign interference, and other malicious activities. As a result, the entire 5G supply chain is susceptible to risks such as malicious software and hardware, counterfeit components, poor designs, manufacturing processes, and maintenance procedures.

We’ve already seen the impact supply chain attacks have had on numerous businesses this year, with devastating cyberattacks such the SolarWinds breach and Codecov attack having targeted supply chains over the last twelve months. The number of such cyberattacks is increasing too, and is set to explode as billions of connected 5G devices compound the problem.

A single act of tampering at any point in the 5G supply chain could have a massive ripple effect. For example, business and home equipment like routers, smartphones, and IoT devices could be compromised en masse, while countries purchasing 5G equipment from companies with compromised supply chains could be vulnerable to interception, manipulation, disruption, or destruction of data.

Securing 5G systems architecture

Several new technologies are required to build out the critical 5G systems architecture needed to meet the data, capacity, and communication requirements of networks, namely software-defined networking, cloud-native infrastructure, network slicing, and edge computing. While absolutely vital to enabling 5G networks, these tools further increase the attack surface available for cyber criminals looking to exploit 5G.

Following the Commons Defence Select Committee’s report last year, many 5G component manufacturers and service providers are adopting measures to enhance security through technology improvements, but malicious actors can still exploit vulnerabilities — both legacy and brand new. Many do so by accessing unsecured and unmanaged privileged accounts and credentials which provide superuser access to critical telecommunications infrastructure, whether it’s on-premise, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments. This lack of appropriate security puts assets at increased risk of a damaging cyber-attack that could impact telecommunications companies and citizens alike.

Identity security considerations for the 5G era

Adopting Privileged Access Management, as well as an identity-centric approach to security, helps close the gaps and vulnerabilities that attackers are looking to exploit, and strengthen the very core of 5G infrastructure. Doing so isn’t always straightforward however, so telecommunications organisations and 5G architects should bear six key considerations in mind when setting out to improve their current security posture and mitigate the risk of future compromise:

1. Credentials belonging to machine identities on IoT devices, as well as 5G component systems, must be both discovered and managed. Managing privileged access to legacy infrastructure can help identify these and prevent the malicious use of privileged accounts, the most common path to a business’s most valuable assets.
2. Isolating and monitoring human-led privileged sessions is essential. It helps prevent malicious actors from moving laterally within a 5G network in search of potentially lucrative targets.
3. Implementing the principle of Least Privilege, where a user is given the minimum levels of access or permissions needed to perform their job function, is a critical line of defence against ransomware attacks in particular.
4. Remember, software must consistently patched and always up to date, especially in accordance with recent government guidance, to keep your infrastructure water-tight against external attackers.
5. Don’t forget about your partners. Improve the security posture of your digital supply chain partners, who can exhibit chinks in the armour of your supply chain. You’re only as secure as your weakest link, after all.
6. Acting confidently on suspicious behaviour in real-time. Empowering IT teams to monitor threats and detect anomalies as soon as they happen through training and supporting technology will help embed a culture of security in your organisation.

The era of 5G and IoT is dawning on us. While there are seemingly endless possibilities that can come from these technologies, this new age also brings with it significant risk. For organisations, a strong defence means adhering to the above considerations and implementing an ‘assume breach’ mindset. That should allow them to detect and isolate adversaries before they inflict serious damage, and protect identities in a 5G world.

5G towers are the key ingredient in getting ultra fast mobile networking into the hands of users around the world, but – despite much of the negative press around 5G dangers – most people aren’t familiar with what the technology on a 5G mast actually does.

According to one survey, 95% of consumers have heard of 5G (although a minority currently own 5G phones). That high level of awareness is testament to strong marketing campaigns from mobile operators, and possibly the high profile debate surrounding Huawei’s role in the country’s infrastructure.

• Discover the best apps for performing a 5G speed test 

And of those that have heard of 5G, 55 percent have at least a basic understanding of 5G, while 40 percent are aware of the technical elements of next-generation 5G networks. Despite this general awareness, though, most people have absolutely no idea what technology sits atop the thousands of mobile masts that surround them.

In this post, we aim to demystify some of the issues around 5G tower technology.

What is a 5G tower? 

Masts are essential for the radio layer of a 5G network. In the most simplest of terms, masts transmit data to and from a device to the wider network. They’re often designed to be as discreet as possible, so they blend in with the environment, but there’s only so much that can be done to limit the aesthetic impact.

Indeed, an ill-fated requirement imposed on Orange and T-Mobile in the early 2000s required engineers to plant trees to hide ‘unsightly’ mobile sites. By 2015, network quality was being impacted because no one foresaw that the growth of these trees would block antennas.

If you look around, it won’t be long before you spot a site. The masts used in suburban and rural areas are more obvious – even if some are painted green or brown – but look at rooftops in a city and you’ll see mobile equipment.

In the following video – which we shot on location in Bristol, UK – we took a Mavic Air drone for a flight around the head of a mast, highlighting some of its core components. And with the help of Peter Clarke, a cell technology enthusiast, whose blog goes into extensive detail on 5G and other radio technology, we identified some of the key elements installed on a typical 5G tower.  

These sites are either owned and operated by the mobile networks themselves, or through third party infrastructure firms. Each site is connected to the wider network through a fixed or wireless connection known as a backhaul link and hosts antennas that form the radio network. 

Operators will use a combination of low, mid and high range spectrum to support different 5G use cases. Some applications will require high bandwidth and constant connectivity, enabled by millimeter Wave (mmWave) frequencies that offer great speeds and capacity. However this is tempered by low range and poor propagation qualities.

This means that in addition to using traditional mobile masts for 5G, operators will need to densify their networks in urban areas, through microinfrastructure such as small cells.

5G towers require new technology 

5G will bring ultrafast speeds, greater capacity, and ultra-low latency – characteristics that will allow mobile networks to offer connectivity reliable enough to support critical applications for the first time. This has required a rethink in how mobile networks are built at all three key layers - radio, transport and core. And this has placed a focus on the 5G tower technology that operators are having to install to deliver 5G.

5G networks will be powered by cloud-based cores that allow physical functions to be virtualised and moved around the network. Software upgrades will make it easier to roll out new features, while edge computing will enable ultra-low latency. To deliver this, new technology must be installed on 5G towers.

Upgrade programme for 5G towers 

For 5G, operators have been upgrading masts with new equipment that is compatible with their new spectrum. Equipment manufacturers such as Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia have all been working to ensure that their 5G radio gear supports as many functions and standards as possible, while remaining compact and lightweight.

The reasons for this are twofold. The first is that the lighter the equipment, the quicker and easier it is to install. This reduces labour demands and there reduces costs for the operators. The second factor is that because some cell towers will support multiple networks (2G, 3G, 4G and 5G), there is a physical limit to the amount of kit that a site can support. Lightweight, compact, multi-functional equipment reduces demand on space significantly.

Another key 5G tower consideration is the availability of fibre, as there’s no point in having ultrafast radio speeds if the backhaul isn’t there to support it. Operators have supported any measure that promotes investment in fibre networks, but they have been even more vocal about the height of masts.

In parts of Europe, operators are allowed to build masts up to a height of 50 metres. However, UK regulations currently prescribe a maximum elevation of 25 metres (and 20 in protected areas). The taller the mast is, the wider an area it can serve. This reduces the need to build more masts, lowering construction and operational costs (and reducing the number of potential eyesores). 

This is particularly important when operators start rolling out the low-range spectrum that will deliver wide 5G coverage. This is especially true when you consider that taller masts would make wireless backhaul a more practical option.

Given the UK government is eager for the country to be a 5G leader, it’s likely that these height rules will be relaxed through revisions of the Electronic Communications Code (ECC).

Microwave 'anyhaul'

A major challenge for mobile network operators has been how to extend existing 4G LTE and 5G connections into areas where a physical, fiber or copper connection to a 5G tower isn’t feasible. One way to do this is to use microwave technology, which can create a point-to-point connection, capable of multi-gigabit speeds.

Microwave anyhaul is a way to transport data to the core network when fiber is not an option. It uses an air-interface to send radio signals (up to 170 GHz), and enables the transmission of data over long distances at ultra-high speeds, whilst supporting network slicing for handling the new demands of 5G.

A recent Nokia trial with Algerian operator Djezzy used Nokia’s Wavence microwave transport product, with an ultra-high capacity of 8.5Gbps, and reaching distances of nearly six kilometers. With its reduced latency and high capacity, the solution will allow Djezzy to deliver new services to its 14.2 million subscribers.  And by embracing aggregation, different technologies can be combined to meet the bandwidth demands of an increasingly voracious mobile audience.

And Nokia is also working with a company called BridgeComm, which develops a wireless technology that provides point-to-point data transmission via beams of light, which connect from one telescope to another using low-power, safe, infrared lasers in the terahertz spectrum. 

BridgeComm has already integrated some of Nokia's high-speed optical equipment into its systems with successful initial lab demonstrations, which opens the door to a wide variety of applications that commercial and government customers are seeking, such as enabling last mile connectivity in 5G networks and free-space optical (FSO) communication.

Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB)

Elsewhere, Verizon and Ericsson have completed a proof-of-concept trial using new Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) technology to deliver Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service without the need for fiber installations, relying instead on a dedicated portion of available mmWave bandwidth to connect to the core network.

“Fiber is the ideal connection between our network facilities. It carries a ton of data, is reliable, and has a long roadmap ahead as far as technological advancements," said Bill Stone, Vice President of Planning for Verizon. "It is essential. However, this new IAB technology allows us to deploy 5G service more quickly and then fill in the essential fiber at a later time."

Safaricom, the largest telecom company in Kenya, is another company taking advantage of microwave backhaul, and it has announced that it will be using Aviat's WTM 4800 multi-band radio platform to deliver 5G to its customers. 

"We are excited to continue to expand our WTM 4800 multi-band deployments internationally," said Pete Smith, President and CEO, Aviat Networks. "The pace of 5G rollouts is increasing and we plan to leverage our differentiated capabilities to help customers deploy the lowest TCO backhaul possible."

The WTM 4800 is a multi-band product, which combines traditional microwave (6-42 GHz) and E-band (70-80 GHz) over the same link, and same antenna. The benefits of a multi-band installation are lower spectrum costs, as you can offload traffic from costly microwave spectrum onto less expensive E-band spectrum, whilst still maintaining the reliability of microwave technology.

Interleaved Passive Active Antenna (IPAA)

Nokia and Australian telecommunications company, TPG Telecom, recently announced the first global deployment of the latest generation of Nokia’s integrated 5 Interleaved Passive Active Antenna (IPAA) at a TPG Telecom site in Brisbane. This follows the successful introduction of Nokia’s IPAA solution in networks across the world. The Twin Beam version of Nokia’s IPAA delivers both 5G capability and greatly increases the capacity of 3G, 4G and 5G deployed on existing mid band frequencies through advanced antenna technology.

This latest generation of 5G tech not only provides operators the ability to add 5G to an existing site without increasing the number or the size of the existing antennas on the site, but also doubles the range and greatly increases the capacity of all technologies deployed on existing mid band. For example, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz frequencies by up to 80%.

And Nokia’s IPAA solution enables operators such as TPG Telecom to upgrade existing sites to 5G by simply replacing their existing antennas with a similar sized unit that supports all legacy technologies, as well as 5G Massive MIMO active antenna, all in a single compact antenna.

Are 5G towers a health risk? 

The densification of networks has given ammunition for anti-5G campaigners who seek to block the rollout of masts due to concerns about the environment or on public health. Petitions have been created to oppose the construction of 5G towers in the UK, US and Australia. Campaigners argue that the use of higher band frequencies, as well as the greater numbers of access points, mean 5G is harmful to residents. They are concerned about the electromagnetic characteristics of the technology, the 5G cancer risk, and whether it may contribute to dementia, infertility and autism. 

None of these claims are supported by academic studies, and an anti-5G poster has been banned in the UK because it was ‘unscientific’. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) assessment is that 5G does not present a public health risk.

And in March 2020, it was announced that the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has deemed 5G to be safe, following a period of extensive research.

The research considered other types of effects, such as the potential development of cancer in the human body as a result of exposure to radio waves. 

“We know parts of the community are concerned about the safety of 5G, and we hope the updated guidelines will help put people at ease," said Dr Eric van Rongen, chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). “We find that the scientific evidence for that is not enough to conclude that indeed there is such an effect,” concluded van Rongen. 

The ICNIRP has spent the last seven years working on new guidance for the mobile industry and, while 5G networks were within existing 1998 guidelines, they weren't explcit about high-frequencies above 6GHz.

"They provide protection against all scientifically substantiated adverse health effects due to EMF exposure in the 100 kHz to 300 GHz range," says the ICNIRP.

Clearer regulation for 5G towers

At the recent 5G Realised Summit, Susan Buttsworth, chief operating officer at Three UK, has put forward a number of ways in which the government can help operators deliver 5G, including a reduction in red tape, clearer regulation, and an overhaul of how spectrum is currently allocated.

“We’ve got three examples of how the government can help us more,” Buttsworth explained. “The first one is simply about planning, and consistency between local government and central government. On the one hand, the central government is encouraging us to do things [to roll out 5G networks], and on the other hand local authorities are saying “No, we’re sorry”, and introducing blanket restrictions on certain types of planning. 

“And that doesn’t just add time, it adds cost. And if we could simplify that process, but also get consistency between what central and local government wants, that would be hugely beneficial.”

The reticence of local planning departments to approve 5G mast installations and upgrades has also been mirrored in the US, where MNOs claimed that local authorities were not adhering to a 2018 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declaration, intended to aid the densification of 5G networks, and ensure that cities don't put unnecessary barriers in place. 

Safety testing on 5G towers

In the UK the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has carried out the UK’s first safety tests on 5G base stations and has found no identifiable risks since 5G technology was deployed and that radiation levels are at ‘tiny fractions’ of safe limits.

Measuring 16 5G sites in 10 towns and cities across the UK, the regulator focused on areas where mobile use is likely to be highest. At every site, Ofcom found emissions were a small fraction of the levels included in international guidelines, as set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Non-ionizing refers to the type that doesn’t damage DNA and cells. The maximum measured at any site was 1.5% of those levels.

Despite these findings, though, it has been announced that new guidelines will be introduced to increase protection for emerging 5G technology, which operates on higher frequencies. This is significant, as it’s the first time since 1988 that guidelines protecting humans from mobile radiation have been updated. But the new rules won’t apply to 5G phone masts, focusing specifically on 5G phones and devices.

Sadly, none of this news is likely to stop the growing number of protest groups that believe 5G technology is potentially dangerous. And the fact that the research stated that 5G radiation did “slightly heat human body tissue” – although with no evidence of harm – is bound to be used out of context by those people already convinced of 5G dangers.

The growing importance of towers in the 5G era 

The advent of 5G will accelerate the infiltration of mobile networks into everyday life and is a strategic priority for governments and operators around the world. 

As the construction of 5G networks continues at a rapid pace, the importance of tower infrastructure is growing, a fact reflecting by operator moves to monetise their assets and by rising investments from third parties. Vodafone has moved 62,000 of its towers across Europe into a new company, and plans to launch an IPO in 2021 – potentially netting billions in the process.

5G towers might be considered a blight on the landscape by some, and a health risk to others, but the brave new world of mobile communications won’t be possible without them. 

Small cell 5G towers 

In towns and cities, the erection of huge masts is an unworkable solution. Even if a local authority consented to such a course of action, the focus on urban connectivity is speed and capacity rather than coverage. Densification is therefore the priority for operators.

5G networks powered by mmWave spectrum will require the deployment of hundreds of 5G small cells, capable of providing the reliable connectivity and ultra-low latency needed for industrial and business applications such as Massive IoT and Virtual Reality (VR).

Small cells vary in size, power and range but are generally compact. Some can even be installed on street furniture such as lampposts, bus shelters and on top of buildings. Because fibre may not be available at all sites, wireless backhaul is a common option and could even be powered by mmWave frequencies themselves in the future.

Planning restrictions are again a common grievance. Operators complain about the absence of a common framework, meaning they have to file a planning application for every single small cell – a time-consuming, laborious task. 

There are also accusations that some local authorities are prioritising the direct revenues generated by rental fees over the potential long-term economic and societal benefits that 5G connectivity will bring. This is especially true of smart city applications and the situation is exacerbated by the fact that some councils have given one operator exclusive access to a single operator.

The size of the 5G infrastructure market

According to the California-based company Grand View Research, The global 5G infrastructure market size – valued at $1.9bn in 2019 – is expected to reach $496.6bn by 2027. 

5G infrastructure is predominantly made up of a combination of Radio Access Network (RAN), core network, and backhaul and transport, with the backhaul and transport network including fiber optics or microwave antennas. (In terms of value, RAN dominated the 5G infrastructure market with a share of 46.2% in 2019. This is attributable to a robust deployment of 5G RAN with several small cells and macrocell base stations across the globe.)

And as technologies such as mmWave 5G become more widespread, so too does the need for the latest hardware (both at primary cell sites, but also at small cell sites, which we will begin to see more and more in urban areas).

Highlighted findings from the report include:

• RAN technology is estimated to reach a market size of $214.7bn by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 112.3% from 2020 to 2027, owing to a significant rise in investments for deploying 5G cloud or centralized RAN across key countries such as the US, UK, Japan, and China
• With the growing need to provide unified connectivity across IIoT devices and collaborative robots, the demand for 5G technology and related infrastructure in industrial segment will see considerable growth over the forecast period.
• Huge investments made by infrastructure providers in installing a 5G standalone network to deliver ultra-reliable low latency connectivity for connected vehicle applications is expected to drive market growth over the forecast period.
• The sub-6 GHz segment is expected to account for the largest market size of $302.4bn by 2027, largely attributed to governments focusing on releasing sub-6 GHz frequency bands for high-speed data services across major developed economies.

The conversation around 5G towers, their location, the potential health impact, and the technology housed on them, is only going to intensify. But as 5G phones become more widespread, and the demand for coverage goes up, the public perception around 5G technology is likely to change.

Towercos and the future of 5G towers 

Telecom tower companies, usually referred to as 'towercos', are becoming increasingly relevant again, as 5G networks require a raft of new infrastructure to operate. Not only does this mean than mobile network operators need to upgrade, but it also means that investors are keen to spot new opportunities, that can deliver quick returns in the world of 5G stocks. 

In 2019, a website specilaizing in telecoms towers, TowerXchange, which is an "open community for thought leaders in the emerging market towers industry", looked at the global picture regarding tower ownership, and found that 17 companies around the world were operating 20,000 (or more) towers. 

"We had to distort the scale of this infographic to accommodate the massive China Tower Corporation, which represents nearly two thirds of the tower industry’s total towers, while a total of 17 towercos with 20,000 or more towers still represent over 83% of our towers," the TowerXchange report said. "There is still significant scale to be found among the 29 towercos with 5,000 to 19,999 towers, who together own 297,443 towers and rooftops. The tower industry has a ‘long tail’ of 258 mostly privately owned towercos with less than 5,000 sites, which account for 197,786 sites – including 60,230 sites attributed to towercos TowerXchange know exist, but whose names we do not know – the majority of which are from China and Vietnam."

And because all of these towers have the potential to generate income, by allowing other providers to rent a tenancy slot for their own hardware, many network operators are now looking at 5G towers as a potential revenue generator. And the numbers are huge, with TowerXchange saying that 1.45 million towers currently exist as depreciating assets for MNOs, which could be transformed with a shift in strategy.

"Take that same tower, and transfer it to a tower company, and it is transformed into a profit centre: a source of long-term recurring revenue from multiple credit worthy tenants," TowerXchange explains. "The average tenancy ratio of towerco owned and operated towers worldwide is almost exactly 2.0. The capital markets recognise the fundamental differences in the value of tower assets when managed by independent towercos, creating a relative valuation arbitrage between MNOs, with enterprise valuations typically of 4-9x EBITDA, and towercos, typically valued at 9-30x, which drives the continuing transfer of assets from MNOs to towercos."

Put simply: there's a bucket load of money in 5G towers, and the last 12 months has seen companies such as Vodafone looking to exploit this, and apply rent-seeking economics to towers that would otherwise exist only as deprecating assets.

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Operators have seemed hesitant to push the benefits of eSIMs to their customers, despite embedded SIMs playing a role in Internet of Things (IoT) technology for several years. But there are several reasons why now, more than ever, eSIMs could be getting the impetus they deserve. 

Telcos have been reluctant to take up eSIMs. In some ways, who can blame them? After all, removing the physical SIM and embedding eSIM technology into a mobile device removes much of the hassle of changing service providers and makes it far easier for customers to switch, if they’re drawn in by a better deal. However, there are many reasons why eSIMs are a telco’s friend, not a foe. And against the current backdrop of remote working, ever-evolving tech and major shifts in the way we do business, now is the time for this reluctance to fade.

Taking flight

No longer is it necessary to purchase plastic SIM cards when travelling to new countries. Thanks to eSIM’s remote provisioning capabilities, all customers need to do to obtain the best network and service in their destination of choice is have access to an eSIM-capable device, install an app, select a network plan and purchase. Most eSIM services will email over a QR code for the user to scan in order to activate the device, although others offer in-app provisioning for an even smoother experience.

Multiple plans can be stored on a single eSIM capable device, and used when required. This isn’t only beneficial for end users — service providers are also able to work more flexibly and present various plan options to customers without the cost of distributing new cards. eSIMs can help providers maintain their competitive advantage, rather than hinder it.

Multiple choice

It’s also worth noting that there are far more eSIM-compatible devices on the market nowadays. eSIM first gained popularity in consumer devices when Apple launched the technology in its iPhone XS in 2019. At the time, the device retailed at around $999, or roughly £720 — placing it at the higher end of mobile device affordability.

Now, just a few years later, mid-range Apple devices such as the iPhone SE and iPhone 12 Mini have been produced with eSIM capabilities. Many of the latest Android phones also support eSIM, including the Samsung Galaxy S20 and 21 and multiple generations of the Google Pixel, to suit all customer preferences. 

According to GSMA Intelligence, the definitive source of data and analysis for the mobile industry, 110 eSIM consumer devices were launched as of December 2020.

5G ready

eSIMs will also help mobile users make the most of other trending technologies, such as 5G. It’s clear to see that 5G still faces a rather lethargic rollout across the globe, and there are still hurdles to overcome before we see its complete adoption. But mass use of eSIMs could help to change this.

Embedded SIMs still play the same integral role in 5G networks as their nano, micro, mini and full-size SIM card predecessors — identifying and connecting devices to the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). However a fully-integrated, 5G-capable eSIM propositions offer a level of digital reach older SIM technology cannot. A device owner will be able to switch cellular carriers without having to switch SIMs or visit a provider and, when traveling abroad, eSIMs will use international GSMs seamlessly. 

For businesses that use the GSM to stay connected, the eSIM will help them manage their networked assets wherever they are in the world, and with more agility. As we continue working towards a complete 5G rollout, eSIMs could be key in offering seamless adoption to those who want to profit from the technology.

Lessons to learn

However, while new ways of working and the latest mobile tech foster an ideal environment for eSIM adoption, the technology’s widespread uptake still largely depends on decision makers understanding its value. We’ve already discussed eSIM’s flexibility and ease of use for customers, but what’s the business case for service providers? 

Advantages for service providers can be divided into cost saving and revenue boosting activities. As part of the former, and without the customary process of sending plastic SIM cards to customers, service providers are able to streamline their logistics, reduce costs and drive greater use of digital distribution channels. As an inherent part of this process, relating to the latter benefit, service providers can enhance the customer purchasing process with simple onboarding and streamlined in-app provisioning. 

When eSIMs first made it into the consumer realm, digital onboarding often required a QR code that customers needed to scan upon beginning their contract. Now, to make things even simpler, users can download the operator’s mobile app and activate their eSIM profile in just one tap. Mobilise’s latest solution — eSIM as a Service — uses in-app eSIM activation, making the onboarding experience quick and uncomplicated. This option removes the need for visual explanation and step-by-step instructions, so users can focus on the things they want from their service provider, like staying connected.

At Mobilise, we have seen the penetration of eSIM capable devices increase from five per cent twelve months ago to 35 per cent now. Following this trajectory, by the end of 2022, we expect to see 70 to 80 per cent market penetration of eSIM capable devices in Europe. Front runners deploying eSIM early will have the benefit of competitive advantage, while others, before long, will find themselves racing to catch up. Now truly is the era of the eSIM.

In a world that is more reliant on bandwidth and digital services than ever before, CSPs (communication service providers) have played an integral role in underpinning our connectivity requirements. Despite this, CSPs are traversing a competitive and changing landscape, resulting in increased commoditisation challenges and stagnating revenues. As such, it means CSPs have an immediate need to reposition themselves or face the prospect of a difficult future. 

The good news, however, is that CSPs are in a great position to do just that. They have immediate core strengths of being trusted by consumers, having established industry relationships, the infrastructure to deliver capabilities and a skilled B2B workforce. By taking advantage of openings generated by new and convergent technologies, CSPs have a unique opportunity to be the lynchpin for a wide range of services through their ability to connect a complex ecosystem of new digital offerings. From being the custodian of the smart home, to helping small businesses thrive post-pandemic or offering cloud-based ‘as-a-service’ solutions, CSPs can underpin all of this.

Key to this is the Large Enterprise market. With the development of networks towards software-defined 5G and the emergence of the edge to deploy key horizontal software capabilities, CSPs can deliver new and powerful industrial IoT use cases. These can deliver the personalisation and mission criticality that large enterprises need for their customers. With so much opportunity then, CSPs need to step up and consider the next steps in applying 5G and the edge to their services. So how can this be done? Here are three key steps:

1. Learning from 4G

There are many lessons CSPs must take from the development and deployment of 4G. Whether it was time, talent, capital or tech, each of these required significant investment. However, while OTT players cashed in on the increased connectivity 4G provided with a continued bull-run of subscribers and share price performance, CSPs saw little ROI.

This is because the real value in 4G came from the added-on services that it presented. With 5G, CSPs must take heed of history, and evolve their role from a wholesaler to an intelligent service orchestrator. This means leveraging 5G as that critical control point to not just provide enhanced connectivity services, but creating the ability for horizontal services and vertical solutions. It’s vital CSPs change their mindset, otherwise ROI will again be left wanting, leaving others to reap the rewards of 5G by delivering the innovative services on top that customers are looking for.

2.  The 5G-edge connection

Where the real disruption will be seen in the CSP market is by fusing 5G and edge computing. For example, combining mobile edge networks with cloud services – versus remote and slower public cloud networks – data can be collected, analysed and actioned locally. This means the low-latency of 5G can live up to its true potential to deliver capabilities in real-time – a gamechanger in making business decisions more quickly. This is where partnerships with the tech giants will be needed, not to mention mutually beneficial. CSPs provide the connectivity, while the tech companies provide the edge solutions that are built for 5G. 

3.  Opening up the vertical markets

CSPs will also have the ability to drive new opportunities within vertical markets. Through APIs’ ability to onboard cross-industry use case supply chains on to horizontal edge platforms, CSPs can become a key player in the connected industries market.

To make this work, they must work again with ecosystem partners like the tech giants to drive continuous innovation within high-value industry services. With eSIMs gaining traction too, CSP have to show their worth and value or enterprises can easily switch to others that can.

APIs enable the ability to ultimately industrialise the onboarding, certification and orchestration of vertical use cases. This in turn leads to increased efficiency, productivity and in the end, revenue. Take smart manufacturing applications, for example. Computing is brought closer to the data, which drives data storage in equipment itself, in turn providing better predictive maintenance.

The cross-industry orchestrator 

As each industry looks to increase their digital assets, CSPs are uniquely positioned to be the “cross-industry orchestrator”. This is because it requires the very specific carrier grade capabilities and assets they have built up over the years. At the same time, 5G, cloud and network modernisation is becoming an increasingly vital part of public strategy programmes globally – a hugely positive move for CSPs given their capabilities.

All this positivity though will be for nothing unless action is taken now. Focusing on just connectivity and wholesale in 5G or a re-seller approach to the edge will see CSPs continue to stagnate. CSPs need to evaluate their competition and really understand where they sit in the 5G ecosystem. They need to take advantage of their strengths and understand their competitors. No one player has the full gamut of end-to-end capabilities, so it’s vital CSPs pick the right partners. This will not only benefit them, by fuelling their growth, but boost the entire industry and wider society. Now is not the time for CSPs to rest on their laurels and assume this digital age will come to them. Now is the time to act and preserve their future for the long term as the key players in the market.

Monetizing data has long been a goal of entrepreneurial CSPs (communication service providers). For example, operators like A1 in Austria, and O2 in the UK, have developed mobility insights units, enabling them to form new revenue streams by providing demographic data to governments and businesses.

Today, connecting billions of sensors and devices is a reality thanks to 5G. As a result, the volume of data generated across 5G is set to explode, with estimates of up to a mind-blowing 79.4 zettabytes by 2025, according to IDC. 

That’s a lot of data with a lot of potential value, and CSPs are looking to the 3GPP Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) and ONAP’s Data Collection, Analytics and Events (DCAE) framework to unlock some of it. With this standardized approach to collecting and analyzing network data, NWDAF and DCAE allow CSPs to manage, automate, and optimize their 5G network operations much more efficiently.

But could it also do more than that? In the same way that Amazon turned its internal compute infrastructure into the revenue powerhouse that is AWS, could CSPs turn their internal 5G network analytics into an external money-spinner? And if so, where might the opportunities lie?

Ensuring quality of experience in cloud gaming

One potential area is cloud gaming, which requires low and consistent latency to ensure an enjoyable – and fair – user experience. If a player seated in a café shoots the in-game character of a player riding on a bus, for example, that interaction has to be instantaneous for both players. And if a building in the game world collapses, it has to collapse at exactly the same time for every player.

A CSP can optimize the experience for players on their network by using real-time analytics with predictive modelling to spot when latency might be about to increase. That prediction can then trigger automatic network optimizations. As esports become more competitive and professionalized, players may be prepared to pay a premium for that glitch-free experience. 

But what if the players are on different networks? If you're a game provider hosting the game, it would be nice to make sure that everyone has the same level playing field. A way of ensuring common latency across networks, even if it’s within specific games or groups of gamers, would be quite cool! 

That suggests an opportunity for CSPs to share real-time network performance predictions, so the gaming experience can be consistently managed across networks. It’s possible to imagine that being delivered as a value-added service to cloud gaming companies, as well as to individual gamers as part of a gaming-themed 5G plan.

Unlocking the potential of Industry 4.0

While cloud gaming could be an interesting use case on the consumer side, more and bigger opportunities are likely to lie in the enterprise. Network performance and reliability will be critical considerations in a huge range of 5G use cases, from autonomous vehicles to AR-mediated remote operations. 

An inspection drone, for example, will rely on 5G connectivity and low latency not just to livestream video, but also to calculate its position, understand its surroundings, avoid collisions, and receive instructions from a remote operator. Real-time and predictive insight into network performance will be essential to ensuring the drone can operate safely and as expected. 

It’s an area where Vodafone, for one, is focusing a lot of effort. In a recent blog, the company’s UK drone lead, Jonathan Reid, says there’s “a growing consensus” that mobile network operators have a key role to play unlocking the commercial drone industry. It’s working with a startup, sees.ai, to develop AI technology that unlocks the promise of drone flight beyond visual line of sight. 

An ecosystem of partners will be key

Realistically, though, CSPs probably have limited opportunity to sell network insights as individual services. “As a standalone thing, it doesn’t make much sense,” says Justin van der Lande, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason. “Someone running a car factory isn’t going to say, well, for this one little bit of analysis, we're going to turn to Deutsche Telekom. It's got to be done as part of a broader problem-solving issue.”

In other words, the value will be unlocked when those insights become part of a wider set of services that address a specific business issue. Here, open APIs such as the kind available from TM Forum could play a role in exposing NWDAF insights to an ecosystem of partners, who can fold them into innovative services for specific use cases or vertical sectors.

In the case of 5G drones being used for inspection, for example, it’s possible to imagine a CSP working with providers of other data-driven services to create a bundle that includes real-time collision warnings, adverse weather warnings, and 5G and GPS reliability forecasts. As an integrated suite, this would provide a high level of actionable situational awareness for the drone and its operators. 

For CSPs, that will likely mean forging partnerships with ISVs, systems integrators, IoT platform vendors, and even existing customers who want to move into smart, connected products. 

For example, AT&T evolved from being John Deere’s connectivity supplier to become a go-to-market partner for the tractor manufacturer’s real-time data services.

A $0.9 trillion market opportunity by 2030

Whichever route to market CSPs find most appealing, the more insights they can bring to the party, the more value they’ll be able to capture – and the more commanding a position they’ll be able to occupy in the ecosystem. 

For example, CSPs may see opportunities to combine NWDAF outputs with other internal data sources – such as subscriber demographics or mobility data – to create unique and valuable propositions. They may even consider becoming data brokers in their own right, aggregating data from internal and external sources to provide rich insights directly to end-customers. 

Admittedly, it’s early days to be thinking about monetizing 5G network insights. The CSPs including NWDAF in their RFPs today are primarily interested in its potential to drive network automation. But it’s definitely an opportunity to keep in mind – particularly as Bell Labs Consulting estimates that AI and ML services for 5G-enabled ICT will be worth $0.9 trillion by 2030. 

Four ways CSPs can get ready for the 5G AI services ecosystem

For CSPs who want to be ready for this opportunity, it’s worth getting a few things in order now. One is mapping out the consumer and enterprise use cases that network analytics could potentially support. It’s likely that CSPs exploring NWDAF are already doing this for internal use cases, but it’s worth thinking about external opportunities at this stage as well. 

Another is to ensure that analytics can be available for consumption at the network edge as well as at the core. Many of the game-changing capabilities of 5G involve very low-latency use cases at the edge, so having predictive analytics available here could be very attractive to ecosystem partners and end-customers. And as networks go increasingly cloud-native, an open analytics engine that is portable across private and public clouds will be an advantage.

A third is to allocate resources to explore potential use cases with partners. This will likely involve collaborating to identify potential market opportunities, and co-developing algorithms and machine learning models that turn raw data into valuable, actionable – and saleable – intelligence. While we’ve suggested some use cases in this article, the best opportunities will likely be identified through collaborating with partners who have deep knowledge of specific industrial processes. 

Finally, CSPs will want to have capabilities in place to measure and charge for external consumption of analytics. Whether that’s a subscription service, charging per API call, or as a share of revenue generated by partners in the ecosystem, a monetization platform will be needed that allows rules to be defined easily and revenues collected promptly.

Start thinking about 5G analytics monetization today

4G-era services like the mobility insights offered by A1 Austria, O2 and others have shown that network data can be a viable revenue generator in its own right. Indeed, A1 sees so much value in the emerging ‘data economy’ that earlier this year it increased its stake in its ML partner, Invenium.

Now, as guardians of the vast volume of data that’s starting to be produced by 5G networks, CSPs are well placed to capitalize on its market potential. Thinking about the monetization possibilities today, and starting to build relevant R&D and commercial partnerships will set CSPs in good stead to become more than just connectivity providers for the emerging hyperconnected era. 

Open RAN (O-RAN) was born out of necessity. Traditionally, for the likes of a 3G and 4G RAN (radio access network) installations, the radios, hardware and software would be provided by a single manufacturer as a closed system, which is why banning suppliers such as Huawei has had such a significant effect in some markets.

In the UK, for example, operators have until 2027 to remove all Huawei equipment from their 5G networks. But even with this delayed deadline, the ban has been predicted to delay the UK’s rollout of 5G by at least two years, with the cost of stripping out Huawei equipment is predicted to be £2 billion. 

Companies, organisations, and governments have become increasingly frustrated and concerned about the reliance on a single vendor to deliver communications infrastructure. And the global concern around the security of Huawei technology has placed more focus on creating a multi-vendor environment, to the point where there are now not one, not two, but three industry groups pushing for change (the O-RAN Alliance, TIP OpenRAN and the recently launched Open RAN Policy Coalition).

Increasing competition with 5G Open RAN

Opening up the 5G RAN would give mobile network operators (MNOs) a greater ability to manage their networks and, according to the launch statement for the Open RAN Policy Coalition, the “flexibility to draw on the innovations of multiple suppliers to upgrade their infrastructure with the latest technology”. And using multiple interoperable suppliers also allows operators to potentially move more quickly to replace or address vulnerable network equipment when reacting to threats, and shift network capacity on demand.

For example, the RAN is typically delivered via the base station, 5G towers and the core switching equipment, which connects to those base stations, usually via backhaul connection of some description, like fibre or wireless. And the switching network then relays the information to the appropriate recipients on the fixed or mobile networks.

“The lack of supplier diversity for network equipment lies at the heart of the concerns over the resilience and security of critical national infrastructure,” explained Johan Wibergh, Chief Technology Officer at Vodafone Group. “Vodafone is focused on expanding our supply chain options through engaging with Open RAN vendors and encouraging newer network providers, to ensure the optimal balance across suppliers. Our industry leading trials of Open RAN have underlined that this is the most promising route to advance niche suppliers, to supplement the large vendors, especially for radio equipment and software.”

But now the industry is working towards Open RAN standards, and technical specifications that define open interfaces between the radios, hardware and software so that networks can be deployed using multiple vendors. And governments around the world are also becoming increasingly supportive.

“I think all the main players have doubled down on their efforts to work with the government, and I think you’ll find that all the operators are embracing Open RAN as a principle now, and are working on their own innovation programmes, both with, and in addition to what the government is doing,” explained Tony Sceales, 5G Programme Development lead at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). “They see these initiatives as ultimately positive for them. It doesn’t help major operators to be dependent on only a couple of major suppliers.”

To disaggregate the existing ecosystem, Open RAN allows different vendors who have specific equipment in the radio, core switching or software space, to interact and interoperate with one another in the same way as the PC and ethernet world. This is an attractive proposition for operators, Japan’s Rakuten Mobile already has a 5G Open RAN network, which some operators are looking to emulate. And we have also seen announcements from companies such as Telefonica, which has joined forces with Rakuten Mobile to jointly develop the technology, along with 5G core networks and supporting operational systems.

The difference between Open RAN and Open vRAN

Recent analysis by Analysys Mason found that 82 percent of communications service providers (CSPs) said that they are aiming to support open interfaces/multi-vendor RAN in their 5G networks, believing that an open and virtualized RAN will be critical over the next 18 months. 

Cisco, World Wide Technology (WWT), and Altiostar (an innovator in open vRAN technology) announced last year that they will be working together on an Open vRAN blueprint that will accelerate the deployment of 4G and 5G Open RAN solutions in service provider networks. 

The combined solution will help service providers deploy fully integrated open, cloud-based virtualized RAN solutions based on technologies, created by Cisco and Altiostar, that will be brought to market using the sales, integration and deployment capabilities of WWT.

Given the acronym soup that makes up the majority of industry jargon in the telecoms sector, it’s easy to get confused by the different terms, and sometimes there is a little confusion between Open vRAN and Open RAN, due to the similar names and principles. 

“The naming similarity was coincidental, but not surprising, given both are fairly descriptive of the opportunity,” Bob Everson explains in a blog post on the Cisco site. “O-RAN describes themselves well on their website, ‘The O-RAN Alliance was founded by operators to clearly define requirements and help build a supply chain ecosystem to realize its objectives’.”

Many of the same companies, including major network operators, have been involved in discussions around both O-RAN and the Open vRAN ecosystem. But what’s the difference?

“In a nutshell, Open RAN, in their words, is focused on defining requirements to help build a supply chain ecosystem, while Open vRAN has built a vendor-led (supply chain) ecosystem to accelerate and deliver the solutions that O-RAN and others are asking for,” Everson explained. “Our ecosystem partners work together – participating in the process of opening up the RAN and accelerating its transition to a more flexible architecture, while building solutions to help customers realize new opportunities.”

Using Open RAN to catch China

Matt Melester, a senior vice president at CommScope, recently took part in an FCC Open RAN Showcase, where he explained how the public-traded Fortune 500 company was developing products in the Open RAN space.

“Not including Huawei, CommScope is the largest supplier of base station antennas with sales of $1.2 billion for key 4G and 5G equipment, Melester explained. “The motivations behind Open RAN are clear: protecting national security; driving supply-chain diversity; lowering operation costs; and spurring innovation through competition.”

And the US government has been a driving force in supporting Open RAN development as a means to compete with the increasing 5G availability in countries such as China, where there are now 365 million people connected to 5G networks.

“The government is interested in protecting network security and ensuring 5G leadership,” Melester explained. “Most companies we talk to are looking to ORAN to drive down costs and introduce new features to the market, which will help them monetize 5G faster.”

Melester also highlighted the importance of a faster adoption and roll-out of Open RAN tech, with the hope that a virtualized RAN, with more competition, can start to eat into China’s dominance in this area; not just in the US, but in every other country that’s playing catch-up.

“Driving virtualization and standard interfaces will drive innovation, lower costs, and enable new domestic suppliers to enter into the space,” Melester said. “Necessity is the mother of invention, and competition is the mother of innovation. And CommScope recognizes that for an ecosystem to dramatically change, there must be great effort, long-term vision, and significant collaboration.”

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While autonomous vehicles could provide a safer, more efficient transportation future, a number of speed bumps remain before this emerging technology can become a reality. To make the next great leap forward, what’s needed includes compute, network and storage technologies capable of meeting the rigorous demands of a self-driving future.

Some existing technology solutions can present challenges. Adding supercomputer-level power to a car would double the cost of each car making them too expensive to buy. And today’s technology isn’t fast enough to offer the near-instant reaction times needed to safely navigate dynamic events like weather or pedestrians. Finally today’s GPS location data is too imprecise, offering accuracy down to a few meters rather than centimeters.

Enter 5G and multi-access edge computing (MEC). This combined architecture is well suited to store, process, transmit and analyze gigabytes worth of autonomous vehicle data with ultra low latency and high reliability. They could be the key to transforming our roadways into a new kind of information superhighway.

Benefits of a data-driven future 

Autonomous vehicles could vastly improve the future of road-based transportation. A study by the University of Michigan predicts autonomous vehicles will contribute to improvements in public health and safety, greater mobility, reduced energy and environmental impacts, and increased adoption of car sharing. The same study found that autonomous vehicles could reduce the number of fatal vehicle crashes by 90 percent just in the US, potentially saving approximately $190 billion per year. 

A closer look at 5G and MEC  

5G and MEC could help make autonomous vehicles a roadway reality because they can channel the massive amounts of data generated by vehicles and transform it into meaningful action. 

This is a topic many automakers I’ve talked to have struggled with. They can certainly generate reams of data, but what happens next? The answer starts with the network and cloud computing at the edge.

A 5G network running on mmWave spectrum can deliver peak download speeds of up to 2 gigabits  per second and upload speeds of more than 200 megabits per second -- exactly the kind of bandwidth needed for autonomous vehicles generating terabytes of data.

When you pair 5G with MEC, vehicles no longer need high-powered computers alongside their engines and motors. Instead, data transmitted via 5G can go to a MEC zone for the heavy lifting of processing data, enabling rapid, automated decision making for autonomous vehicles facing dynamic driving environments.

Making this all work is precise location data. Autonomous vehicles have to know their location within a few centimeters -- more than GPS alone can deliver. That’s where developments like Hyper Precise Location with Real Time Kinematics (RTK) can extend the capabilities of GPS, providing centimeter-level location accuracy that far surpasses the accuracy level of three to nine meters of standard GPS. 

Tapping the future of autonomous vehicles 

The benefits of these connected technologies could extend the power of remote vehicle sensors like radar, cameras, and LiDAR in ways we haven’t seen before. Suddenly, the power of the network connected to the Internet of Things devices should let autonomous vehicles see far beyond their immediate field of view. 

Imagine a future where autonomous vehicles can share traffic alerts or provide updates on changing weather and automatically clear pathways for emergency vehicles. Because of the low lag, low latency network, remote driving of vehicles could also be possible, meaning an operator in one city could “drive” a vehicle in another part of the country.

Other possibilities include the ability to automatically optimize speeds to avoid hitting traffic or missing red lights, better fuel or battery savings, and of course increased safety in and out of the vehicle. Similar to the evolution of smartphones, automakers have already hinted at a future of software defined cars with software updates that let users “patch” their vehicles, adding new features and performance capabilities. 

Driving the future, together 

Companies like Honda, Harman, Renovo, Savari and LG Electronics are testing how 5G and MEC can enhance Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) applications. Initial tests have included next-generation road-alerts to emergency vehicles, pedestrian crossings and red light runners.

These collaborations are exciting and hold much promise as we remain focused on building new technologies that help meet the unique network requirements automakers have for reliability, data privacy and security, latency and throughput.

No one company can create the entire network and edge computing infrastructure required for a more robust autonomous vehicle future. The continued evolution of hyper-precise location services and the benefits of 5G network adoption could improve the way autonomous vehicles transfer data, respond in near-real time and more accurately view what's around them. To truly make autonomous vehicles the future of transportation, it’s going to take a deeper collaboration between technology providers, automakers and regulators to solve industry-wide challenges such as spectrum allocation and regulatory policies. 5G’s low latency and high bandwidth along with the compute power of MEC are a part of the solution, but to truly embrace widespread adoption of autonomous transportation, the investment from automakers and the support of regulators are additional necessary pieces to drive this future forward.

There are a number of 5G speed tests out there, which can be used to check exactly what kind of performance you’re getting, as well as presenting other information, such as how strong your signal might be. 

In this post, we’ve selected a range of 5G, 4G and WiFi speed tests that show the most basic of information, up to the more complex settings and frequencies. 

There are four significant types of 5G ranging from so-called standard 5G to industrial 5G. We've outlined the key categories in the table below. Read more about these on our 5G technology page. 

The speeds achieved on each flavour vary based on the technology and how the data and signals are being used. The deployment of each also varies between networks and, mmWave networks - sometimes referred to as 5G Plus - aren't yet available in most parts of the UK and Europe, for example. 

Now that you have a basic idea of what the different flavours of 5G look like, it's time to look at the best ways to test your connection, and ensure you're getting the kind of speeds your mobile network operator has advertized.

1. Speedtest by Ookla 

Available online, as well as via apps for Android, iOS, Apple TV, Google Chrome, macOS and Windows, Ookla’s Speedtest is an easy way to check your web speeds. 

It shows your average download and upload speeds as well as your ping and jitter readings, the number of connections, the server name and location and network details. These results can be stored, or shared. And the site also boasts a 5G Map, which you can find here.  

Ookla, possibly more than any other speed testing company, is regularly pushing updates to its apps and services. And following the addition of video testing to its iOS app recently,  it has now rolled out that functionality to its Android application as well. 

By selecting the 'Video' option at the bottom of the app, a series of video tests begin, by playing a short video using adaptive bitrate streaming, to ascertain the typical video experience on your connection. Once this is complete, a series of short videos are played at increasing video resolutions, until the test fails to complete in a reasonable amount of time, or reaches a resolution of 4K. You will then be presented with the maximum video capability of your network.

2. OpenSignal

OpenSignal is an independent analytics firm that specialises in measuring and monitoring mobile network speeds and experience and Koffers two apps. 

Its original OpenSignal app helps you “accurately measure the everyday experience you receive on your mobile network”. Instead of giving estimates, predictions or the maximum speeds possible over any given connection, the OpenSignal results are closer to what speeds you’ll likely experience when using your phone normally. The app additionally helps you find the strongest signal in your area, by following an onscreen arrow, shows coverage maps, for all UK networks, and reveals your recent data usage. 

Alternatively, its Meteor app breaks down what these speed readings mean in real-world scenarios, and while using real-world apps. The latter is particularly useful for telling you whether your connection is strong enough to stream an online video, or use a navigation app. Elsewhere, it helps you monitor where your fastest connections have been on a map. 

3. 5G Comms Speed Test

Despite being called a broadband speed checker, 5G Comms’ speed test powered by NetMeter.uk can be used to test web speeds on data plans, as well as over wired and wireless Wi-Fi connections. The results reveal the connection’s median ping, download speeds and upload speeds. 

The 5G Comms version of the test is more user-friendly than NetMeter’s original, showing only the most relevant information. 

And if you want to learn more about your minimum and maximum ping times as well as how quickly your specific speeds could download an MP3, CD or DVD, you can use NetMeter.uk’s test.  

4. SpeedSmart 

Available online and as an Android and iOS app, SpeedSmart offers the same ping, download and upload speed readings as others in this list but additionally features an ISP map that reveals the readings of both Wi-Fi and mobile data speeds across the globe. 

You can filter by connection type and view your test history.  

5.  Pedroc

Built to reveal details about LTE connections, this speed test is the most complicated of the lot. It’s a theoretical throughput calculator that gives you highly specific readings based on your EARFCN, or band number. This stands for E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number and is the unique frequency band being used by your particular connection, as assigned to your device by the network operator.  

To discover your EARFCN on iOS, run a field test by typing *3001#12345#* into your phone’s keypad and pressing dial.

On Android, you can download apps to reveal your field test information depending on your handset, or the Android version you are running. Certain handsets will also enter field test mode using a similar code to the one used by iPhone. On a Samsung, for example, you can use *#0011# to see this information. The process is more complicated on Android due to the vast number of variables with Android devices. You can go to Settings | About Phone to see your signal strength. 

Once you know your EARFCN, enter it in the Pedroc tool and it will automatically select the band and reveal the theoretical speeds achievable on that frequency network.

6. 5GMARK

Mozark is an AI-based platform that helps businesses monitor their networks and products, providing real-time intelligence, and delivering the best experience to employees and customers. 

Mozark’s customers include the likes of Sony and Carrefour, and it also provides a free testing app for mobile devices, 5GMARK, which does a fantastic job of showcasing the company’s technology. 

Once you’ve installed the app, all you need to do is provide it with access to your location and select where you are connecting from, after which a series of tests will be carried out. These include tests on latency, download/upload speeds, streaming speeds, and web performance. And instead of tests happening in the background, you actually get to see results in real-time.

7. nPerf Speed Test

There’s a lot to like about nPerf’s Speed Test app, which is currently available on Android, iOS, and Windows. Once installed, you simply click ‘Start’, and the app will test the bitrate speed (download & upload speed test), latency, browsing speed and video streaming quality on your mobile device.

At the end of the process, you will get a points score, which can then be compared with others that have taken the test in your area, with the option to view the best performing 5G networks that are available in your locale.

All results are saved in your history, and can be easily shared on social networks, with nPerf sharing pictures which present a useful summary of your test, should you wish to boast about your connection.

And a nice touch in the app is the ability to always have your data rate displayed on your Android device, either at the top of the interface, or on the lock screen. This is a great way to get an instant view of connection speed, and also monitor whether your device is using too much background bandwidth.

8. M-Lab Speed Test

If you’ve ever used the speed test that appears at the top of Google search results, then you’ll have used M-Lab Speed Test, because this is the open source tool that Google uses for its own testing.

And as a consortium of research, industry, and public-interest partners, M-Lab provides an ecosystem for the open, verifiable measurement of global network performance. All of the data collected by M-Lab’s global measurement platform are made openly available, and all of the measurement tools hosted by M-Lab are also open source.

As well as the web-based M-Lab Speed Test, you can also access a number of other tools, which provide you with the ability to mimic streaming video performance, diagnose network issues, and exchange internet traffic with popular sites such as YouTube, Spotify, Netflix and more.

9. Ofcom mobile and broadband checker 

This web-based tool is relatively sparse when it comes to the details it displays, but it’s a great choice for those that don’t want to be overwhelmed with data. Once you have run a 5G speed test, you’ll get an overview of what services your connection supports, including browsing, gaming, video calling, and 4K video streaming. 

Another tab in the results interface enables you to view more details, including download speed, upload speed, and data delay (or ping/latency). 

We found one of the biggest strengths for the Ofcom app is the supporting FAQs and explainers, which enable you to read more about what the different results mean, and how you could potentially improve them.

10. Cellular-Z

Cellular-Z is an Android app that delivers more than just speed-testing. In fact, to measure connection speed, the app actually uses the Ookla API, but it's the information that sits alongside speed data that makes Cellular-Z worth considering. As well as speed, you can access data on your device, location, and the kit that your phone is connecting to, such as information on the serving and neighbouring cell.

One of the most interesting pieces of info the app displays is the 'RXLEV' value of your current connection. RXLEV is a number that corresponds to a dBm value range between -47dBm and -110dBm. Why is this number important? Well, the closer it gets to -110dBm, the lower the received power of your connection will be, which will require your device to use more power to stay connected. 

11. Speedcheck

Speedcheck is a simple Android app for checking the speed of your cellular or wifi speeds. The app is ad-supported, unless you’re happy to pay a little to remove them, and provides information on your carrier, download speeds, upload speeds, and ping. 

The Speedcheck app then makes this information available through a ‘History’ tab, so you can monitor your performance over time, and also provides an ‘Analytics’ section, where you can see how your connection measures up for online activities such as browsing, gaming, video, conferencing, and email. There’s even a scheduler, so you don’t have to run tests manually, which is a really neat feature.

12. Internet speed test Meter- SpeedTest Master

 SpeedTest Master is a relatively basic app for Android, that enables you to test your internet speed and network performance for mobile 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi connections.

Like the majority of apps we have tested, results are presented using a speedometer display, which provides speed and latency data as the test is taking place. Results are then logged in a history section, where you can view previous tests.

What we liked about this app was the ability to mix mobile and Wi-Fi tests, as well as the signal strength tools, that enable you to find connectivity blackspots in your home or premises. 

And despite this app coming with a number of ads that need to be viewed before you can access your results, once you’ve completed 15 tests, you will get a month of free access to the VIP features within the app, which removes ads completely, and makes using the tool a far more intuitive experience.

Speed test glossary 

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TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking) is gaining momentum as a scalable, standards-based solution for deterministic time-sensitive applications, including industrial automation, real time audio and video transmission automotive networks, and safety critical applications. TSN capable networks will be able to manage automated operations while reacting to inputs from multiple sources in real time, creating highly transparent, digitally observable systems. Time-sensitive data can enable enhanced AI decision-making, greater efficiency, and expanding customization capabilities. That kind of potential shouldn’t be tied down—many applications would benefit greatly from the flexibility and physical freedom of wireless connectivity. 

Fortunately, analysis from multiple independent industry stakeholders has concluded that TSN can be extended over wireless segments. The Avnu Alliance, 5G-ACIA, Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and others have taken a close look at current TSN, Wi-Fi, and 5G capabilities. They’ve also collected data about projected use cases and market requirements. From this information, we can derive a reasonable prediction of which TSN capabilities and applications will be initially supported over wireless. We also have enough information about how wireless segments will be integrated into TSN domains and managed to begin planning for this future.

 TSN domains 

TSN applications require significant reserved bandwidth to ensure guaranteed data delivery. Though time-sensitive data can coexist with other data on a Local Area Network, in reality, it’s likely to be impractical in most cases for an entire enterprise network to be TSN-capable. More likely, the time-sensitive applications will reside within a TSN domain, a protected subset of the network wherein all devices are TSN-capable. We can assume the same will hold for WTSN (Wireless Time-Sensitive Networking) segments: they will be supported throughout the extension of the TSN domain from wired to wireless medium. 

Of course, there may also be stand-alone TSN capable LANs. In the case of touring concert productions for instance, the entire production network consists of devices transmitting and receiving time-sensitive data. As WTSN applications emerge, they will primarily be segments of a larger TSN domain with both wired and wireless links.

Network configuration models for TSN will depend on the application at hand. The IEEE 802.1Qcc specification defines the network configuration and management models for TSN. Industrial applications will primarily use a centralized model, where all endpoints are managed by a central user configuration device (CUC). A Centralized Network Configuration (CNC) device will handle scheduling and path management, configuring the TSN bridges. Live media TSN applications use a distributed model, which doesn’t have any such “god boxes.” In these systems, endpoints and network devices share status, scheduling, etc. with each other directly. There may also be a combination of decentralized device configuration and centralized resource management in hybrid models.

 WTSN network planning 

TSN requires careful planning. At the design stage, the network and traffic engineers must define traffic profiles, determine capacity requirements, and select and configure TSN capabilities. When extending TSN over a wireless segment, they must also determine the physical coverage area, conducting a site survey to determine the number and location of wireless access points and base stations. For wireless segments especially, line-of-sight obstructions must be accounted for at this stage. 

Access to WTSN segments—and indeed, the entire TSN network—should be managed by a central authority. Only authorized devices capable of implementing and complying with the TSN capabilities required to provide the time synchronization and determinism benefits for time-critical applications can be permitted on the network.  This could include any combination of time-critical and best-effort devices; they don’t all necessarily need time-critical performance, but they do have to all play by the rules. 

WTSN features and functional requirements  

TSN is a highly customizable technology, with industry-specific profiles still under development in many application domains. Still, some degree of consensus has emerged around features that are useful and required across TSN implementations: time synchronization, traffic shaping, and redundancy. These features are among the most mature in the current TSN toolset; when wireless TSN emerges, it will have to meet basic requirements for all three.  

Time Synchronization, defined for TSN domains under the IEEE 802.1AS profile of IEEE 1588 PTP (Precision Time Protocol), is the ability to synchronize to a primary clock across the network. Time sync is a foundational requirement for deterministic networks, supporting a number of other features, including traffic scheduling, filtering, and policing. All TSN bridges must share a common definition of “time” – which applies to any WTSN segments as well. In industrial use cases particularly, most applications call for multiple redundant reference clocks to increase reliability. However, it’s not generally required for all nodes have the capability to house the primary clock. For most wireless applications, the reference clock can reside in the wired network.  

Based on analysis of market requirement, we expect time sync accuracy requirements of approximately 1µsec will address the majority of wireless applications. 5G and Wi-Fi networks have shown they can meet this bar. Extending TSN time synchronization over Wi-Fi has already been defined in IEEE 802.1As and 802.11 specifications, and support for TSN time distribution across 5G is defined in 3GPP Release 16. 

Traffic shaping

TSN can guarantee the bounded delivery of time-sensitive information by prioritizing the data into traffic classes and allocating bandwidth accordingly. Traffic-shaping based on the IEEE 802.1Qbv (time-aware shaper) specification has been the initial focus for WTSN and is likely to be supported. Other traffic shaping approaches, such as 802.1Qav (credit-based shaper) may also be considered, depending on the use case. 

802.1Qbv defines a set of time gates to control the queues associated with traffic classes on a TSN bridge. The system creates protected windows for time-critical traffic during which any other interfering traffic is blocked. Wireless systems within the TSN domain must be able to identify, prioritize, and deliver time-critical data within the appropriate time window.

Redundancy

Bandwidth allocation alone can’t guarantee delivery with high reliability, if there is a chance that the link or devices may fail. The IEEE 802.1CB Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability (FRER) standard was developed to increase reliability against potential link and device failures. FRER replicates critical data on multiple streams travelling different network paths. It also attaches a redundancy tag (R-TAG) to the link layer data frame. One or more links may fail, and the data will still be delivered. If multiple frames of the same data arrive at the same endpoint or relay, the device uses the R-TAG to identify and eliminate the redundant frames.  Thus, FRER provides redundancy without unnecessarily clogging the network. 

FRER is invisible to the MAC/PHY link, so it should be able to operate over wireless technology, but it does introduce a lot of additional traffic. WTSN networks will need to be able to support FRER, but it won’t be implemented in all cases—it’s most frequently required in safety-critical applications. This is likely to be an optional WTSN capability, activated based on an analysis of reliability requirements versus efficiency. 

Using a physical Wi-Fi TSN bridge 

Both Wi-Fi, including the latest Wi-Fi 6/6E, and 5G are considered capable of carrying WTSN network segments, but they will be integrated into the wired TSN network differently. 

Wi-Fi, like Ethernet and TSN, is part of the larger IEEE 802 suite of standards for LANs. As such, wired and Wi-Fi TSN share the same protocol stack. Network managers will be able to add Wi-Fi segments to wired TSN using a physical Wi-Fi TSN bridge. TSN-capable Access Points will operate as bridges, with 802.11 Stations operating as TSN end devices.  Wi-Fi 6 TSN will take advantage of scheduling and efficiency enhancements, as well as the operation in the new 6 GHz spectrum (Wi-Fi 6E) to meet the determinism required by WTSN applications.

5G and Ethernet are governed by different standards, meaning an interface will be required to incorporate 5G segments into a TSN domain. 3GPP Release 16 defines interfaces for allowing a 5GS system (5GS) to appear as a “virtual” TSN bridge. Release 16 provides a control plane interface to configure “virtual” TSN ports at the user plane. The virtual TSN bridge tunnels TSN traffic streams over the 5GS through defined TSN Translators at network (NS-TT) and device (DS-TT) sides. This solution uses existing 5G capabilities to meet TSN requirements for time synchronization, and deterministic delivery by leveraging 5G clock synchronization, scheduling, and URLLC capabilities.

Hybrid Wired-Wireless TSN configuration

The stochastic nature of wireless networking does present challenges for time-critical applications, as do the unavoidable performance variations introduced by radio wave interference, propagation effects, physical obstructions, mobility, and roaming. When incorporating WTSN segments, network engineers must consider and account for these factors.  Under a hybrid configuration model, wireless-specific system details can be abstracted, much like in the virtual bridge model. This creates a “wireless-aware” system, allowing minimal changes to the wired TSN network to accommodate the wireless segments. 

For example: 802.1Qbv calls for the system to schedule protected windows for the delivery of time-critical traffic. In a hybrid system, the CNC can define a schedule that completes wired transmissions as fast as possible, leaving more time for the less-dependable wireless links. This approach accounts for potential variations on the achievable wireless link speeds without requiring re-computing the overall network schedule.   

Conclusion

WTSN isn’t going to arrive all at once as a fait accompli. As wireless networks evolve, more TSN capabilities will come online. As this evolution continues, ensuring the continued interoperability of TSN across wired and wireless network segments will be paramount. Avnu Alliance has been taking the lead on enabling integration and testing of TSN across wired and wireless systems. Ongoing work in Avnu includes detailed use case requirements, performance validation, and testing specifications.

The work Avnu has undertaken to assess the performance and structure of future WTSN systems should allow device manufacturers and network owners/managers to plan for the future, imagining even life-safety critical systems than can reliably operate with no wires attached. 

The telecom industry has had a long reputation of being wasteful. But as climate change continues to worsen, sustainability has become a major corporate driving force with companies investing heavily in boosting productivity without further taxing the planet.

Judging by revenue, more than a third of the mobile industry has already credibly committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 or before.

Whether it’s deploying an IoT network grid to help farmers more efficiently produce yields from their crops, using artificial intelligence to reduce costs and industrial emissions or installing private wireless networks and automating mines to lower carbon footprints, various solutions are being pioneered globally to push forward advanced technologies that aim to alleviate damage to our warming planet.

Sustainability can't be an afterthought

It comes as no surprise that this push coincides with the emergence of 5G technology, which was designed to be more efficient than previous generations. Some might even argue that the big selling point of 5G is that it could give stakeholders in the wireless communications industry a path to sustainability. 

The results have been mixed. In practice, this revolution has also introduced a whole new set of sustainability challenges. The telecom industry already consumes around 1 percent of all global energy, according to Omdia. And worse, if all were to remain the same, the expected increase in data traffic and infrastructure accompanying the 5G era could double or triple that figure.

That’s why reducing operational expenses, and the accompanying environmental costs, has become such a sustainability spur for telecom companies.

Energy consumption has traditionally been among a company’s highest operating costs. For example, OPEX rates ranging from 20-40 percent are not uncommon in the telecom industry. Additionally, such OPEX rates are increasingly likely to be seen across the board, particularly as more operators introduce automation capabilities into their network to lower human dependency and the cost of operations. That being said, reducing this figure — and seeking renewable energy sources — makes good business sense and also aligns with the ideological push of the times for greater sustainability.

Using tech to get a step closer to sustainability

One such solution involves using AI to counter some of the overall spikes in energy consumption. For example, AI can redirect antennas and switch off network elements during low traffic to conserve energy without impacting end users. AI can also recognize when passive elements, such as batteries and air-conditioning, consume too much energy and should be re-configured or replaced. As a result, an AI-infused platform can enable operators to save up to a total of 20 percent in annual operating expenses as well as significantly cut CO2 emissions.

Another by-product of the 5G era is that it will require a 73% increase in the number of base stations by 2025, as operators will go beyond just connecting people and include things such as factories, stadiums, cars and more. 

As a result, more efficient 5G equipment is critical to balance the increase in 5G network energy consumption. For example, operators can implement 5G liquid-cooled base stations to reduce potential CO2 emissions by approximately 80 percent and operational costs by 30 percent. 

Advanced sleep mode features will also help optimize base station energy usage. Despite all the growing concerns, 5G is still far greener than its predecessor, with more data bits per kilowatt of energy than any previous wireless technology generation. The issue is the rise in data consumption, so the key is to make sure the energy consumed does not rise at the same rate.

Going green with initiatives

When it comes to handsets, a group of European network operators has now also introduced a pan-industry labelling scheme to help consumers identify and compare sustainability among mobile devices, as well as encourage suppliers to reduce the overall environmental impact of their devices. This is one such example of green and sustainable initiatives being introduced within the industry. Ideally, we will continue to see more network operators commit to going green by launching similar initiatives or participating in sustainability coalitions. 

When it comes to agriculture, 5G connectivity looks to feature prominently in providing resource efficiency as humanity prepares to feed an expected world population of more than nine billion people in 2050. Doing so will require a 70 percent increase in overall food production, and that’s not the only challenge. By 2050, it is predicted that climate change could cut agricultural production by up to 18 percent. Meanwhile, the sector itself is under pressure to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the urban sprawl is eating up arable land, further pressuring farmers to increase productivity.

One way that operators can bring value to the agricultural industry is through a smart agriculture as-a-service offering — such as the joint project between Nokia and Vodafone Foundation India to provide soy and cotton farmers with precise data, so that they can predict potential threats, prevent infestation and minimize the risks of yield loss.

Transforming industries with connectivity

Another offshoot is the rise in private wireless networks, which provide the next-generation connectivity required to operate Industry 4.0 applications and offer a potential source of energy-saving as well.

Private wireless solutions around the world have used renewables and microgrids to reduce dependence on power grids and reduce carbon emissions associated with grid electricity production. There are also use cases where private wireless powered drones have detected algae patterns and warned when the warming water temperatures were creating toxic algae growth. Sensors have created real-time environmental data that reports on noise, wind, dust, air quality, potential sandstorms and hazardous gases.

Perhaps the greatest benefit has come in mining, where advances in electrification, automation, environmental monitoring, and the use of renewable energy has created a more sustainable mineral industry.

So, whether it is through implementing innovative technologies such as AI and liquid-cooling, introducing sustainable initiatives and services or deploying next-generation connectivity such as 5G and private wireless, it is evident that the telecommunications industry has a plethora of options to become more sustainable. Thus, it is imperative that operators and service providers begin moving to more sustainable models so that they can reduce their OPEX as well as take a step forward in helping save our planet.

MIMO stands for ‘Multiple Input, Multiple Output’, and is a form of radio antenna that increases efficiency by increasing the number of transmitters and receivers. Perhaps more importantly, MIMO antennas can send and receive signals over the same channel, without the need to take turns, which increases capacity without sacrificing spectrum. 

In today’s 4G and 5G networks, base station antennas are typically fitted with around 12 antenna ports that broadcast information in every direction at once. Which means that current transceivers have to take turns if they want to transmit and receive data on the same frequency, or the data has to be moved to another frequency to avoid hold-ups, and this causes congestion. The solution is Massive MIMO. 

Massive MIMO antennas and stations

Massive MIMO (or mMIMO) antennas and stations take this a step further. They can support in the region of 100 ports, which vastly boosts the capacity of the network. Huawei, ZTE, and Facebook’s Massive MIMO systems have successfully tested up to 128 antennas, although commercial models, such as Ericsson’s AIR 6468, average at around 64 transmitters and 64 receiver antennas. 

This significant boost doesn’t come without its challenges, though, and an increase in ports makes the current multi-direction broadcasting used in 4G cell sites unfeasible. There would be too many signals crossing each other which would cause serious interference and negate any of the benefits seen by the increase in capacity. This is where beamforming comes in. 

Beamforming and MIMO

Instead of broadcasting signals in every direction at once, beamforming allows a base station to send a focused stream of data to a specific user or device. 

As multiple signals are sent and received via the MIMO antennas, beamforming technology uses advanced signal processing algorithms to determine the best “path” for the radio signal to take to reach the user.

This includes bouncing packets of data off walls to avoid the signals interacting with each other, thus reducing interference and creating more efficient connections.

Beamforming is clever technology because it can adapt to the environment you're in and ensure you get the best signal possible.  

Improved indoor coverage with MIMO

NEC has successfully demonstrated mmWave 5G in an office environment, using distributed-MIMO, which has enabled them to triple the number of simultaneous connections and capacity in an office environment, using distributed-MIMO in the 28 GHz millimeter-wave frequency band.

“NEC has established itself as a leader in digital beamforming technology and has commercialized Massive MIMO in the sub 6 frequency band,” NEC said. “Moreover, NEC has developed digital coordination technology among antenna elements distributed in the millimeter-wave frequency band and conducted verification activities to solve the problems of indoor mobile communications, such as shadowing and diffraction of propagation paths.”

The demo achieved approximately three times the number of simultaneous connections and transmission capacity, compared to test cases without distributed-MIMO in the 28 GHz frequency band. 

This was the first demonstration in the industry to apply a distributed-MIMO system in the millimeter-wave frequency band in an office environment, with NEC hoping that it will contribute to the construction of 5G environments that enable simultaneous multiple connections in the future.

“Applying Massive MIMO techniques to millimeter-wave frequency is considered to be optimal for applications where each terminal requires a high transmission capacity, such as indoor offices or stadium seats with high terminal density,” the announcement explained. 

NEC conducted propagation and transmission trials in a real office environment, using a distributed-MIMO technique for the Radio Units (RU) of a 28 GHz band base station system, which boosted simultaneous connections and increased capacity. 

Will MIMO power consumption be a problem 

As the need for more hardware, with even more antennas, becomes clear, there have been a number of concerns raised about sustainability, and the power consumption that MIMO technology will require.

However, at the beginning of 2021 Nokia announced that its AirScale 5G mMIMO base station, one of the leading products used in 5G infrastructure around the world, will achieve an average power consumption reduction of 50 percent by 2023.

“Nokia is committed to contributing to solving the world’s sustainability challenges and we do that by ensuring our technology is designed to be as energy efficient as possible,” said Ari Kynäslahti, head of technology and strategy at Nokia Mobile Networks. “This means using less energy during use and manufacture. Everything from our chipsets to our software and hardware is geared towards supporting this goal.” 

According to Nokia, a customer field tests found that the power consumption for Nokia’s 5G mMIMO BTS site was more than 10% lower than that of its nearest competitor, with the company now pledging to further lower the consumption of 5G mMIMO base stations by approximately 50 percent. 

Nokia, and other companies manufacturing massive MIMO technology will be able to achieve improved power consumption  by using technologies such as AI and advanced sleep mode features, which will help to optimize the energy usage of base stations.

And despite growing concerns around the energy consumption of 5G, with the requirement for extra infrastructure and 5G small cells, 5G is actually far greener than its predecessor, with more data bits per kilowatt of energy than any previous wireless technology generation. But with consumers on 5G already consuming nearly three times more data than people using 4G, it’s critical that the energy consumed does not rise at the same rate. 

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The mobile communications and aviation industries are meeting at an exciting cross-roads, with MarketsandMarkets stating that by 2030, the global drone package delivery market value is projected to be worth $39 billion.

When paired with cellular connectivity, low-altitude unmanned drones can support exciting 5G use cases such as search and rescue or even the delivery of medical supplies to help improve access to healthcare and save lives. This is because wireless connectivity over cellular networks (rather than handheld radio transmitters) increases safety, security and facilitates Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems. This in turn enables the aforementioned use cases and makes ‘beyond visual line-of-sight’ (BVLOS) drones possible. 

Yet one of the major challenges with BVLOS is ensuring consistent access to reliable connectivity to handle the continuous low latency traffic demand between the operator and the drone. Performance is critical and the aviation and cellular communities need to work together to understand what is required for BVLOS and UTMs. For operators, this means providing consistent bandwidth, and low latency communications. To do so, the right tools need to be in place to assess performance-based requirements. This will help assure flight performance and set a benchmark for connectivity, both of which are essential to accelerate the adoption of fully automated 5G drones in an unrestricted airspace. 

So what do service providers need to do to ensure they can play a role in supporting a future drone-connected infrastructure?

Getting drone ready

The safe provision of BVLOS flights requires guaranteed service levels for communication—from a  cellular network point of view, that means being able to assure dedicated SLAs in licensed spectrum. Achieving this guarantee means service providers have to make their networks and its data available to drone operators. 

While cellular networks can handle BVLOS flights, this may not always be the case all of the time, especially as cellular networks are primarily designed for ground operations. Drone operators therefore need to be able to communicate with service providers in order to know where it is safe for drones to operate. But it doesn’t stop there. Even if service providers share this critical network operation, it’s of little value if their cellular networks aren’t optimized for flight operations. Indeed, network optimization becomes especially important with the advent of network slicing—while network slices will prove to be a significant enabler for drone applications, operators will only guarantee its success if they can adequately manage and optimize individual slices, according to their applications. From a drone perspective, that means ensuring that network slices are optimized in the right way to be able to handle BVLOS flight traffic in different scenarios, for example, three-dimensional corridors where drones can safely be controlled. 

Going one step further, once service providers have optimized their networks and shared information with drone controllers for safe drone flight operation, they also need to guarantee connectivity as drones move between cell towers. This is especially important as any disruption to connectivity handover from one cell tower to the other could have dire consequences for public safety.

Turning the drone future into reality

While a drone-connected future may still seem far away, there is an increasing number of communication service providers laying the groundwork today to make our skies as busy as our roads. 

End-to-end solutions such as TEOCO’s Airborne RF, can help the largest telco companies manage the entire drone service. One example is UK operator, BT which is leading on ‘Project XCelerate’. Leveraging its EE mobile network, BT will ensure that a safe commercial drone corridor can be established with optimal mobile coverage at low altitude. BT will provide the critical communications required for BVLOS environments such as GPS location, remote identification, command and control, redundant geo-awareness, and live notifications sent directly to drones in-flight. BT will seek to provide the assurance that commercial cellular networks are able to support such services at altitude, including both control of the drone and other services, such as 3D mapping and HD video streaming. BT’s drone detection capability will also play an important role in enabling safe BVLOS drone flights at scale by bringing ‘single-point situational awareness’ to managed airspace. By clearly distinguishing between known, authorized operations, and unknown, potential threats, effective responses can be quickly executed without disrupting existing authorized activities. 

Several mobile operators, such as BT, are committed towards a drone connected future. This is made possible in part by ensuring they are leveraging the right tools such as Airborne RF, which provides critical information between drone operators and aviation systems to ensure safe BVLOS operations and UTM. In doing so, mobile operators are able to assess flight paths to ensure drones can maintain adequate and continuous cellular coverage for every flight, notify drone operators if there is any risk of loss in communication, and signal performance along the entire flight path. In addition, mobile operators can also accurately determine information for the safest flight path with the lowest population density before each flight.

Automated drone technology has the capacity to transform how we live our lives, and bring about significant efficiencies. Operators have a huge opportunity in front of them to support the future of drones and already have the supporting infrastructure required in place. However, their cellular networks alone won’t be enough to make the drone dream happen, they will need the right tools to meet drone connectivity requirements to ensure drone operators can deliver on the much-anticipated applications set to take the skies in the coming years. 

Millimeter wave 5G – or mmWave, as it is also being referred to – is behind the next-generation of mobile applications. Here we'll explain what it is as well as how it'll impact 5G networks in areas where high-capacity, low-latency networks are required. 

Next-generation 5G networks will not only provide ubiquitous, reliable coverage over wide areas, but will also be capable of powering mission-critical applications, massive IoT deployments, and entirely new business operations, all requiring fast, high capacity, ultra-low latency connections.

To achieve this, mobile operators will need to use a wider range of spectrum than they have done with previous generations of mobile technology. And like 4G networks, which are a mixture of low-range and mid-range frequencies, the same is true of 5G networks.

Crucially, spectrum is a finite resource. And as governments and regulators around the world recognise the potential economic and societal benefits of 5G networks, there have been concerted efforts to free up as much spectrum as possible.

Therefore, attention is being paid to bands previously considered to be unsuitable for mobile networks - and yes, that includes high-range millimeter wave (mmWave). 

Many of these bands were allocated to other groups of users, such as the military or public events industry, long before the importance of mobile communications was realised, and so millimeter wave spectrum carries a high premium.

What is mmWave spectrum? 

While low-level 700MHz might be useful in spreading 5G to rural locations, it's not suitable for providing the reliable connectivity required in a busy urban location. 

High range bands provide huge amounts of capacity across a limited geographical area. So where mmWave is key for 5G rollout is in dense city zones where there's need for high capacity - in other words, there are a lot of devices. 

However, mmWave is not without its challenges. The signals don't go that far for one thing. mmWave had previously been shunned for mobile, because of its short-range and narrow wavelengths that were susceptible to atmospheric conditions. An effect, known as rain fade, sees precipitation absorb the radio signal and causes disruption. And there have also been concerns about 5G dangers coming from new spectrum usage, but these have been widely debunked.

Technically, the term mmWave refers to frequencies located between 24GHz and 300GHz located between microwaves and infra-red. These airwaves are currently used for things like scientific research, weapons systems and even police speed guns.

It is considered that the portion between 26GHz and 100MHz offers the greatest opportunity for mobile networks. 

However, it is the previously undesirable qualities of mmWave that make it so suitable for 5G. 

That's because it depends on the use of microinfrastructure, such as small cells dotted around dense city locations. This, coupled with high range frequencies will be a key characteristic of 5G networks. 

Therefore, mmWave is only be needed across a limited range and the narrow wavelengths minimises the risk of interference from other cells – enhancing the efficiency of the spectrum. 

The value of mmWave 

Delegates at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), a quadrennial gathering of regulators and governments organised by the UN-affiliated International Telecommunications Union, identified several mmWave bands that could be used for 5G networks. These included 24.25-27.5 GHz, 37-43.5 GHz, 45.5-47 GHz, 47.2-48.2 and 66-71 GHz.

The formal identification of these bands paved the way for global harmonisation, testing and standardisation – reducing costs and accelerating time to market. These agreements also ensured that safeguards for users of spectrum in adjacent bands, such as meteorological services, were in place.

The high capacity and ultrafast speeds of mmWave spectrum will enable many 5G applications that are less suited to lower-range bands. While it is expected that the majority of commercial 5G networks will deliver at least 1Gbps, it is mmWave that produces the theoretical maximum of 10Gbps.

The GSMA predicts that $565 billion in global GDP and $152 billion in tax revenue will come from mmWave 5G services over the next 15 years. This amounts to quarter of the predicted economic value that will be generated by all 5G networks during that period.

mmWave 5G auctions

Each country has its own way of allocating spectrum to those companies looking to operate in these frequency bands. In the last round of millimeter wave auctions in the United States, which took place on March 5th, 5th March, 37GHz, 39GHz and 47GHz spectrum bands were up for grabs. The total sales reached $7.558 billion, nearly tripling the combined total raised by two prior mmWave auctions, which generated $2 billion for 24GHz spectrum and $700 million for 28GHz. Verizon and AT&T emerged with the lion's share, spending $3 billion in total, to secure thousands of new mmWave licenses. 

And despite the coronavirus pandemic, countries are still moving ahead with their plans to allocate mmWave spectrum to the highest bidders. For example, the Finnish telecoms regulator Traficom has announced that it plans to press on with the auction of 5G spectrum in May.

The auction will include three licences in the 26GHz band, each offering access to an 800MHz block of spectrum covering all of mainland Finland, with a starting price of €7 million. Registrations must be submitted to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom by 20 May 2020, with winners clear to commence network construction on July 1st.

Fixed wireless access

The earliest example of 5G millimeter wave in action is Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband. 4G-powered FWA is already in existence, but it is often unable to match the speed, reliability, and experience of a fixed connection. Data caps are also a huge barrier, especially when you consider that home broadband users consume more data than mobile subscribers.

Ovum says the average UK household currently consumes 190GB a month – a figure that will increase to 516GB by 2023 thanks to the popularity of video streaming services, online gaming, and other applications. 5G, free of the restrictions of 4G, can help satisfy this demand.

Trials of commercial 5G FWA networks using mmWave spectrum have achieved between 1-3Gbps, while analysts believe that consistent speeds of between 80 and100Mbps are achievable in a real world setting. In the US, both AT&T and Verizon offer 5G FWA in major US cities, offering a realistic alternative to locations where there is only one fixed cable provider. 

Meanwhile, Three in the UK now offers 5G FWA in central London, while the government is looking at 5G to deliver a minimum standard of broadband in parts of the country where the commercial rollout of fibre is not economically viable.

Transforming industry and society 

The industrial 5G use cases for mmWave 5G are strong, with the technology able to provide reliable, high performance connectivity anywhere in the world. Smart port technology is one of the most developed industrial applications for 5G, promising to drive efficiency and reduce costs through the automation and remote operation of machinery. Logistics, mining and other industries will also be transformed through the digitisation of processes and the enhanced productivity of the workforce.

According to a report from the California-based company Grand View Research, The global market size for private 5G networks will reach $920 million in 2020, and is estimated to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.8% from 2020 to 2027. 

While consumer-facing mobile network operators (MNOs) talk predominantly about the speed of downloads, for manufacturing, the focus turns to ultra-reliable low-latency, density and ubiquitous connectivity. And it’s these lesser-known features, beyond the breakneck 5G speed, that are encouraging industry to construct private 5G network infrastructure in industrial plants and warehouses. 

The report from Grand View Research claims that by 2020, the hardware segment is estimated to account for a market share of more than 70.0%, and said that it is due to the “growing deployment of core network and backhaul and transport equipment across the globe”. 

Beyond industry, society will also benefit from smart city applications, such as transportation, and the provision of healthcare and access to essential services will also be revolutionised. Virtual training will help staff improve, while it will also be possible for specialists to assist with diagnosis and treatment remotely. This means that location will no longer be an impediment to care.

The same of true is education. Remote learning will become a possibility thanks to interactive lessons that make use of teleconferencing, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies.

mmWave powering industry 4.0

Elsewhere, another report, this time from  IDTechEx, and titled  ‘5G Technology, Market and Forecasts 2020-2030’, found that: “5G for smart manufacturing is considered as one of the key applications, assisted with AI and intelligent cameras, such as autonomous mobile robot and remote real-time manufacturing."

And the report highlights the opportunity for the medical sector, too, in areas such as telehealth, which are now more pressing than ever in s post-coronavirus world.

The report includes comprehensive company profiles for more than 20 key global players, from infrastructure suppliers to telecommunication operators, and provides a ten-year forecast for the 5G revenue. The report also highlights the availability and roll-out of mmWave 5G as the primary factor in the development of commercial 5G use cases, breaking down the requirements for 5G to succeed.

The report is currently available to purchase, but there are a number of insights, graphs, and timelines available for free, via the report homepage.  

mmWave and wireless backhaul 

It’s not just end user applications that will benefit from mmWave spectrum – mobile networks themselves will be made more efficient. Mobile operators plan to use mmWave spectrum for wireless backhaul – the link between mobile masts and the core network.

Traditional backhaul relies on a high quality fixed connection, something that might not be present in a rural area. Wireless backhaul provides greater flexibility and cost efficiency with regards to network construction in rural areas, while it will be essential for dense 5G networks populated by small cells and other microinfrastructure. 

Verizon and Ericsson recently completed a proof-of-concept trial using new Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) technology to deliver Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service without the need for fiber installations, relying instead on a dedicated portion of available mmWave bandwidth to connect to the core network.

5G networks rely on fiber-optic cable to connect cell sites, and provide a fast, low latency connection back to the core network, but they are costly to install, and it can take time for mobile network operators to work through localized licensing and regulatory restrictions, which can cause significant delays to 5G network roll out.

Installing a fiber-optic network is a lengthy and costly undertaking, and so Verizon and Ericsson engineers have found an alternative way of using millimeter wave spectrum for backhaul, which can be used as an interim solution, and accelerate deployment of 5G networks, especially into more remote areas.

“Ericsson’s microwave and fiber mobile transport solutions are an important enabler for 5G services,” said Ulf Forssen, head of standards & technology, development unit networks, at Ericsson. “This IAB proof of concept demonstrates a complementary solution, enabling faster deployment of the high-quality, high-performance 5G transport needed in a 5G world.”

Verizon's IAB technology works by using an airlink, point-to-point connection over mmWave spectrum, instead of a fiber-optic cable to send data throughout the network. And a portion of bandwidth is automatically allocated to the task of sending data from a customer's device to the cell tower, whilst another portion is then allocated to send that data from the 5G towers to the core of the network.

Once fiber is installed, the mmWave allocation being used for backhaul can then be redistributed, providing greater 5Gcapacity for customers.

Elsewhere, in June 2021, Nokia, Qualcomm Technologies and UScellular announced that they had set a new world record, achieving near gigabit 5G speed for distances of more than 10 km, with average downlink speeds of 1 Gbps, and uplink speeds reaching approximately 57Mbps. Additionally, 750 Mbps downlink speed was recorded at a distance of 11km. This trial will pave the way to bring extended range 5G service with massive capacity and low latency to even more regions across the US, including rural areas.

The milestone was achieved on UScellular’s live 5G mmWave commercial network in in Grand Island, Nebraska, using Nokia's 5G extended-range mmWave solution and a 5G CPE powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System with the Qualcomm QTM527 mmWave antenna module. The companies jointly tested multiple locations with different scenarios, measuring distance, throughput and latency.

What's the status?

As mentioned above, operators in the US are already using mmWave frequencies to power their services. However it will take time for the full benefits to be realised because of a lack of released spectrum and a dearth of compatible devices. 

Although bands have been assigned on a global basis by the ITU, the process of issuing licences for these airwaves is decided by individual governments and regulators.  UK regulator Ofcom is still working on its strategy for 26GHz, for example.

There’s also the issue of standardisation. Current 5G networks are using an early standard of the technology called Release-15 (R15) which is built on top of existing 4G infrastructure. 

This summer, Release-16 will be completed, allowing networks to maximise the capabilities of mmWave spectrum once it is made available and fulfil the full potential of 5G technology.

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• 5G towers: everything you need to know

How fast is 5G speed? That's what we're here to answer. But as usual with such a broad question, there are numerous caveats. 

It simply isn't possible to give a speed for a 5G network without further qualification. That's because of a few reasons, but primarily that there are different types of 5G. 

It's certainly true that confusion still remains over just how fast 5G networks can be. And that's because many networks will evolve over time and will get faster, so the speeds we're seeing on 5G now don't reflect where we'll be in a few years time. 

• Discover the best apps for performing a 5G speed test 

And, of course, there are variations between networks at present - the faster mmWave technology is being used in the US, for example, but not everywhere. However, in Europe that technology hasn't yet arrived, so the peak speeds in built-up areas are significantly lower than you'd get in mmWave areas in the US. 

In our 5G technology explainer, we outlined four of these flavours and in this article, we’re going to delve deeper into the truth behind these 5G speeds – what the terms mean, theoretical versus real-world speeds, and the best apps and services that reveal what 5G speeds you’re getting.

Of course, there are many other factors, too, which is why these early days of 5G are somewhat complicated. Let us explain further. 

The different types of 5G speed

There are four significant types of 5G ranging from so-called standard 5G to industrial 5G. We've outlined the key categories in the table below. Read more about these on our 5G technology page. 

The speeds achieved on each flavour vary based on the technology and how the data and signals are being used. The deployment of each also varies between networks and, mmWave networks - sometimes referred to as 5G Plus - aren't yet available in the UK and Europe, for example. 

One of the key problems is that networks aren't straight-talking about what kind of 5G they are using - primarily to obfuscate the fact they haven't rolled out faster 5G services as yet (some even pretend they're offering a 5G-level of service when, in fact, they're not). All this can be an issue when comparing services, even if we're not really at the stage where 5G speeds would dictate whether you'd stay with a network or not. 

The main thing to avoid is anything in the first category - so sub-standard 5G services that actually aren't 5G at all. This is a problem in the US currently with certain services but isn't an issue in the UK.

 5G speed standards 

For each iteration of mobile technology, standards are put in place by a group called 3GPP to make sure the technology reaches a certain set of benchmarks, to protect consumers and regulate how the technology is deployed and used. 

3GPP is the standards body for mobile telecoms and, as its name suggests, the partnership was originally put together for 3G in the early 1990s. It combines the standards bodies from key areas - such as Europe - and territories - such as South Kore, Japan and China. 

Other key partners are organisations that bind together other organisations with an interest in telecoms standards. These include the GSMA - the trade body that joins together mobile operators - and the Wireless Broadband Alliance, intended to further interoperability between Wi-Fi standards. 

Within the 5G standards is a minimum speed that must be achieved for an operator to be classified as having a “5G network” and this has been set at 20Gbps downlink and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station. 

The latter point is key. These are the minimum download and upload speeds that must be achievable by a single cell on a network. They aren’t the minimum speeds consumers will see, or should expect, on their devices. In short, this is a standard for networks to achieve, not for consumers or businesses to achieve. 

In theory, if you were connected directly to a single cell via a fixed-line and weren’t sharing this connection with any other users, you could reach these speeds. Such speeds have been achieved in lab conditions. In fact, lab tests have hit staggering speeds of 1Tbps.  

Of course, in the real world where we’re surrounded by billions of connected devices all receiving and sending signals simultaneously, these maximum speeds are out of reach. 

The reality, instead, is that those 20Gbps will instead be split between every device connected to a cell. What’s more, seeing as 5G cells must also be able to support at least 1 million connected devices per square kilometre, chances are these speeds will be greatly fragmented.

As a result, the 5G specifications call for a per-user download speed of 100Mbps and 50Mbps upload. This is close to what is achievable on LTE networks, although while these speeds are rare on LTE, they’re likely to be standard on 5G. 

We have seen a phone's speed hit nearly 1Gbps, but that was on site at Vodafone's UK HQ with a 5G-enabled mast at the other end of the car park in front of us. Many mmWave networks tend to give real-world speed readings upwards of 500Mbps while speed readings from the low-band wider coverage in the US (from T-Mobile and AT&T) seem to be coming in around the 200Mbps range. That's still better than we'd have expected.

One thing you will find is that the fastest speeds you currently get on 4G LTE are actually going to become the norm. The performance will improve across the board.

To test performance in fast-moving vehicles, Samsung carried out an experiment last summer by deploying a 5G network at the Korea International Circuit to prove that it was possible to have stable and seamless 5G mmWave performance when you are moving at high-speed. Coincidentally, Samsung believes that motor racing will be a use case for 5G networks in the future, with large amounts of data being transmitted around a circuit wirelessly, not counting the interactions from officials and fans.  

Of course, there will always be external factors that affect 5G networks, just as there are with 4G networks. These include how far you are from the cell, whether you’re walking or in a moving vehicle or train, the type of device you’re using, which network provider you’re with and more. 

Real-world 5G speeds already vary wildly and will continue to do so, even as the technology matures. As a guide:

• A 4G connection will typically peak at around 20Mbps, although more consistently hits 10Mbps
• On a 5G Minus/4G LTE Advanced network, speeds average around 60Mbps
• Standard 5G (sub-6) is consistently delivering speeds of 100Mbps in real-world scenarios - some indications from the US show this at around 22Mbps. 
• 5G Plus (mmWave) pushes this further, with real-world tests revealing average speeds between 300Mbps up to 1Gbps and some even hitting twice this maximum

What is millimeter wave spectrum? 

While low-level 700MHz might be useful in spreading 5G to rural locations, it's not suitable for providing the reliable connectivity required in a busy urban location. 

High range bands provide huge amounts of capacity across a limited geographical area. So where mmWave is key for 5G rollout is in dense city zones where there's need for high capacity - in other words, there are a lot of devices. 

However, mmWave is not without its challenges. The signals don't go that far for one thing. mmWave had previously been shunned for mobile, because of its short-range and narrow wavelengths that were susceptible to atmospheric conditions. An effect, known as rain fade, sees precipitation absorb the radio signal and causes disruption.

Technically, the term mmWave refers to frequencies located between 24GHz and 300GHz located between microwaves and infra-red. These airwaves are currently used for things like scientific research, weapons systems and even police speed guns.

It is considered that the portion between 26GHz and 100MHz offers the greatest opportunity for mobile networks. 

However, it is the previously undesirable qualities of mmWave that make it so suitable for 5G. 

That's because it depends on the use of microinfrastructure, such as small cells dotted around dense city locations. This, coupled with high range frequencies will be a key characteristic of 5G networks. 

Therefore, mmWave is only be needed across a limited range and the narrow wavelengths minimises the risk of interference from other cells – enhancing the efficiency of the spectrum. 

How long does 5G take to download a 5GB movie?

To put this into perspective, here’s how long it would take to download a 5GB movie via the various types of networks at the top end of their average speeds.  (It’s also worth pointing out that the 5G speeds may feel faster due to the improved latency seen on 5G networks.

The 5G standards require a minimum latency of 4 ms in ideal conditions, down from LTE’s average of 20 ms.)

4G connection

1hr 08mins 

A 4G connection will typically peak at around 20Mbps, although more consistently hits 10Mbps. 

5G Minus/4G LTE Advanced connection

11mins 18secs 

On a 5G Minus/4G LTE Advanced network, speeds average around 60Mbps. 

Standard 5G connection

6mins 28secs

Standard 5G is consistently delivering speeds of 100Mbps in real-world scenarios.  

5G Plus connection

41secs

5G Plus pushes this further, with real-world tests revealing average speeds between 300Mbps up to 1Gbps and some even hitting twice this maximum.

Ericsson and MediaTek aggregate 5G spectrum to reach speeds of 5.1Gbps

In April 2021, Ericsson and MediaTek partnered to make a 5G dual connectivity breakthrough, combining the superior coverage of sub-6GHz bands with the lightning speeds of millimeter wave on a commercial chipset, achieving speeds up to 5.1Gbps.

To achieve these speeds the two companies have combined 800MHz of high-band spectrum and 60MHz of mid-band spectrum, which, they say, is the first time that millimeter wave (mmWave) has been tested in a 5G Standalone (5G SA) mode, combined with mid-band spectrum.

The 5G dual connectivity test, also known as New Radio (NR) DC, was performed in a millimeter wave (mmWave) chamber, with the signal sent over-the-air to a device with a MediaTek M80 5G modem, all using Ericsson Radio System hardware and Ericsson’s 5G Core. NR DC was enabled by the signaling and high peak rate support in Ericsson’s 5G Core, 5G radio access network (Ericsson Radio System) and user equipment (UE), such as the MediaTek M80 modem. And this NR DC functionality will be commercially available in Q3 of 2021.

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5G dangers are a concern for many – whether they're brought on by health concerns, or issues with security – and in this post we review the different 5G dangers as they hit the news.

5G technology - promising high speeds, lower latency, and the activation of the Internet of Things (IoT) - is still hugely controversial.  Citizen groups and some scientists argue that radio frequency (RF) energy exposure - particularly the high-frequency part of the spectrum used by 5G – is dangerous to people and the environment.

But it's worth stating that many credible scientific bodies, journalists, and technology experts are exasperated by any claims arguing that the science just doesn’t stand up. And that's before you get to the information from many networks operators that say the situation is overblown and dangers are limited or non-existent. 

"Twenty years of research should reassure people there are no established health risks from their mobile devices or 5G antennas," says GSMA chief regulatory officer John Giusti.

Can industry bodies and scientists be right when so many parties are worried, and, if so, how did fears about 5G become so prevalent?

Concern surrounding 5G dangers

5G networks employ low (0.6 GHz – 3.7 GHz), mid (3.7 – 24 GHz), and high-band frequencies (24 GHz and higher) to deliver their services. Speaking generally, it is the high band frequencies that have caused most concern, although ongoing worries about 2G, 3G and 4G, which use the low and mid part of the range, have not subsided. 

Concerns around 5G fall into two categories: first, that the millimeter wave (MMW) spectrum used by 5G and transmitted via the 30-300 Ghz part of the spectrum, are more likely to cause cellular damage than lower frequency waves. Second, these short waves do not travel far meaning more small cell transmitters are required to provide full coverage - the number of transmitters needed is worrying some groups. 

Impact of MMW on cells

One concern about MMWs is that because they lie between microwaves and infrared waves on the RF spectrum, they pose heating dangers. Some argue that this will cause cell breakdown. 

And some studies seem to show that MMW exposure may affect cell structure. A blog by Joel Moskowitz, director of the centre for family and community health, University of Berkeley, argues that MMWs can affect the cell’s plasma membrane, either by modifying ion channel activity or by modifying the phospholipid bilayer. He says: “Skin nerve endings are a likely target of MMWs and the possible starting point of numerous biological effects”.

However, many scientists argue that 5G radiation (the  RF sort emitted by a 5G infrastructure) simply can’t harm human cells this way. 

On the American Council for Science and Health site, Alex Berezow quotes astrophysicist Dr. Ethan Siegel when attempting to explain how to determine whether a source of radiation is dangerous. Siegel argues that there are three considerations: the energy per photon, the total amount of energy, and the ability of the exposed object to absorb the radiation. 

He argues that the photons associated with the radio spectrum are too weak to cause cancer; the total amount of energy to which our bodies are exposed by RF radiation is low; and that our bodies don’t absorb it well anyway.

In March 2020 it was announced that the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has formally deemed 5G to be safe as a result of extensive research. The body says there is “no evidence” 5G networks have the potential to cause cancer or other illnesses. 

The research considered other types of effects, such as the potential development of cancer in the human body as a result of exposure to radio waves. 

“We know parts of the community are concerned about the safety of 5G, and we hope the updated guidelines will help put people at ease," said Dr Eric van Rongen, chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

“We find that the scientific evidence for that is not enough to conclude that indeed there is such an effect,” concluded van Rongen. 

The ICNIRP has spent the last seven years working on new guidance for the mobile industry and, while 5G networks were within existing 1998 guidelines, they weren't explicit about high-frequencies above 6GHz, so this has been clarified. 

"They provide protection against all scientifically substantiated adverse health effects due to EMF exposure in the 100 kHz to 300 GHz range," says the ICNIRP.

And in the UK the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has carried out the UK’s first safety tests on 5G base stations and has found no identifiable risks since 5G technology was deployed and that radiation levels are at ‘tiny fractions’ of safe limits.

Measuring 16 5G sites in 10 towns and cities across the UK, the regulator focused on areas where mobile use is likely to be highest. At every site, Ofcom found emissions were a small fraction of the levels included in international guidelines, as set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Non-ionizing refers to the type that doesn’t damage DNA and cells. The maximum measured at any site was 1.5% of those levels.

Despite these findings, though, it has been announced that new guidelines will be introduced to increase protection for emerging 5G technology, which operates on higher frequencies. This is significant, as it’s the first time since 1988 that guidelines protecting humans from mobile radiation have been updated. But the new rules won’t apply to 5G phone masts, focussing specifically on 5G phones and devices.

Are there 5G dangers from radiation?

Despite all of the current evidence to the contrary, though, there are still some scientists that are sceptical of the quality of research into the harmful impact of 5G. 

Kenneth R Foster, professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania is one. In a recent Scientific American blog he said: “many of the studies [around the harmful effects of RF and 5G] are exploratory in nature, and lack elementary precautions to ensure reliable results.”

A more balanced approach towards whether 5G will cause harm is given by bodies such as the US-based National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). A spokesperson for the group said that they don’t yet know what the impact of exposure to RF will be on biological tissues, and that the range of frequencies utilised by 5G complicates issues further. 

She added: “We do know that absorption of RF at higher frequencies differs significantly from absorption at lower frequencies in that shorter wavelengths cannot penetrate nearly as deep into the body.  This means that much of the higher frequency absorption occurs in the skin and would not penetrate deep enough to reach the heart, brain, or adrenal glands.” 

She continued: “At this point, it is unclear exactly whether, or to what degree, human exposure to RF will change with 5G. What is known, however, is that while continuing to be exposed to the current frequencies, wireless consumers will be exposed to the higher frequencies as well.” 

In a 2018 review, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority was similarly circumspect. It argued that although there is no established mechanism for affecting health with weak radio wave exposure there is need for more research covering the novel frequency domains used for 5G.

Critics of 5G often cite a 2011 study by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer which classified RF radiation as "possibly carcinogenic to humans". However, to put this into perspective, the agency also categorised 5G alongside using talcum powder and eating pickled vegetables.

And in a later report in 2014, the World Health Organization explicitly stated that "no adverse health effects" occurred from the use of mobile phones.

Could 5G dangers be a cancer risk?

One way that many scientists attempt to understand the harmful consequences of 5G radiation is by considering its properties. High-energy radiation (including x-rays and gamma rays) has an ionizing impact. 

This means it has enough energy to remove an electron from an atom or molecule and can damage cell DNA, potentially leading to cancer. However, according to Professor Rodney Croft, adviser to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) there is no 5G cancer risk, as the levels of MMW used for 5G (and earlier mobile technologies) are so low that the heating effects are not harmful. 

David Robert Grimes, physicist and cancer researcher argues similarly: “The radio wave band used for mobile phone networks is non-ionising, meaning it lacks sufficient energy to break apart DNA and cause cellular damage." 

The second major 5G concern is the density of the small cell infrastructure. Increased proximity to these cells versus 4G transmitters is inevitable since they will be mounted on street signs and in buildings.

However, a spokesperson for the US-based National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences explained that RF exposure might actually be lower with 5G. She said: “the proximity of humans to cells may increase, potentially leading to higher exposure but the antennas will be widely dispersed meaning the RF given off by 5G may be lower than that currently transmitted by 2G, 3G, and 4G.”  

Australian experts review 138 studies

In March 2021 a review of 138 studies was carried out by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and Swinburne University of Technology, which found no evidence of adverse health effects from the radio waves used in 5G.

“In conclusion, a review of all the studies provided no substantiated evidence that low-level radio waves, like those used by the 5G network, are hazardous to human health,” said Dr Ken Karipidis, assistant director of assessment and advice at ARPANSA.

The research review, which included 107 experimental studies, looked into the potential effects of 5G technology, finding no significant evidence of a health risk.

According to ARPANSA, the findings of these reviews remain “consistent with national and international radiation health and safety guidelines”, which have already deemed that low-level 5G radio waves are safe for public exposure. However, it did recommend that the quality of the research it reviewed varied, and that future experiments into 5G dangers should be improved upon.

Landowners are warned about 5G masts

Landowners in the UK have been warned to be wary of having 5G towers on their land. That's because 'radiation exclusion zones' around masts are bigger than those for 4G. The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) is, however, careful to point out that these exclusion zones - set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP) - are mandatory and standard depending on mast height and power. 

However, operators are only required to confirm the mast will comply with International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP) guidelines and do not have to disclose the boundaries - therefore, says the CAAV, landowners should check to ensure they know the area involved as it could affect things like future building plans or other factors. 

Deloitte report debunks dangers

A report from Deloitte – titled Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Predictions 2021 – has focussed specifically on perceived 5G dangers, having discovered in 2020 that up to one fifth of people in ‘advanced economies’ believe 5G comes with associated health risks.

“Unfortunately, while extensive scientific evidence  proves that mobile phone technologies have no adverse health impacts, not just for 5G but also earlier generations, we also predict that between 10% and 20% adults in many advanced economies will mistakenly equate 5G with possible harm to their health,” the report explained. “A Deloitte consumer poll in May  2020 found a fifth or more adults in six out of 14 countries surveyed agreed with the statement: “I believe there are health risks associated with 5G”.”

According to the report, as 5G has become more widespread, there has been a growing concern about its supposed health hazards.

Deloitte says that, based on numerous studies, both of these fears are “grossly overblown”. And the research company predicts that in 2021, it is “very unlikely” that the radiation from 5G networks and 5G phones will affect the health of a single individual.

“5G does generate radiation, but at very safe levels, and none of it is radioactive radiation,” the report explained. “5G base stations and phones, and the frequency ranges within which 5G operates, are very likely to be operating well within safe parameters in 2021 and throughout 5G’s lifetime.”

Deloitte also points out that mobile phone technology, including the 5G standard, is based on the same underlying  transmission methods that have been used for decades.

“Content is created, relayed over radio waves, and received – a technique that has been delivering content wirelessly for more than 100 years,” said the report. “5G has been designed to use less power than previous generations to reduce operational costs. 5G also incorporates a technique known as  beamforming … [Beamforming] not only enables higher connection speeds, but also leads to lower radio wave exposure than prior network generations.”

Taking all this into consideration, Deloitte is hoping to quell any remaining fears that people may have over the adoption of 5G technology, but with conspiracy theories continuing to spread across social media, it may be years before concerns drop to expected levels.

“It may not be possible to persuade everyone that 5G is safe,” Deloitte concluded. “There is likely to be a niche – perhaps less than 1% of the population – that will remain convinced not just that wireless technologies are harmful.”

Are drones flying over California a 5G danger?

Other health concerns have come from more unexpected sources, such as 5G drones being flown in the skies over California. 

The HAWK30 is a solar-powered 5G drone – also known as a high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) – currently being tested as a way to provide 5G to remote areas. Flying non-stop for six months at a time, these drones beam 5G back to Earth. 

However, local tensions have been heightened, following health scares surrounding 5G dangers. And a campaign is building to ground the project, amidst fears that it may cause harm to the local community of Lana’i. 

Elsewhere, concern about 5G drones focusses on the fact that they may interfere with existing flight paths, or simply fall out of the sky in highly populated areas, causing injury or damage. However, a number of companies are working systems known as 'sky corridors', which will be vital if 5G drones become mainstream.

Lessening the 5G dangers of drones

Vodafone and Ericsson have successfully tested safe sky corridors for drones at Vodafone’s 5G Mobility Lab in Aldenhoven, Germany, as the two companies move a step closer to enabling real-world use cases for 5G drones.

In a proof of concept trial, which was recently conducted at Vodafone’s 5G Mobility Lab in Aldenhoven, Germany, Ericsson and Vodafone used data intelligence to produce coverage maps, which meant that drones could be operated safely, avoiding other objects, so long as they retained a connection to the network.

“The mobile network is a data-rich asset that can be responsibly and securely utilised to aid society,” said Vodafone Group’s CTO Johan Wibergh. “We are evolving our software-driven, intelligent network into a powerful platform that can deliver new digital services. The responsible use of drones is just one such example but there will be many more.”

Is there a concern about 5G security?

5G dangers come in many forms, and its clear that governments are concerned about the security of 5G, and the impact on data sharing down the line, dictated by the choices they're making now.

In October 2019, the AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report in the US suggested that businesses aren’t yet ready for 5G. While nearly all of the 704 respondents expected to make 5G-related security changes within the next five years, only 16 percent had started preparing.

Participants were also concerned about the greater potential for attacks as well as the increased number of devices accessing the network.

These reports highlight why it is important to not be under the illusion that, although operators have begun going live with the next-generation network, we are not achieving the full breadth of what 5G has to offer. We still have a long way to go. Achieving its full potential is not a simple case of out with the old and in with the new.  

Will IoT open up new 5G dangers? 

Security challenges can also stem from the need for 5G networks to support a massive number of connected devices. Gartner predicts a huge growth in adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT). With 25 billion IoT devices expected to be connected by 2021, its implementation is set to unleash a highly complex threat landscape, significantly different from previous networks.

As it becomes more widespread, the IoT phenomenon continues to expose more vulnerabilities and security challenges. Device protection is poor - many manufacturers build in only the most basic security provisions from the outset - and malware distribution is easily scalable. Our researchers found that the number of malware campaigns targeting IoT devices grew by an incredible 50 per cent over the last year, during which time we identified more than 1,100,000 vulnerable devices.

The massive DDoS attack carried out by the Mirai botnet which, in 2016, left much of the internet inaccessible on the US east coast, serves as an example of the large-scale damage that can result from exploiting such devices. And to avoid a repeat of such an attack, in which regular users can be left without communication, 5G network operators will have to develop new threat mitigation models more attuned to diverse types of devices. 

Despite fears, 5G will improve health and safety

In the health sector, 5G will enable remote diagnosis and operations, as well as e-health and responsive wearables, and AI assistants might help people with disabilities. Companies such as the interactive physiotherapy specialist Immersive Rehab are already looking at how 5G can improve their offering, and 5G is being used in various trials such as the Liverpool 5G Testbed. And 5G has even made its way into the operating theatre, when Telefónica, with the help of a hospital in Malaga, presented the first assistance system for surgery, that runs entirely on 5G technology. Elsewhere, O2 has developed a deal with Samsung and the NHS to test out “smart ambulances” equipped with 5G.

Beyond healthcare, 5G will enable safer working environments, via technologies like 'digital twin'. Digital twin technology, as it sounds, enables you to create a digital version of a physical object or environment, which can then be interacted with remotely. This could entail the virtual recreation of a work space, where people could train safely using VR equipment, or help highlight when certain workspaces might become dangerous to work in.

Another area where 5G is certain to save lives is in the realm of autonomous vehicles, where sensors will be used to detect pedestrians and dangerous incidents, enabling AI-driven vehicles to avoid them. 

And on the other side of the windscreen, cyclists are also likely to benefit, as evidenced by Australian company Telstra, which has partnered with Australian cycling start-up, Arenberg, to create a 5G-enabled helmet that can see around corners. The helmet prototype features a 5G connection, which passes video, GPS and other data up to a data processing and analytics cloud, as well as Telstra’s V2X program, which gathers data from connected cars on the roads.

And so, despite all the fake news, conspiracy theories, and unfounded claims surrounding 5G dangers, the reality is that the next generation of mobile communications will actually save and protect lives, not take them.

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As the global 5G rollout continues, telecom operators and technology firms are developing innovative technology that will propel them to the forefront of the 5G race. I think that the basis for further development of 5G networks is the use of mmWave technology with the Open RAN standard. 

Currently our engineers are working on developing technology for radio heads operating in the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band. These devices Will transmit and receive the 5G mmWave signal, which enables the creation of the 5G and beyond-networks at the cost level that has been just unapproachable before and to build wireless networks more efficiently and more effectively. 

Millimeter waves are expected to play a major role in the development of fifth-generation technology, due to their ability to achieve higher speeds and higher throughput. Digital revolution is about to come down, and the best proof of that was the Our recent announce that, We will have the first pilot deployment of radio heads operating in the mmWave band for 5G networks as early as next year, but do we reallt need mmWave technology? 

Do we really need mmWave technology? 

The number of users and devices consuming data is increasing exponentially, and wireless data traffic is projected to increase 10,000 fold within the next 20 years, with the number of users and devices consuming data will be about two billion. While, the radio spectrum frequency band available to telecom operators has not changed. 

Each device is given a limited amount of bandwidth, which results in slower speeds and more frequent disconnections. Because of the increase in data demand, Sub-6 5G bandwidth in markets could potentially run out by 2023. One way to solve this problem is to use higher frequency bands to ensure better transmission parameters. The millimeter-wave (mmWave) band uses ultra-wide channels, making it particularly suited for multi- gigabit mobile communication systems. Moreover, It will also provide a greater capacity compared with sub 6GHz bands. According to a recent test performed by Qualcomm Technologies shown that connectivity speeds on commercial devices are now 16 times faster than 5G running exclusively in sub-6GHz frequencies.

New opportunities for 5G networks

Emerging technologies based on mmWave require extremely stable wireless data transmission with very high data rates, low and reliable latency, and higher capacities which can be achieved by local cellular networks, sometimes called ‘Private Networks’, with the ability to use 'Plug & Play' configuration. And our company is one of those currently trying to deploy small 5G networks that connect every set of devices, and transmit data wirelessly between them without any reasonable limitations in terms of data rate and latency. And the next step will be how we use 5G networks to enhance fledging technologies in order to automate business processes, decreasing the costs across numerous sectors. 

The real digital revolution will touch every industry. We can start from retail, where hot-spot infrastructure based on our mmWave radio head can offer more seamless and personalized in-store experience. In Culture, connectivity-enabled innovations can make it possible to have a super smooth VR experience, one example being in museums, where you can make exhibits interactive, and bring picture scenes to life. 

For broadcasting, this technology means the ability to live stream in the highest quality 8K UHD, without lag, for the ultimate viewing experience. In healthcare, we also will notice the impact of this digital revolution. Envision this scenario: Hospitals where it’s possible to monitor patients remotely in real time use AI-powered tools for more precise diagnoses, and automation of the many processes that currently eat into a practitioner’s time. The rapid development of 5G mmWave technologies will enhance the automotive industry. Imagine the future of autonomous transportation, where vital information about possible road hazards will be instantly relayed to other users who can then react swiftly. This „Future” is closer than you think, companies such as Tesla and Toyota are already testing autonomous vehicles using 5G mmWave technology.

Open RAN delivers new possibilities

Millimeter wave 5G radio heads enable the implementation of a hotspot- driven 5G network infrastructure, which will create a simple 5G architecture compatible with Open RAN (O-RAN) standards. And the idea of an O-RAN network is gaining traction in the telecom industry, thanks to it being adaptable, profoundly versatile architecture, which allows mobile operators to implement RAN and edge networks using virtualized and decentralized components. 

Recent analysis by Analysys Mason found that 82 per cent of communications service providers (CSPs) said that they are aiming to support open interfaces/multi-vendor RAN in their 5G networks. They believe that concept of an open and virtualized RAN will be critical over the next years. This dissemination of the OpenRAN standard will contribute to a significant liberalization of the previously closed market of mobile networks. 

Open architectures enable network providers to choose who they choose to partner with for the different RAN functions. It provides operators with competition and versatility, as well as an appealing route to deploying best-of-breed technologies provided by many visionary RAN players, large and small. This implies a big challenge not only for main carriers and hardware vendors but also for regulators around the world to manage appropriate spectrum licensing. A wide range of solutions built on the basis of Open RAN will allow for faster and more cost-effective deployment of 5G networks, which draw on emergence of new operators, an investment boom, an increase in competition and a drop in prices, which will benefit consumers. 

There is no doubt that the mmWave technology will be the catalyst for future beyond-5G networks, enabling a new era of digital transformation. Our mission is to accelerate innovation and commercialization in the RAN domain via mmWave Radio and Open RAN . Undoubtedly, these technologies will deliver a next-level performance and user experience beyond what is possible with traditional cellular networks.

The past year has transformed the way we live and do business, leaving many of us more reliant on technology than ever before. For businesses, COVID-19 has acted like an incubator, pushing them to accelerate digital transformation to improve operations, and heightening interest in the demand for emerging technologies like 5G. 

As we look ahead, the roll out of 5G networks across the globe is set to transform every aspect of society. It promises to significantly upgrade our technology toolkit, improving business operations and providing solutions that will create a more inclusive, connected and sustainable world.

The power of 5G

We are already seeing businesses across a range of sectors make moves to improve the effectiveness of their global supply chains, and new technologies, notably 5G, can play a big role in driving efficiencies at every level. McKinsey predicts that businesses have accelerated the digitisation of their customer and supply chain interactions by four years since the pandemic. But how do 5G networks facilitate this transformation and what are the benefits of its adoption across industries?

Take healthcare as an example. While the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the resilience of the NHS, it also exposed inefficiencies and highlighted the need for urgent digitisation in areas like remote and real-time patient care. Over the course of the past year, we have seen investment in 5G use cases for the healthcare industry accelerate and this shows no signs of slowing down. For example, the UK government announced late last year that it has already invested in real-life use cases, such as the £3.2 million funding received by Edinburgh Napier University to leverage 5G to develop hearing aids.

The application of 5G to existing healthcare systems has the potential to connect millions of patients with access to medical supplies and virtual treatment, particularly in rural communities. Its ability to disrupt physical and virtual barriers, irrespective of location, will transform the health sector by expanding its reach and improving both the quality and effectiveness of care. 

5G will also prove transformative in the manufacturing sector with the development of smart factories that utilise innovations like predictive technology and large scale sensors. Ericsson predicts that manufacturing is one of the most significant sectors for new revenue potential using 5G. The heightened visibility, pace of production and efficiency offered by 5G are key factors that will contribute to driving higher productivity levels in manufacturing, unlocking a potential value of $740bn by 2030.

Combating climate change 

5G can also help combat climate change, an issue which has been high on the news agenda in recent years. While there have been concerns around 5G’s energy consumption, its solutions have a calculated potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 15% due to a reduction in resource usage and an overall improvement in efficiency.

As a digital transformation leader, we at Tech Mahindra see first hand the impact that  emerging technologies can have in reducing carbon emissions and improving business performance. We live in an era where there is a multigenerational understanding of climate change, and consumers are increasingly showing that they want the companies they use to take a stand on sustainable issues.

Latana’s “Sustainability Perception Index 2020” reveals that sustainability has been a priority for many consumers in the years leading up to the pandemic, with 61 percent saying it will become an even more important factor to them after Covid-19. It’s clear that sustainability is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ for businesses; the organisations that succeed in the years to come will be those that embed sustainability into the very core of their operations.

Across almost every industry, 5G has the potential to reduce carbon emissions and build more environmentally friendly business models. An O2 report, A Greener Connected Future, found that the application of 5G in healthcare could lead to a 20% reduction in hospital admissions, resulting in an overall reduction of carbon emissions and resources. And in manufacturing, the adoption of 5G has the potential to reduce resource usage and improve overall efficiency while saving 40 megatonnes of carbon emissions by 2035.

A connected future

5G networks will be key in facilitating digital transformations across all sectors. Its ultrafast connectivity, low-latency and ultra-reliability offers businesses the ability to improve performance, transform their operations and reduce carbon emissions. 

As we look into the future, there can be no doubting that 5G will be at the centre of a digitally connected world. It will truly revolutionise business operations for the better.

Maggie Hallbach is the vice president of business development and strategic sales for the public sector at Verizon. Hallbach's role involves leading the business development function that is focused on developing, designing and capturing strategic opportunities within the public sector. 

Hallbach's team is also responsible for strategic sales initiatives, including the alignment of sales priorities to the public sector strategy. And in this post we speak to Hallbach about the effect Verizon 5G can have on healthcare, how first responders can benefit, whilst also discussing how technologies such as Open RAN can benefit the public sector. 

Q:  Can you provide some examples of where you think 5G might be used to improve healthcare in the near future?

"5G will be a game-changer for healthcare – revolutionizing the way doctors train, prepare for and perform surgery and give patients access to the best specialists regardless of where they live. 5G speed, massive bandwidth and low latency will allow healthcare professionals to access a wealth of data - in near real time. 

Last year, Verizon lit up the first 5G enabled hospital at the VA hospital located in Palo Alto, CA. By leveraging Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, the VA is using Medivis’ imaging software and Microsoft’s HoloLens to help doctors prepare for surgery and train medical students while enhancing the quality of care for veterans through telemedicine. Using 5G and Medivis’ solution, MRI scans can be transformed into rich, holographic images that radiologists can reference in near-real time and even project onto the patient to better guide procedures. 

In addition to the VA, we’ve also partnered with Emory Healthcare to bring 5G Ultra Wideband to their Innovation Hub in Atlanta, making it the nation’s first 5G healthcare lab. There, we’re collaborating with Emory and its 9 Innovation Hub partners to spur the development of healthcare solutions powered by 5G. Some of the things we plan to test include how 5G could enhance augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications for medical training, enable telemedicine and remote patient monitoring, and provide point of care diagnostic and imaging systems from the ambulance to the ER. 

With Verizon 5G Edge, our mobile edge compute platform, Avesha, is working with several hospitals to test how machine learning inference done at the edge of the 5G network, utilizing AWS Wavelength, can assist doctors in identifying polyps in real-time. Now, instead of running on premises servers with their high expense, hospitals can use the power of the cloud with GPUs available over 5G for ultra-low latency inference of video streams. With 5G and MEC, they can more quickly and accurately identify polyps, by using the scope video feed and AI to pinpoint polyps that otherwise would be undetectable. Minimizing the distance between the cloud and the person or application leveraging the cloud capability minimizes latency for that person or application – a requirement that will be critical for healthcare applications involving augmented reality, for example.

In the near future, Verizon 5G will continue to keep healthcare institutions connected, helping improve patient experiences and accuracy in diagnosis, while simultaneously enabling healthcare professionals who are driving change by pushing the boundaries in innovation."

Q:  Beyond healthcare, which areas of the public sector do you think 5G will have the most impact on? 

"We see 5G helping various first responders including EMS workers, firefighters, law enforcement and military. In 2018, we launched the 5G First Responder Lab, which is a first-of-its-kind innovation program to identify technology companies, and give them access to 5G to test and refine their 5G solutions for public safety. The first three cohorts included 15 start-ups, who tested their developments on 5G Ultra Wideband, including autonomous persistent 5G drones for security and situational awareness, gun detection software using existing municipal cameras, computer vision heads up display for firefighters to see through smoke, and VR training for police officers and EMTs. The fourth cohort of the 5G First Responder Lab is currently working to accelerate 5G development of solutions to common challenges along the EMS/patient journey from pre-incident and emergency response to treatment and recovery, all critical for EMS workers on the frontlines struggling with a heavy workload and oftentimes a lack of vital information at their fingertips.

Through Verizon’s partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps at the Miramar 5G living lab, we’re testing ways the military and other U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) agencies can use Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband to transform operations ranging from communications to base security.

We are also working on a “Fusion center” proof of concept in a private 5G MEC environment with a law enforcement partner. The center uses machine learning to comb through video data to aid investigations. A concept like the fusion center could help greatly reduce the time needed to sort through tips and then use that information to help locate suspects."

Q:  According to the FCC, 19 million Americans still don’t have access to high-speed internet. How is 5G going to help, or will it simply broaden the divide? 

"With the COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we live life - high-speed internet is key especially when it comes to healthcare. The ability to deliver immersive, high-quality medical experiences for patients and physicians, anytime, could truly be a game-changer in a world where social distancing and remote working and learning have become the norm rather than exception. 

Last month, Verizon announced new initiatives and investments to bridge the digital divide as a part of Citizen Verizon, our larger business plan for economic, environmental and social advancement. As a part of Verizon’s core strategy, we continue to build on initiatives like Fios Forward, which offers eligible customers a discount that lowers the cost of fast and reliable Fios Internet to as little as $19.99 per month plus tax. In addition, our Emergency Broadband Benefit program provides Verizon customers who meet income-based requirements set by the FCC with temporary discounts of up to $50 per month - or up to $75 on tribal lands. Verizon’s network reaches nearly half a million more people than the next closest provider and we continue to focus on connecting customers all across the US, including in rural areas. 

In addition to keeping customers across all communities connected, we have invested in programs with a targeted focus on people of color in rural areas, including a partnership with the National 4-H Council to provide digital skills training, and year-round STEM learning programs in partnership with HBCUs, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and community colleges across the country.

By giving innovators early access to 5G in our labs we can help prove that lack of proximity to healthcare professionals doesn’t need to impact the quality of healthcare one receives.  

Remote physical therapy using VR, for example, can take advantage of 5G’s low latency to make virtual interactions between patients and physical therapists seamless, with increased convenience. Such advanced technology allows for a convenient and accessible way for patients to access care from a variety of professionals, from basic care to specialists.

For healthcare professionals, augmented reality paired with super-fast 5G can transform opportunities for immersive, collaborative experiences to help doctors learn from anywhere and help to make the profession more accessible. Transmission of information and distance-based learning could be brought to a new level with 5G. AR/VR applications powered by 5G could allow hospitals to transport students who typically participate in a residency program to operation rooms in many locations, and be given an intraoperative experience with an upfront and up close view of delicate procedures remotely."

Q:  With the commercialization of healthcare in the US, what needs to be done to ensure that new services, utilizing 5G technology, are as accessible as possible? 

"The benefits of 5G cannot be ignored - but to make these new technologies more accessible, healthcare business models are beginning to change. With the commercialization of healthcare, healthcare organizations face a higher burden of proof in technology to ensure they have a compelling value proposition. For decision makers in healthcare, spending on technology just because it is new or interesting does not make strategic sense. 

That is why we must acknowledge that with 5G networks comes the need for new 5G-enabled devices and upgrades to equipment for it to fully function and there will be an associated cost right as many hospitals struggle financially. Based on the American Hospital Association’s analysis, hospitals lost an estimated $200 billion in revenue between March and June of 2020, as they reallocated resources from profitable outpatient procedures to handle the influx of COVID-19 cases. 

For an industry losing $50 billion a month, investing in new technology may not seem like the smart path forward, but for hospitals to succeed long term, they must seize on this opportunity to innovate instead of focusing solely on damage control to restore revenue. A 5G network powering new 5G-enabled devices is vital for the long-term health of hospitals. It can lead to new opportunities in remote healthcare, advanced rural care and ongoing accessibility that could transform the potential of telehealth.

Fortunately, stimulus bills have created seed pools of money for things like remote healthcare, advanced rural care and ongoing accessibility requiring a new business model and approach -- and we’ll need to do more to ensure that the industry has sustained access to these funding sources. Already, some health systems have pivoted with a transformative and better approach for their patients, employees and communities.

Q: How do you see 5G helping the US in its recovery from the effects of Covid-19 in the coming years? 

 "As the US recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers will continue to work remotely in some capacity, with 2 in 3 adults (who have worked remotely at some point during this pandemic) planning to take advantage of remote work to travel or work from places other than their home even when the pandemic subsides. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service is available nationwide in parts of 71 cities, and delivers speed and capacity capabilities that allow customers to engage in activities like collaborating with colleagues while they work remotely.

Last year, nearly half of Americans relied on telehealth  for all their healthcare needs due to COVID-19 safety concerns. With consumers continuing to search for options that allow them to live daily life without leaving the home, 5G can unlock the full potential of telehealth as demand and interest continues to surge.

Today’s tech-savvy patient will have high expectations for telehealth, but healthcare providers need to be prepared for the range of tech literacy patients have. Using intuitive tools that patients are familiar with coupled with 5G’s low latency and high bandwidth can deliver an immersive and seamless telehealth experience."

Q:  What is Verizon’s view on O-RAN, and how might it help in the implementation of 5G technology in the public sector?  

"The move to a cloud native, container-based virtualized architecture leads to more flexibility, faster delivery of services, greater scalability, and significant cost efficiency in networks.  Verizon has been bullish in both the design and development of open RAN technology as well as the testing of that technology with great success.

Early in 2019 we announced the virtualization of the core of our network.  Our 5G core is designed with full virtualization in a cloud-native containerized architecture. Later last year, we announced that we achieved full virtualization of baseband functions – the heaviest portion of computing on the Radio Access Network (RAN). With a virtualized baseband unit, we are laying the foundation to be able to move computing functionality to the edge of the network and will be able to rapidly respond to a range of customers’ including those in the public sector, to address their varied latency and computing needs. Verizon is also engaged in several of the oRAN alliance work groups, defining the interfaces and working with vendors to implement the requirements. Open RAN is critical for 5G technology to reach its full potential."


We would like to thank Maggie Hallbach and Verizon for taking the time to speak exclusively to 5Gradar about the effects 5G can have on the public sector in the US and beyond.

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The number of employees working remotely has grown exponentially in the past year due to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. As a result, organisations accelerated their digital transformation strategies to enable a more dispersed workforce. Yet, with a remote or hybrid workforce likely to be the reality for the foreseeable future, these strategies are shifting from simply keeping the lights on, to looking for the latest technology to transform itself and ultimately driving growth.

Take connectivity, for instance. As more people work remotely, networks need to support more device connections and more data. With this increase in devices and data flow, so too is there an increase in potential for cyber-attacks. This increased risk comes against a backdrop of a surge in the volume of cyber-attacks, seeking to exploit vulnerabilities exposed as a result of remote working. In the past twelve months, almost 40% of businesses across the UK have faced a cyber security breach or an attack. To cope with this increase in connected devices, enterprises need to focus on building a robust security model to avoid falling victim to future attacks.

A widespread attack surface

As a newly designed network, 5G technology represents more than just an upgrade from 4G. Far from being exclusive to phones and tablets, 5G will create an even larger potential attack surface – as the advanced capabilities of the technology are expected to increase the number of IoT devices. According to the GSMA, IoT connections will reach almost 25 billion globally by 2025, and enterprise will overtake consumer IoT connections by 2024. Hackers will again be looking for ways to take advantage of potential new loopholes and weak spots, and a largely remote global workforce is likely to present plenty of opportunities. 

Attacks could play out in a multitude of ways – with 4G, attacks centred on data theft and distribution. This threat is even more real for 5G because of how it is constructed; unlike 4G, where data storage was centralised with 5G, application hosting is brought to the network edge. The result of this is improved latency and bandwidth, but it comes with increased risk that the target points where a breach is most likely to come from are more accessible to hackers. This will require a far stronger and more robust data security system than what would suffice in a 4G world. 

Implications across industry

Beyond the increasing connectivity creating a wider attack surface, organisations will also have to be acutely aware of the way data, and the network itself, are secured in their supply chains. With supply chains in the future also being increasingly connected and 5G reliant, robust data protection initiatives need to be in place throughout the chain. Cyber criminals will be looking for any vulnerable access points across the whole network and where they are able to exploit them. That may not only create a data security risk to the other links in the chain, but may also cause huge disruption for the industry at large.

Our inevitable reliance on 5G to facilitate the operation of products and the delivery of services across the economy means that not only are access points more vulnerable, but the increasing number of devices also means there are a great deal more of them. This increases not only the kinds of attacks organisations can expect, but their frequency. Organisations will also be able to create private network ‘slices’, affording them greater communications autonomy. The effect of this is again to build more access points and will mean that smaller enterprises from a variety of sectors will now have to develop advanced security competencies. 

5G has the potential to transform the energy and transport industries – through the likes of connected cars – and allowing energy production hubs to connect with the meters in our homes. In healthcare, the connectivity of complex devices will streamline diagnostic processes, saving lives by signposting and fast-tracking patients to better healthcare solutions. However, in becoming integral to a number of critical applications in high-risk industries, the infrastructure of the 5G network is now more exposed and interfering with the network will become a priority for cyber criminals. Highly complex devices in transport, such as driverless vehicles, will use 5G to communicate. Any interruption in this connection, that results from a cyberattack, can have enormous and dangerous repercussions.

Adopting comprehensive security strategies 

These new risks highlight the importance of adopting a comprehensive security model that considers every touchpoint. There are many ways organisations can do this, but it will involve more than just installing cyber security programmes. Businesses will need to take a security first mindset, both towards their internal security and external partners. Adopting Zero-trust will go a long way to ensuring that the increased number of access points does not mean more data breaches. A Zero-trust approach will help enterprises to identify and authenticate all connected devices across the network, monitoring activities and quickly flagging any suspected malpractice (using a product such as Thales’s SafeNet Trusted Access solution).

However, data security extends beyond just preventative measures. With the volumes of data that 5G will facilitate the mobilisation of, at the heart of any data security strategy is the need to understand what data exists where, and the risks it faces; so that organisations can deploy strong preventative mechanisms (the CipherTrust Data Security Platform is the tool we use for risk-analysis functions, ensuring that organisations are aware of their data holdings and can be vigilant to potential breaches).

Rapid response times are essential, and automated technologies can be paramount to effective data security, especially in light of the expanded attack surface that comes with 5G. Adopting AI and automation across security systems will help to mitigate and respond to threats and minimise the potential for human error. As 5G becomes embedded across society, cross-industry collaboration across all aspects of data security will be critical to ensure data security as 5G’s place in supply chains will result in a shared responsibility. 

Detecting cybersecurity threats

The cyberattack techniques that have emerged in recent years are increasingly complex and hard to detect. Most detection systems are based on rules derived from well-known attack patterns. And cyber threat hunting, which consists in proactively searching through networks to detect hidden advanced threats, is usually performed on an occasional basis. So it's important to consider a comprehensive and advanced attack detection solution. It will provide both real-time threat detection and hunting capabilities around the clock to help telcos’ cybersecurity analysts spot the most advanced threats. 

5G represents an enormous opportunity to transform the tech space in the coming years, but much of its success in meeting its potential comes in organisations having the faith in security apparatus to adopt it across their operations. Developers can learn lessons from the two-factor authentication of users by re-examining their data security applications with the same level of scrutiny, but it will be a challenge to build that trust. Some experience can be carried over from defence mechanisms installed to protect 4G, but the dramatic expansion in capacity as well as the network’s new structure, and changing patterns in the cyber-crime landscape, mean that 5G makes enormous demands of the data protection industry that they will have to anticipate and navigate.  

What’s going to be the biggest impact of 5G? The fifth generation of cellular networks is much more than blazing fast mobile broadband. Research by Nokia Bell Labs found that 5G has the potential to contribute $8 trillion to global GDP by 2030, with industries as diverse as mining, entertainment, transportation and healthcare all set to reap enormous benefits.

Asset-heavy industries are already seeing the benefit of cellular networks which enable digitalization and automation to sustainably source resources, move them to market, manufacture, power, operate and service all aspects of our new, technological world.

Moving beyond WiFi 

In the early 2010s, principal for infrastructure and communications strategy, Alan Seery, was at a Rio Tinto mine in Pilbara in north western Australia, mulling why the autonomous trucks had begun to mysteriously stop working. There were multiple communications networks at the site. After extensive investigation, it was discovered that a third-party contractor had commissioned a WiFi link to connect two buildings together, and the interference caused by this link had impacted the network supporting the autonomous trucks, and caused them to stop working. Alan knew there had to be a better way. Following an audit of all wireless applications, it became obvious to him that only a licensed-spectrum solution could provide the assurance that the business needed. And so, the first 4G/LTE private wireless network in the resources industry globally and first private 4G/LTE private wireless in Australia was born.

Characterized by computing and the internet, the third industrial revolution profoundly impacted services businesses such as financial services and the media. But asset-intensive industries with a lot of heavy equipment, production lines and materials handling missed out on this ‘digital revolution’. The WiFi networks that work well in an office setting aren’t designed for mobility, making them inappropriate for asset-heavy industries with operational technology application needs. 

But that is set to change with the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, which will be powered by mobile networks starting with 4.9G (latest generation 4G/LTE) and migrating to 5G as business needs emerge. Mobile networks are designed to reliably connect devices which are on the move. In difficult radio environments, they have greater capacity, large coverage and better signal penetration. And most importantly, they provide predictable lower latency, which is essential for machine to machine connectivity such as robotics where there can be no delay variation from instruction to reaction. 

Moreover, mobile networks are helping industries meet their emissions goals. GSMA, the mobile operator industry body, and the Carbon Trust found that through digitalization and automation, 5G has the potential to decrease emissions in other sectors by 10 times the amount of emissions produced by mobile networks themselves.

Private wireless

Private wireless is a standalone network focused on industrial operational assets and users. A private wireless network provides wireless broadband connectivity, like a public wireless network, but is owned and controlled by the organization that built or purchased it. Industry verticals and public sector domains such as mining, utilities, factories, warehouses, ports, airports, public safety, and smart cities all make excellent candidates for private wireless and are already using such networks to help digitalize their operations.  

We predict the potential need for 14 million global industrial sites to be equipped with private wireless connectivity in the coming decade. According to ABI, the private wireless market is expected to grow to USD16.3bn in 2025.  

The 5G advantage: ultra-reliable low latency

Ultra-reliable low latency is crucial in use cases such as performing remote heart surgery or for self-driving cars, when losing connection for a couple of seconds is not an option. 

When the industry talks about 5G, it is referring to a set of mobile networks specifications produced by the mobile technologies standards body, 3GPP.  One such specification is for five nines or even six nines reliability with a latency as low as 1ms. Six nines reliability means 99.9999% of packets will be delivered within one millisecond and is achieved through many technological advances in network design such as baking in near-instantaneous packet failover, software defined (as opposed to hardwire) network routing, dual connectivity and more redundancy.

Latency is the delay in a network between an instruction being given and the action being commenced. Low latency is needed in some of the most advanced industrial applications, such as high-speed robots and becomes even more crucial when multiple robots’ actions needs to be coordinated. 

Network slicing

As well as being faster, with higher capacity, more reliability and lower latency, 5G is a complete re-imagination of the network. As such, it includes new features that expand the service capabilities of the network.

In previous generations – 2G, 3G and 4G – the traditional end-to-end network provided the same service to all users. If an operator’s customer, such as the police or fire brigade, required a guaranteed level of service for an application, the only option would have been to create a new, physical network – a wide area private networks - or to deploy additional elements in the network of an operator to make it fit for the critical needs. 5G is changing that with the introduction of network slicing.

With network slicing, operators can create virtual, independent networks within the same physical network. Whether it’s connecting a handset to mobile broadband or an autonomous delivery truck, the network operator can guarantee speed, latency, reliability, and security service levels for the slice as if it was a distinct network.

A network slice is equipment-vendor agnostic and can span across a radio network provided by vendor one, to the core from vendor two and so on. This means it can be used in scenarios covering wide geographies.

A sports stadium might have slices for fans to upload selfies, another for security monitoring and another for the broadcast provider. Each would have different requirements and priorities, and functions to enable each slice would be distributed differently. The traffic in the security and broadcast slices will always get the guaranteed bandwidth and latency even if 50,000 fans celebrate a goal by trying to share their recorded video.

Edge computing

If you’re being driven by an autonomous car and another vehicle loses control and heads your way, you don’t want your car to send data down to a remote cloud server a few hundred kilometres away before it takes evasive action. You want the computation work to be carried as close as possible to where you are, so the latency associated to this task is kept to a minimum and chance of losing the packet is close to 0, increasing the chance to avoid the accident. This is edge computing, which offers cloud-computing capabilities at the ‘edge’ of the network.

Edge computing capabilities, when combined with 5G networks and slicing, will also enable interactive and delay-sensitive applications such as gaming and augmented reality. In industrial settings where edge computing is already commonly used in 4G private wireless networks, warehouse and factory operators can reduce costs by moving the bulk of the computing power of the robots to the network core, meaning robots can be lighter, more agile, use less energy and are less expensive.

Faster 5G adoption

Whilst consumer entertainment has spurred the initial interest in increased bandwidth, with ultra-low latency, enhanced security, and the ability to connect one million devices per 0.38 square miles, 5G will make possible many new and transformative applications of technology. 

In 2022, 5G specifications will see enhanced functionality addressing additional industry segments with expanded options for how it can be deployed to expand coverage and improve public safety communications. For instance, combined with AI capabilities at the edge of the network, 5G will accelerate the introduction of autonomous vehicles, capable of sensing and responding in real time to their surroundings.

Service providers and the industry as a whole need to educate enterprises and consumers alike about the benefits of 5G, as well as encourage enterprises to explore how private wireless, using 4.9G/LTE or 5G can transform their business specifically together.

The model of shared communications infrastructure is gaining momentum with mobile network operators (MNOs) around the world. The arrival of 5G suggests that the shift away from owning communications infrastructure is now a definite one for towers (a well-established trend over the past decade) and, increasingly, for small cells. On the back of this trend, MNOs are now competing less on coverage and more on the connectivity experience, benefitting their enterprise and individual customers as they invest in 5G.

The trend towards using shared infrastructure for small cells, an important factor in the 5G story, is poised to accelerate in coming years as 5G pushes through in a growing number of sites. According to the Small Cell Forum (SCF) 2020 report, neutral hosts are expected to account for 30% of new deployments of small cell infrastructure in 2026 and 20% of the installed base. This is a significant increase from current levels. 

The surge in operational costs associated with 5G infrastructure is a significant contributor to this industry shift. According to an estimate by McKinsey, if MNOs in Europe chose to build and operate by themselves all the small cell infrastructure to support the demand for 5G, their investments in new mobile infrastructure would have to increase by up to 60%, with a significant surge in operating expenses, and doubling total costs in the period from 2020 to 2025.  

Customer experience wins 

For example, 5G is enabling deployment of billions of IoT devices, which are penetrating multiple industries including transit, logistics, agriculture, and manufacturing industries. This technology is being integrated with automation, machine learning, and data analytics technology and thus presents a more significant value-add and better overall return on investment when it is used in isolation. 

So, considering such advances in Industry 4.0, it’s easy to see how MNOs today are increasingly compelled to compete on service levels and innovation, and needing to hand over responsibility for coverage to a trusted provider. Through our business, we see this in rail transit, for example, which is one of the main verticals in which our company operates. MNOs in these environments are not competing to be the only ones providing cellular coverage on transit services, they've begun competing on another level. 

Using shared infrastructure, they can do this and how it is done depends on the network strategy for each MNO. For some, it is about being the fastest, they put more spectrum through the infrastructure and therefore increase their speed. For others it's about reliability, and they differentiate themselves with their service management capability. Their specific objectives are determined a great deal by how their customer portfolios are structured.

MNOs’ enterprise customers are increasingly investing more in their telecommunications networks to provide a better experience for their own customers and are developing a broad range of smart applications supported by those networks. Great coverage across their communities, premises, and campuses is expected, and it’s the variance in technology application support through superior connectivity that becomes the differentiator and customer value proposition for MNOs courting enterprise. 

Large-scale enterprise customers such as transport, factories, ports, airports, and large utilities operators, for example, have essential requirements, including but not limited to precision tracking, insights into customer behaviour, and wide-ranging safety and security considerations. Providing the necessary network service support is a critical element of competitiveness for MNOs seeking to differentiate themselves, especially with large-scale enterprise. 

Factors contributing to the shift 

This shift in competition among MNOs and the move towards outsourcing infrastructure operations to neutral host service providers presents a key benefit in enabling MNOs to increase focus on delivering a superior connectivity experience for their customers. 

MNOs also reduce operational and financial pressure by partnering with infrastructure companies that specialise in designing, installing, operating, and maintaining infrastructure to enable 5G on their behalf. These companies are therefore the best allies for MNOs to deliver the latest cellular technology to their customers.

Overall, this makes it significantly more efficient and cost effective to scale a 5G offering while also ensuring the infrastructure is future-ready for when the next generation technology is developed.  Furthermore, to deploy 5G at scale takes specific engineering expertise and skill to design, install, operate, and maintain the infrastructure. 

From an operational perspective, the neutral host solution saves MNOs being responsible for securing access to real estate needed for small cell devices, antennas, and fibre, dealing with local authorities, and applying for permits and approvals – in addition to not worrying about implementing, operating, and maintaining the network itself. 

A neutral host model to support MNOs 

There are some urban environments, such as subways for example, where there is no option but to have just one shared network for MNOs, often due to severe space restrictions and hazards that must be navigated with high-level safety considerations and technical expertise, eliminating any possibility of multiple sets of infrastructure. 

Above ground, dense urban environments are in many cases equally challenging to work in. Small cell deployment needs access to ample streetscape assets and fibre, which also favours a neutral host model for maximum viability.

Operationally, authorities generally prefer to deal with one infrastructure provider too, because managing infrastructure is already a very complex operation. This adds another layer of requisite expertise through the specific project management skills needed to establish, then set up and manage, multiple users on a single shared network. Unless you’ve done it before, it’s highly unlikely you can negotiate and pay for access to all the space you need in a single location, let alone multiple locations or multiple cities. 

Also, consider that: a) people in public locations are subscribed to different mobile carriers; and b) the street scape and the real estate in which to install communications infrastructure is limited. Given this, the case for MNOs to use neutral host infrastructure companies to handle coverage so they can redirect focus to improving and delivering their value propositions is even more evident.

Smart cities present a new world 

Through the advancements brought on by Industry 4.0, smart communities are developing and contributing to smart city evolution around the world. A smart community can be a high street in a city, where you’re pulling together a set of local businesses to have similar connectivity to deliver services in a way that helps the municipality as a whole provide improving citizen services, with the associated social and economic care. 

Neutral host infrastructure providers partnering with MNOs have a big role to play in supporting the public and private enterprises establishing smart communities within their organizations or across their campuses, thus contributing to smart city development in a meaningful and achievable way. 

An example of this in the transit industry is a crowd management application in the subway that helps operators adjust carriage supply in real time in response to a change in passenger demand and also sends alerts to taxis and ridesharing apps above ground signalling spikes in demand for these services before they occur in specific parts of the city – which uses, and connects, the relevant technologies that deliver a great experience for citizens, irrespective of which carrier they use.

Focusing on customer experience 

The possibilities of 5G present a world of opportunity we still haven’t yet exhausted. Its revolutionary capability ultimately lies in its ability to make systems operate more effectively, allocate resources more efficiently, and minimise waste more than any other technology. The difference this makes for MNOs transfers to government and large-scale enterprise, as well as small business and consumers, and ultimately enriches communities and advances economies. 

5G is thus a success lever for the MNOs working in partnership with neutral host infrastructure companies. In helping MNOs manage their communications infrastructure and networks, it is the role of neutral hosts to provide the necessary ubiquitous coverage on which MNO services depend in a manageable and economically sound way. 

Earlier this year, industry analysts Omdia predicted that the biggest challenge facing service providers in 2021 will be effectively monetising 5G. It’ll be a challenge, no doubt, but it’s a challenge that will be significantly eased by the roll out of 5G standalone (SA). Some commentators predict we’ll see 5G standalone towards the end of this year; some believe it will take a little longer.

Why is the introduction of 5G standalone pivotal to service monetisation? It’s purely because the currently available non-standalone variation lacks a 5G core network and is built on a 4G base – it therefore offers faster speeds, but lacks the true capabilities to offer what 5G promises – ultra-low latency connectivity and massive machine communications. Selling 5G purely on faster speeds will only contribute to the mobile data commoditisation we have seen since the launch of 3G. Mobile operators have invested significantly in 5G – they must raise their expectations if they are to realise a meaningful return.

Enterprise provides excitement

Real 5G monetisation excitement will come from standalone enterprise applications and services. In January, the CTO of Dutch service provider KPN discussed 5G use cases. This included a 5G coverage on-demand service – an opportunity for enterprises to order additional 5G coverage in poorly served areas. This could be in a factory, where 5G is important for connected devices. KPN provides coverage to a specific area and charges per square metre of additional coverage, where the cost per square metre is between 10 and 25 cents.

This could be just one of many new pricing rules that service providers will need to provide for as they get creative with 5G monetisation. What is certain is that service providers will need to be able to apply pricing rules that they had previously not even imagined – and they’ll have to apply them quickly and by themselves. If a service provider wants to rapidly launch a new service with a new pricing model, then the last thing they need is a lengthy and expensive approach to changing pricing rules. The good news is that, thanks to building 5G charging solutions on microservices, configuration over customisation is now the norm in monetisation systems. This brings new levels of agility and automation, so service providers can quickly react to new opportunities.

Pricing criteria complexity

With regards to different pricing criteria that we could see in 5G, data volume will still exist but mostly for fair usage and roaming. Some service providers have different prices for different speed tiers and different bundle prices dependent on the content and other services included. However, as we see more 5G standalone services and a wider variety of devices, we’ll also see new pricing rules and a massive list of different pricing variables. These could include quality of service, latency, location, customer lifetime value, number of devices connected, on-demand pricing, groups (e.g. different pricing rules for sports clubs, etc), recurring fees for different content or service purchases, pricing based on service level agreements with partners, special time sensitive offers (e.g. weekend sale), special pricing for different services based on holidays, time of day, third party application fees, customer loyalty, tiered pricing for different apps (e.g. game levels). These really are just a sample.

In other words, many, many new capabilities allowed for by 5G combined with some that were possible in 4G – but now much more manageable. Plus, there are countless enterprise applications and there will be many more that we haven’t even thought of yet.

A blend of business models

Just to add extra complexity into the mix, pricing variables and policies could change dependent on the business models being implemented. Some services may be zero-rated and paid for by the government (e.g., home schooling, education and healthcare), some may be delivered “free of charge” and the service provider or third party generates revenues from targeted advertising. As many 5G services will involve third parties we’re also going to see a lot more partnerships and revenue sharing models. These will contain many different variables, for example SLAs for customer network experience, SLAs for thresholds, and so on. Then there’s also in-app purchases and direct carrier billing and charging where the service providers charge their customers on behalf of others and take a percentage of the revenue.

We have also seen growing demand for the 5G network as a service (NaaS) business model, whereby the service provider sells on-demand 5G connectivity to partners. Think of a gaming company launching their own 5G gaming service with 5G connectivity built in. This could be charged by the gaming company as a monthly fee to customers, of which the service provider gets a share for delivering on-demand 5G connectivity. Could the service provider allow the gaming company to charge for this service using the service providers’ charging and billing systems and open a new revenue stream? This is another option that needs to be considered when looking at 5G monetisation models.

Monetisation of 5G services will get more complex. Service providers will not just be selling data anymore. The opportunity is to sell much, much more and embrace new business models – this will be the key to monetising 5G, and it will only get moving when we see 5G standalone start to be deployed. Then the floodgates of creativity will open, and we will see 5G networks move beyond providing connectivity to be the foundation on which many new business models are built, and new revenues streams created.

Zeetta Networks, a leading provider of open networking software automation tools, recently announced the first ever multi-network management software, which supports the UK government’s 5G diversification drive, as part of the 5G-Encode project. 

The new orchestration software targets private cellular networks, delivering unified control and management of both Mobile 5G, Mobile LTE and Wi-Fi networks, and all from a single pane of glass.

And this world-first technology has been deployed at 5G-Encode, a £9 million collaborative pioneering project that aims to make the benefits of 5G a reality for UK manufacturers. 

In this post, we speak to Vassilis Seferidis, CEO at Zeeta Networks, about the importance of 5G-Encode, the UK’s biggest trial of industrial 5G, and one of the UK Government’s biggest investments in 5G technology for manufacturing to date.

Q: Can you give us a little background to the 5G-Encode project?

5G-Encode is part of the Testbeds and Trails programme, within DCMS, and it is focussing mainly in two areas. One is to structurally test the new business models that are possible using 5G. And the second thing is trying out new technologies, and looking at how they can help the facilitation of new business models.  

 Q: What are the benefits for UK companies? 

In the National Composite Center, where we have companies such as Boeing and Airbus coming to develop, test and certify products, you can have competitors working side by side, and you are fundamentally working within the same factory. In effect, they need separate networks, which is what we’re developing with network slicing, and by doing this we are able to completely isolate data and connectivity, and you cannot interfere. Compare this to a Wi-Fi network. If everyone has that Wi-Fi password, they can actually access the network. But mobile technology is fundamentally more secure. 

And the other thing of course, is scalability. The wired solution is the ultimate choice, but the fact is that you cannot have wired solutions all the time, because it always come back to the stumbling block of scalability. 

Q:  How are you selling the benefits of 5G networks over WiFi? 

Let’s say you’re working on a project that requires 20 sensors; when that project increases to the point where it requires hundreds of sensors, then you will need to rely on wireless technology. And with 5G we can support thousands of sensors, without compromising. The new technologies we’re focussing on are network slicing - defying virtual, logical subnetworks on a common infrastructure -  and splicing. Splicing is all about taking these slices, and combining them together, the way you want, as bundles of services, or by joining them one after the other in a sequential way, across different domains. 

Q: How might service providers use this technology? 

The different domains that we are talking about here, because we are focusing on the private sector, is combing the domains of the private network with the public network. So you have basically Telefonica UK, for example, slicing their own network, and delivering a pipe of connectivity across their network. And then you have enterprises who can slice the network within their LAN environment, and you want those two slices to be joined together, so you can have the continuity of service from a private network to a public one.  

Q:  Can you talk a little more about splicing? 

This is a fundamental way of thinking about orchestrating services across networks. And you can have different administrators; you don’t have a single operator administering the private and the public network. You can have different responsibilities for the private network from the enterprise, and the public network from the operator. We’ve proposed this new approach, which splices the network slices, creating their own unique environment.  

Q:  Why is 5G diversification important? 

 We participate in a lot of standardisation activities and forums, where people are developing technologies, including for Chinese companies as well. And those are common problems which we’re addressing as global, international companies. So our solutions are not dedicated or tailored to particular market, they’re more generic in the way we try to address global problems. Basically, we need to have diversification in the supply chain because that stimulates innovation and stimulates progress. That’s the bottom line. 

 5G-Encode is partially funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of the UK Government, as part of its 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme, and is run by a consortium of nine partners: Zeetta Networks, National Composites Centre, Mativision, Plataine, Solvay, Toshiba, Telefonica, Siemens and the University of Bristol’s Smart Internet Lab.

The pandemic has fundamentally changed the fan experience, as professional sports teams have adapted their technology infrastructure to improve how fans engage with their teams digitally. As we look towards the MLB’s Opening Day and the NBA playoffs beginning in May, it’s important for both major leagues to take note and adapt their infrastructure to meet fans as they reopen and re-enter parks and arenas. 

Stadium infrastructure

In 2020, Miami hosted 60,000 fans in Hard Rock Stadium for what was touted as the first Super Bowl featuring 5G. As a result of the Super Bowl and surrounding events, Miami-Dade County, which had never previously seen any 5G rollouts, saw 125 permit requests for 5G facilities, with Verizon, the official sponsor of the NFL, bringing 5G capabilities to the city and stadium in anticipation of the game. For this year’s Super Bowl, telecom providers, including Verizon, began work on Tampa Bay’s infrastructure two years before the game, investing millions and expanding permanent 5G deployments into the city and Raymond James Stadium. Beyond onsite infrastructure, Verizon also focused on its NFL app experience, delivering fans an immersive and interactive in-stadium experience while at home via “5G SuperStadium.” 

We are starting to see the tremendous impact that 5G technology has, and will continue to have, on viewership in-stadium and at-home. Let’s take a closer look at how infrastructure has evolved to drive digital efficiencies and interactive experiences for fans. 

In-stadium fan experience 

Fans inside Raymond James Stadium using 5G-enabled devices noticed better and consistent connectivity as they texted friends and family photos and videos – a direct result of limited audience numbers and less LTE density. While streaming itself would not have been overly impactful on the in-stadium experience, given that folks were watching live versus on mobile applications, the significant upgrades made to stadium infrastructure drove stronger connectivity options. 

Such a self-directed fan experience is the next level of service of the future. Ultimately, fans in stands  interacting with and sending rich multimedia content, should be able to do so seamlessly and quickly. As such, facilities must consider how they strengthen bandwidth capabilities on-site to drive these options. 

Streaming of the future

For viewers at home, cord-cutting hit record highs in 2020, with live access sports streaming coming to the forefront.  

The number of fans viewing a sports game online has evolved over the last year. As the spring and summer sports come up, it’s likely that the majority of fans will still be tuning in virtually. As such, these organizations, in collaboration with network providers, must consider how they are reaching fans at home. This all comes down to edge computing via decentralized architecture. Taking note from Super Bowl streaming, where CBS All Access had issues and viewers needed to pay for the app to watch, it’s important for providers to meet individuals with stronger options.

Over-the-top (OTT) levels have recently seen a significant jump from previous broadcast levels. But, currently, payment, authentication, and access to rights via cable subscriptions have made it very hard to sign users up to streaming apps quickly. Fans are often left confused and frustrated when trying to quickly stream content. Not to mention, a centralized infrastructure doesn’t work when millions of individuals are trying to access the same platform at the same time. That’s why low latency and 5G infrastructure are so important. 5G and OTT services can drive strong connections for fans, no matter where they are located. Device-based applications driven by OTT subs, combined with more bandwidth and density driven by 5G can ultimately enable a strong experience.

Looking ahead

The pandemic has forever changed how fans interact with their favorite teams. We’ll not only begin to see more fans in stands, but more options available for fans to get the content they want at-home in real time. With so many stadiums and arenas being built with 5G infrastructure (like LA’s SoFi Stadium, where next year’s Super Bowl is being held), nationwide 5G rollouts continuing, and 6G already on the minds of many professionals, the future looks strong. 

In May 2020, the US changed an export control rule called the ‘Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule’ (FDPR). The amended rule made an explicit statement that no company, regardless of where it might operate, could be part of the Huawei supply chain, if US technology was used in the design tools or manufacture processes.

And the effects of this policy change were also felt in the UK, where Huawei had always been viewed as a security concern, when compared to those companies operating outside China.

“Huawei has always been considered higher risk by the UK government for the reasons set out in our high-risk vendor (HRV) advice, and as such a risk mitigation strategy has been in place since Huawei first began to supply UK operators,” explained a 2020 NCSC analysis report. “Since 2010, a set of arrangements have existed between Huawei and Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) to mitigate any perceived risks arising from the involvement of  Huawei in parts of the UK’s critical national infrastructure.”

With Huawei already seen as a “higher risk”, the decision was taken in July that a blanket ban would be put in place, with all Huawei kit being removed from the UK’s core network by 2027, bringing the UK in line with US policy. But it was a decision that came with a cost.

“Although the government isn’t stripping Huawei’s equipment straight away, the phased approach will have a marked effect on the telecoms industry, potentially costing billions because a lot of the major UK operators such as BT and Vodafone are already using its equipment,” explained Michael Downs, Director of Telecom Security at Positive Technologies.

The UK government, well aware of the negative effects that a ban on “high-risk vendors” would have, announced its 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy on November 30th, 2020, with the aim of supporting incumbent suppliers; attracting new suppliers into the UK market; and accelerating the development and deployment of open-interface solutions.

“That decision is the right one, but it also risks leaving us overly reliant on too few suppliers,” Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for DCMS, explained at the Strategy’s launch. “That is a dilemma faced by countries across the globe - and it is one the government is confronting head-on through the publication of this Strategy.”

To achieve this, the strategy was backed by an initial fund of £250 million, and in this post we interview Tony Sceales, Head of 5G Programme Development at DCMS, to review how the investment is being deployed, look at what Huawei's removal from the UK’s 5G network means for enterprise, and discuss why the nation is moving towards OpenRAN technology.

Q: Can you explain why this diversification strategy was required for the UK’s 5G infrastructure?

Tony Sceales: There’s been a task force that’s been led by Ian Livingston, former CEO of BT, and various industry players, who’ve been involved in helping the government think through what is needed in terms of diversification. That’s also resulted in the publication of the 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy, which is all about defining how the UK needs to achieve a more diverse telecoms supply chain, that’s based on open principles for integration, and from a more diverse number of suppliers. It’s simply not healthy for any major industry, especially one that’s part of our critical infrastructure, to be reliant on only a couple of suppliers. 

Q: How is the strategy coming along so far?

TS: A lot of work has been done since the publication of the strategy, and we already have a couple of projects that have kicked off. One is called NeutrORAN, working with NEC, and there’s another one called SONIC, which is a joint venture between Digital Catapult and Ofcom. Again, this is looking at how to deliver the benefits of OpenRAN to the UK market. And how to experiment and prove that this is an appropriate and useful technology in this space. Of course OpenRAN isn’t the only part of the story; we are interested in all aspects of how we need to deliver richer and more interoperable telecoms infrastructures.

Q: How have you sold Open RAN to MNOs that have had a major supplier removed from their supply chain?

TS: DCMS works very closely with the industry across the board, not just with the mobile operators. And we always work as collaboratively as we possibly can with the industry. I think all the main players have doubled down on their efforts to work with the government, and I think you’ll find that all the operators are embracing Open RAN as a principle now, and are working on their own innovation programmes, both with, and in addition to what the government is doing. They see these initiatives as ultimately positive for them. It doesn’t help major operators to be dependent on only a couple of major suppliers.

Q: Some MNOs have been critical of spectrum auctions. Will there be a review of spectrum allocation for 5G?

TS: It’s a complex area, and Ofcom runs the auctions under a policy framework set out by DCMS; but of course Ofcom is an independent body, and sets its own rules about how the spectrum auctions progress. So it wouldn’t be right for me to comment about how they should or shouldn’t have gone about that. But I think that the response to the auction speaks for itself. People spent money on the spectrum, so they obviously value it. Money raised goes to the Exchequer, and we’re in a period of recovery from Covid. And we need to fund lots of activity across lots of different sectors, so money going into the UK Treasury’s coffers is a good thing. And it helps us to afford to do programmes like the diversification scheme, and invest in our digital infrastructure going forward.

Q: How is the UK government selling 5G as a solution for implementing Industry 4.0?

TS: It’s obviously much more flexible to use wireless technologies. But you also have to look at things like security, resilience, and the reliability aspects of the different tech. And there is a significant advantage of using a 3GPP standard of technology, which is built to address these issues. The other thing is to look at the wider enterprise need. So if you think about the mobile private network requirement, 5G doesn’t just wrap up the factory or a specific site, but actually stretches across the enterprise, providing the ability to deploy an enterprise-wide mobile private network, that covers all of the logistics between sites, whilst also catering to mobile workers as well. It’s a much bigger deal than a Wi-Fi network that applies to one individual center. 

Q: How will individual enterprises go about securing 5G spectrum for private 5G networks?

TS: Clearly things are changing quite dramatically in the spectrum world. Philip Marnick at Ofcom said that 5G was the first generation in which you didn’t have to be a mobile network operator in order to operate a mobile network. And that’s due to the innovation in shared and local spectrum licensing, which allows for the ownership of spectrum slices in particular ranges. And the 3.8-4.2 GHz band in particular is the range that’s been considered for this areas. You apply for a licence in the same way as you might for any other piece of spectrum from Ofcom; however, there isn’t an auction for it, but each case is considered on its merit. So the enterprise can apply for its own spectrum, or it can work with a mobile operator and access a slice of theirs. 

We see this being a significant part of the mobile scene in the future, as more hybrid networks are set up bringing together different pieces of technology in different ways, to achieve their overall business model.

Q: What steps are being taken to ensure that diversification remains secure?

TS: The first way is that OpenRAN, being a standard, defines how different components should be brought together in a secure-by-design manner. So that’s built into the OpenRAN standard at the beginning. Then of course, it comes down to the different component vendors coming together to come up with a solution that works together in an integrated way, to meet these security standards. 

We’re also building, as part of the diversification programme, something called the UK Telecoms Lab, which will be explicitly run, with - and on behalf of - the National Cyber Security Centre, to ensure that security is there. Clearly, the minute you introduce new vendors and new types of tech, there’s a natural consequence that you increase the attack surface of the network, and potentially introduce new attack vectors. But the whole point of the overall strategy is to ensure that all comes together, and that adoption is driven by trust. And that trust must be there from operators before they will even consider putting any new kind of solution in place.

Q: How have you addressed concerns about the impact of 5G equipment being installed in local communities?

TS: We’ve got work to do in helping the industry innovate in creating minimal impact on the physical environment, for small cell deployments in particular. And we have a project running now that’s looking exactly at that area. As part of the government’s ‘Shared Outcomes Fund’ we’re working with the industry to make sure that the design of radios, which are going to go into those specific settings, don’t clutter the environment, and that they are sympathetic with the environmental goals that other government departments work very hard to create.

Q: To those people concerned about the impact of removing Huawei from the supply chain, what do you have to say?

TS: The diversification strategy really does work, both to support the existing supply chain, but also in supporting innovation to grow the supply chain. And now we even see all of the cloud companies - Microsoft, Google, Amazon - investing heavily in cloud networking technology. And network function virtualisation is the trend that’s moving us all down that particular path. 

In public networks you can see that there will be a requirement to retain many of those big network, SLA-type activities, where you perhaps require a larger operator. Whereas I think in the realm of the enterprise, where we’re looking at private 5G networks of varying scales, you can see solutions being packaged in such a way that the IT department can manage the mobile services within that product, in the same way that they used to manage a Wi-Fi network. There are a number of software products coming to the market now that do that, and that’s a trend that I think is really interesting. 

We would like to thank Tony Sceales for taking the time to speak exclusively to 5Gradar about the UK government’s 5G strategy. 

According to the GSMA, 5G deployment will be 'reignited' in 2021, despite the pandemic slowing down new 5G launches last year. We are already witnessing mobile network operators (MNOs) across the globe fast-tracking their 5G deployment and purchasing licenses. Spectrum is considered the lifeblood of the wireless industry and with MNOs ploughing huge amounts of money into the licenses to boost their 5G network coverage, it's also time they put security where their money is. 

This month, Ofcom closed its auction, where EE, O2 and Vodafone all gained a share to boost their 5G networks’ coverage and speed. Despite the auction falling short of analysts’ predictions (raising just £1.36bn for the Treasury compared to the USA's record 5G spectrum auction in February which yielded $81bn) the reality is that 5G networks are going to be the most expensive networks to date, so it’s key that security is in mind from the start. 

The value of listed telecoms companies dropped almost 20 per cent on average last year, which means with strained balance sheets, it's no surprise they are showing financial discipline. With this in mind, it's important they protect their spectrum investments so far by ensuring their networks are secure.

Telecoms critical to national infrastructure

Telecom networks are a crucial part of society, not just because billions of users are connected remotely due to working from home, but because other industries and services rely on the infrastructure - such as emergency services and factories. Being an essential component of national infrastructure means the risks and dangers to networks being compromised are greater than simply a loss of internet connection for subscribers, it’s a case of national security.

Governments across the globe are responding by introducing tighter restrictions and new laws for mobile network operators (MNOs) to comply with in order to secure their networks and mitigate risks to subscribers. Last year, the UK government introduced the Telecoms Security Bill which imposes harsher fines for operators who fail to protect their networks and subscribers. The European Union also released the EU Toolkit, which was supported by a document from ENISA, the European Union’s cyber security advisers. 

When a breach occurs, 75% of customers lose trust and therefore their customer’s loyalty to their brand. With the competitive landscape becoming fiercer and MNOs not only competing with one another, but utility providers, banks, manufacturers and others who are accelerating their own deployments of private 5G, subscriber attacks can be both financially and reputationally damaging. The stakes are high between staying ahead of competition and avoiding regulatory fines, which means that the security of networks should not be an afterthought. 

Security flaws in networks

The security flaws and vulnerabilities in networks need to be plugged, in order to ensure MNOs are optimizing their ROI. Each generation of mobile networks must interoperate with previous ones and because of this, newer generations inherit the weaknesses of their predecessors. The first generation of 5G networks (5G Non-Standalone) is based on the LTE network core, which means that 5G is vulnerable to the same flaws as 4G such as tracking user location, obtaining sensitive information and intercepting calls & SMS.

As MNOs migrate to standalone 5G networks, they must consider not only the old but the new, 5G has security considerations of its own. Recent research shows that the next generation of 5G networks will be susceptible to threats through the sheer complexity of new configuration burdens, not to mention constant changes that mean more vulnerabilities will appear. The vulnerabilities in protocols HTTP/2 and PFCP, which will be used by standalone 5G networks, could include the theft of subscriber profile data, impersonation attacks and faking subscriber authentication.

How can MNOs ensure their networks are secure?

With society becoming more reliant on mobile networks than ever before, securing them must be a priority during the design stage. This is even more true now, as operators shed themselves of previous generation networks and migrate towards standalone 5G networks. 

The 5G security market size is projected to grow from $580 million in 2020 to $5.226 billion by 2026, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44.3% during the forecast period, according to MarketsandMarkets. Securing networks goes beyond protecting the monetary value of investment. Another key driver stems from the concerns around national security given 5G networks will form a key component of critical national infrastructure.

If we look at the recent UK Telecoms Bill, the security obligations include rules on who has access to sensitive parts of the "core" network, how security audits were conducted, and protecting customer data. This forces operators to improve their security protection for the whole network rather than just 5G. In order to achieve full visibility over traffic and messaging, operators need to perform regular security audits to detect errors in the configuration of network core components to protect themselves and their subscribers.

End-to-end security will be crucial for MNOs as they face the challenges emerging in a multi-domain ecosystem such as 5G. This will include testing all telecom infrastructure domains from in depth audits of signalling protocols and compliance checks with GSMA guidelines and regulations to network perimeter audit and security analysis against HTTP, API, and JSON breaches in web applications.

Both commercial business objectives and increasing accountability from regulators make it clear: mobile service providers must build 5G security infrastructure from the ground up.

5G security is going to become increasingly important, with 5G services set to cover most of the UK and US over the next few years. 

As major network operators launch new services around the world, much of the debate surrounding the network has been around the 5G security risks it represents.

The security of telecom networks is at the top of the agenda for both the UK and US governments. 

And as 5G opens up more opportunities in areas such as healthcare, manufacturing and transport, the reality is that it is becoming an increasingly attractive target for cyber criminals, as it increases the available threat surface along with the consequences of any damage inflicted. 

Let's first examine the burning 5G security issue of the moment - Huawei. 

Is there a concern about 5G security?

Clearly governments are concerned about 5G security and the impact on data sharing down the line, dictated by the choices they're making now.

In October 2019, the AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report in the US suggested that businesses aren’t yet ready for 5G. While nearly all of the 704 respondents expected to make 5G-related security changes within the next five years, only 16 percent had started preparing.

Participants were also concerned about the greater potential for attacks as well as the increased number of devices accessing the network.

These reports highlight why it is important to not be under the illusion that, although operators have begun going live with the next-generation network, we are not achieving the full breadth of what 5G has to offer. We still have a long way to go. Achieving its full potential is not a simple case of out with the old and in with the new.  

 A need to work backwards 

The reality is that many networks contain 5G security flaws from day one, due to their reliance on the existing 4G network core. 

According to 3GPP Release 15 for 5G, published in summer 2018, the first wave of 5G networks and devices is classified as Non-Standalone (NSA). This means that devices will connect to 5G frequencies for data transmission in cases where greater bandwidth and lower latency are required, such as for communication between smart cars, or to reduce power draw on IoT-enabled devices. For voice calls and SMS messaging, however, they will still rely on 4G and, in some cases, even 2G/3G networks.

However, a recent security audit found that every 4G network contains vulnerabilities which hackers could exploit to perform a range of illegal actions, such as locating users, intercepting SMS messages, and instigating denial of service (DoS) attacks. Bearing this in mind, security threats associated with 3G and 4G will continue to remain long after 5G reaches the public and will heavily influence deployments for at least the next three to five years. 

The majority of operators have gone down the road of creating a 5G network based on an existing LTE network core. But using LTE networks as the building blocks for the creation of 5G networks will mean they will not be immune from the same vulnerabilities. Indeed, it means that 100 percent of 5G NSA networks will be vulnerable to DoS, too. In 2018, our researchers found vulnerabilities on 74 percent of the networks they tested.  Not only this, every tested 4G network was seen to allow third parties to obtain data about the operator's network configuration. 

In order to provide adequate protection for the 5G networks of the future, operators need to work backwards and secure previous-generation networks. Unfortunately, however, security measures can often take a backseat in the quest to deploy 5G. 

 5G security as an afterthought  

Every operator is competing to be innovative and to upgrade their networks as quickly as possible - but can be far from adequately ensuring the security of those networks. Often during testing and even during implementation stages, operators are building their networks with little or no thought to generation interworking security.

Security policies are typically an afterthought, which are applied once the network goes live to end-users. While this might be helpful in expediting the deployment of these networks and saving some money, it is a very short-sighted approach. Further down the line, issues will inevitably arise, and operators will be forced to retrofit security that will put a strain on their original budget.

Trying to fix mistakes quickly often results in new solutions being poorly integrated to existing network architecture. Indeed, our experts found that one out of every three successful attacks on 4G networks was related to the incorrect configuration of equipment.  This makes it somewhat impossible for the network to tick all the boxes on security requirements.  

5G security: a new threat landscape 

5G security challenges can also stem from the need for 5G networks to support a massive number of connected devices. Gartner predicts a huge growth in adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT). With 25 billion IoT devices expected to be connected by 2021, its implementation is set to unleash a highly complex threat landscape, significantly different from previous networks.

As it becomes more widespread, the IoT phenomenon continues to expose more vulnerabilities and security challenges. Device protection is poor - many manufacturers build in only the most basic security provisions from the outset - and malware distribution is easily scalable. Our researchers found that the number of malware campaigns targeting IoT devices grew by an incredible 50 per cent over the last year, during which time we identified more than 1,100,000 vulnerable devices.

The massive DDoS attack carried out by the Mirai botnet which, in 2016, left much of the internet inaccessible on the US east coast, serves as an example of the large-scale damage that can result from exploiting such devices. To avoid a repeat of such an attack, in which regular users can be left without communication, 5G network operators will have to develop new threat mitigation models more attuned to diverse types of devices. 

Every 5G network is at risk of DoS attacks due to Diameter protocol vulnerability

Security threats are a real concern for telecoms operators, of 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks. Among these, the Diameter Signalling protocol, which is used to authenticate and authorise messages and information distribution in 4G networks, is vulnerable in a number of ways which operators must understand, in order to protect themselves effectively from attack.  These legacy vulnerabilities in the protocol means 5G networks built using previous generation networks inherit the same threats - such as tracking user location, obtaining sensitive information and in some cases downgrading users to insecure 3G networks. 

Positive Technologies was able to replicate the actions of hackers, we were able to infiltrate 100% of mobile networks. Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, in particular, could be conducted on all mobile networks through Diameter. This affects both 4G and 5G users, because the first generation of 5G networks (5G Non-Standalone) is based on the LTE network core, which means that 5G is susceptible to the same flaws. (Read more here.)

5G networks need comprehensive security

Monique Becenti, channel and product specialist at cybersecurity provider SiteLock says that businesses need to have 5G security "on their radar right now. 

"If you're using a mobile device for banking transactions, you're leaving that susceptible to an attacker intercepting that data,'' said Becenti. "With 5G, our main concern is with IoT innovations."

5G is potentially so susceptible for cyberattacks because of its possibilities and flexibility. Everything is managed by software and so that in itself has a security risk. Even core networks are virtualised in software. The sheer number of devices is another factor - billions of devices will be connected to 5G networks.

Finally, 5G networks are no longer centralised so the same checks can't be carried out as with earlier generation networks. 

Huawei boss says we need more transparency

Huawei is at the heart of many 5G security concerns, but when chief security officer Andy Purdy recently sat down with the Information Security Media Group to discuss the issues surrounding 5G, he called for more transparency.

Purdy, previously worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and helped launch the National Cyber Security Division and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team so is perfectly placed to try and enhance Huawei's reputation in the US. 

Purdy says it’s important to make sure that companies “tell the truth about what 5G is, and what 5G isn’t” in the light of some US networks bending the truth about the definition of what constitutes 5G. 

On Huawei's current predicament with the US, Purdy says that Huawei “can no longer talk the talk of cybersecurity, we have to walk the walk”.

“It shouldn’t be about us having a transparency initiative,” he further explained. “It should be about the US telecoms, the US government and the major stakeholders calling on Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson, telling us to come forward and say what we are doing, and what we are trying to do.”

Could old vulnerabilities cause 5G security issues? 

One of the main concerns amongst 5G security experts is that new networks are still at risk from older security issues. That's according to telco security firm Positive Technologies, which has released a report on the topic. The findings - contained within a document titled '5G signalling networks: blast from the past' - suggest that vulnerabilities in oft-used telecom protocols will be around for a while yet. 

The issue isn't necessarily to do with 5G networks per se, but the fact that newer networks will work alongside legacy infrastructure. And, yes, that means security risks. 

”Because of this reliance on legacy infrastructure, hackers can perform cross-protocol attacks by exploiting vulnerabilities in multiple protocols as part of a single attack," says Positive Technologies CEO Dimitry Kurbatov. 

"For example, an attack on a 5G network can begin with exploitation of vulnerabilities in 3G to obtain subscriber identifiers. That is why protecting previous generations of networks is essential for 5G security.” 

Kurbatov goes on to mention how the biggest threat to the IoT (Internet of Things) is denial of service attacks. While the main issues for IoT equipment are currently in the smart home, this will move further into industry and businesses as the uses of IoT devices evolve alongside 5G. 

5G security questioned as vulnerabilities are exposed

As if concerns about the use of Huawei technology weren't enough of a headache for mobile network operators, more 5G security issues have been uncovered after researchers at Purdue University and the University of Iowa found 11 vulnerabilities in 5G networks.  The “hackable” areas of the networks uncovered by the research were seen as incredibly easy to exploit, requiring only a working knowledge of 4G and 5G networks. 

The vulnerable areas enable an attacker to monitor a user’s uplink and downlink data transmissions, track location, disconnect a user from the network altogether and run down a user’s device battery. 

It's concerning as 5G networks are  being rolled out without these security concerns being rectified. Managing director at Bulletproof, Oliver Pinson-Roxburgh, described these vulnerabilities as a “scary threat” that cannot be ignored.

EU risk assessment report for 5G security

On October 9th 2019 the European Agency for Cybersecurity published a report on the EU coordinated risk assessment on cybersecurity in 5G networks. And it is the first major step in the path towards the implementation of the European Commission Recommendation, adopted in March 2019 to ensure a high level of cybersecurity of 5G networks across the EU. The report outlines the following security issues inherent in the rollout of 5G:

1. An increased exposure to attacks and more potential entry points for attackers. With 5G networks increasingly based on software, risks related to major security flaws, such as those deriving from poor software development processes within suppliers are gaining in importance. They could also make it easier for threat actors to maliciously insert backdoors into products and make them harder to detect.
   
   
2. Due to new characteristics of the 5G network architecture and new functionalities, certain pieces of network equipment or functions are becoming more sensitive, such as base stations or key technical management functions of the networks.
   
   
3. An increased exposure to risks related to the reliance of mobile network operators on suppliers. This will also lead to a higher number of attacks paths that might be exploited by threat actors and increase the potential severity of the impact of such attacks. Among the various potential actors, non-EU States or State-backed are considered as the most serious ones and the most likely to target 5G networks.
   
   
4. In this context of increased exposure to attacks facilitated by suppliers, the risk profile of individual suppliers will become particularly important, including the likelihood of the supplier being subject to interference from a non-EU country.
   
   
5. Increased risks from major dependencies on suppliers: a major dependency on a single supplier increases the exposure to a potential supply interruption, resulting for instance from a commercial failure, and its consequences. It also aggravates the potential impact of weaknesses or vulnerabilities, and of their possible exploitation by threat actors, in particular where the dependency concerns a supplier presenting a high degree of risk.
   
   
6. Threats to availability and integrity of networks will become major security concerns: in addition to confidentiality and privacy threats, with 5G networks expected to become the backbone of many critical IT applications, the integrity and availability of those networks will become major national security concerns and a major security challenge from an EU perspective.
   
   

Could SS7 be the Achilles' heel for 5G security?

An area of growing concern for 5G security is SS7. And Dmitry Kurbatov, CTO of Positive Technologies, examined the risk of using previous generation networks infrastructure for 5G in an exclusive piece for 5Gradar.

The SS7 (Signaling System No. 7) protocols governing the exchange of signalling messages. Although it is decades old, it is still actively used in 2G and 3G networks today. The flaws within the protocol are nothing new but the problems have continued to fester and get worse in recent years. Not only this, but even LTE-only networks using the Diameter protocol instead of SS7 interconnect with previous-generation networks. This means that even 4G networks which use diameter are vulnerable to some attacks via SS7 networks. 

Operators have become so focused by 5G, Kurbatov says, that they are taking less action on the 2G & 3G network - a blindspot they cannot afford to have, given the potential threats it presents to both the network & its subscribers. The gaps in the network mean hackers can track a customer's every move, listen in on calls and even strip them of service.

Key takeaways for businesses and IT pros

Didier Wylomanski is Business Development Director for EMEA, and 5G expert at Thales, and he believes that there are inherent opportunities and risks within the adoption of 5G, and that the companies that benefit most will be those that consider every layer of 5G services.

"The most important thing for businesses and IT professionals to know is that parts of our current understanding of data security needs to adapt to meet the demands of 5G technology," Wylomanski told 5Gradar. "5G will expand the attack surface area, with data being located anywhere between a few metres from its origin, or miles away in the cloud."

According to Wylomanski, advanced security controls, such as encryption applied to data at rest or in transit, will also need to be applied to the 5G selected service deployment, at every point in the network.

"Encrypting data is an important first step, but not the only one. It is the equivalent of locking the front door and putting the keys under the mat," said Wylomanski. "Businesses must ensure they keep control and fully secure the entire life cycle of their encryption keys, establishing a truly mastered security strategy over their 5G services.

"Companies must not forget to act on the protection at their application layer in the case of IoT services, implementing end-to-end protection from the device to the application," Wylomanski concluded.

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Plenty of fanfare (let’s be honest and say “hype”) has permeated the arrival of 5G standalone (SA) networks. This makes sense. After all, 5G SA promises significant advances, like enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency (URLCC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC).

Few people can predict where the benefits will accrue, but there’s a real buzz around private networks for enterprise customers, and much of it is coming from mobile network operators (MNOs).

What is a private 5G network?

A private network is a network built for the exclusive use of a single enterprise customer. Such networks can be based on various technologies. And private networks make sense when enterprises believe a public network cannot deliver the service levels required to meet their business needs.

Those needs may include:

• optimized radio coverage (e.g., indoor, in hostile environments like manufacturing areas with high levels of interference);
• network performance (e.g., extremely low latency for AR/VR use cases, or uplink/downlink capacity and speed for data centers);
• and security (e.g., closed user groups, data privacy protection).

 Why build a 5G SA network? 

5G SA networks are more feasible than others to build since they are virtual, cloud-based, and orchestrated. But how they are built depends on the type of network companies and organisations are looking for. According to the 5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation (5G-ACIA), there are three primary models for private networks – 100% private, dedicated core, and network slicing – which you can see in the table below. 

Although “Static slice” network slicing can be delivered using 4G/LTE or 5G NSA, this isn’t good enough for today’s requirements. Network slicing can only reach its potential when the slices evolve from static to dynamic in nature. This can only happen when the following are available:  

• 5G SA core
• E2E virtualization
• URLLC-enabled architecture

This won’t happen overnight. Complete standardization of dynamic network slices is planned for 3GPP releases 16 and 17. Mobile operators then believe it may take an additional two years to fully implement. 

The market opportunity 

The private network market is set to experience significant growth, not only because of the availability of 5G technology, but also because of the impact of COVID-19.

A recent Mission Critical Magazine article (November 12, 2020) states, “In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wi-Fi hotspots are overloaded, so demand has increased significantly for higher capacity and increased data speeds. Therefore, incorporating private 5G networks has increased among organizations, regulators, manufacturers, and others.”

(Below: A November 2020 study by Polaris Market Research concurs. It states that the global market for private networks is expected to reach $8.32B (USD) by 2027—a CAGR of 38.6%.)

MNOs are taking notice 

MNOs will want a share of this promising market, especially as it would be a net revenue increase on top of their legacy mobile services. (According to recent GSMA research, 82% of mobile operators view the enterprise market as key to their 5G strategy, with 70% planning to deploy standalone 5G within three years, largely targeting the enterprise segment.)

And while large enterprises may deploy and operate private mobile networks on their own, few count keeping up with quickly evolving technology like 5G SA as part of their core businesses. MNOs, on the other hand, do nothing else. They bring significant credibility and experience to bear. They’re better equipped to support and deliver mission-critical applications over 5G SA. Consider their expertise and resources:

• MNOs already design, deploy and operate complex mobile networks.
• MNOs can provide backup network support using their public, cloud-based 5G SA infrastructure to maintain critical services at high performance levels.
• MNOs can deliver, if necessary, continuity of service outside the enterprise or campus area through the public 5G SA network.
• MNOs can deploy shared edge cloud facilities to serve multiple enterprises located in the same industrial area or business center, which would significantly reduce the cost of private network infrastructure.
• MNOs have OSS/BSS solutions that they already use to manage private networks.
• The OSS/BSS solutions noted above enable automated updates to private network infrastructure (with no impact on the customer’s service performance) since the solutions include emerging continuous integration, continuous development (CICD) processes. 

MNOs may run into competition from network equipment manufacturers (NEMS) or system integrators. Successful MNOs will differentiate themselves using high-value services the competitors can’t, offering stringent SLA contracts, whilst assuring their service with 24×7 monitoring and maintenance, whilst meeting mean-time-to-repair (MTTR) contractual obligations to support enterprise business continuity. 

The next step towards 5G SA: assuring private networks 

Service assurance must play a significant role in private networks. After all, enterprises use these networks to secure critical functionality, like latency, throughput or security. This means the service provider must have complete visibility into how services perform in the private network. If that visibility is lacking, significant SLA penalties may lie in wait.

Ideally, in private networks, service assurance becomes part of the service definition for every service in the network. Fortunately, the very nature of a 5G SA network, with its cloud-based micro-services, orchestration and scalability, lends itself to cost-effective service assurance solutions. When done right, using machine learning-based anomaly detection on live streaming assurance metrics and AI-based anomaly correlation and analysis, service assurance can be automated to deliver near real-time root cause determination.

Root causes can then be fed back to the service and domain orchestrators for corrective action—possibly even before the customer notices any issues.

Keeping data storage reasonable 

Storing, moving and analyzing “big data” can quickly become expensive and erode the cost-savings argument for a cloud-based solution. Fortunately, you don’t need to store massive amounts of performance data. Instead, service assurance solutions can analyze the live stream or performance data and extract only what’s interesting (typically less than 10% of the total). In other words, you only extract anomalies, and you end up with “small data” from big data. And this keeps cloud costs under control.

But that’s not the only way an orchestrated service assurance solution minimizes cloud and testing costs. The service provider can quickly scale up probing and analytics to investigate a detected anomaly. Then, once it’s resolved, the provider can scale back the assurance solution.

5G SA network service assurance 

Service assurance for 5G SA networks, including private networks, will differ significantly from traditional assurance. 5G SA supports more services, and besides being virtual and highly dynamic, these networks will support a much more diverse set of services based on eMBB, URLLC, and mMTC.

Many of the services that run on 5G SA will demand better availability than the “3-9s” availability (8.77 hours of downtime/year) typically expected in traditional mobile networks. Services like remote healthcare or drone control will require at least “5-9s” availability (5.26 minutes of downtime/year), with other applications demanding “6-9s” (31.56 seconds of downtime/year).

5G SA networks must be highly dynamic, scalable and cost-effective, and a service assurance solution with the same qualities will keep them 100% reliable, and capable of living up to even the most demanding SLAs.

As 5G becomes more ubiquitous across the globe, the security community is given more of a chance to review and understand the potential security concerns associated with implementing the standard. These security concerns fall into two categories: inherited flaws and out-of-specification issues.

Inherited flaws

Bloomberg reports that it will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to upgrade from 4G/LTE to 5G. This is a massive cost for any company or nation to bear, requiring many companies to slowly phase in the next generation of cellular technology over the next decade. Because these partial 5G networks rely heavily on pre-existing 4G/LTE technology, they will also absorb their vulnerabilities. 

Because of how fast technology moves forward, it can be difficult even for tech enthusiasts to keep up to date, let alone non-technical people. To ensure that everyone has sufficient time to upgrade, new standards are typically made to support older ones as well. However, in allowing support for older generations, downgrade attacks can potentially be performed. 

Downgrade attacks trick users into leveraging the insecure and out-of-date versions of a protocol. These types of attacks can be found everywhere. For instance, the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol that a browser leverages to securely surf the internet. Even the latest TLS version published in 2018 has been found to be vulnerable to downgrade attacks. But, there’s an easy fix. A web browser can be configured to limit access to websites that leverage the latest, most secure protocols, disabling anything deemed insecure. With those protocols disabled, if someone attempts a downgrade attack against, the browser will simply refuse.

Cellular devices don’t have the same flexibility that web browsers do. When a mobile device connects to a cellular network, the user has no control over the process. There’s no setting in an iPhone or a Pixel that can be configured to prevent a phone from connecting to out of date and insecure cellular networks (like 2G). The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are actively lobbying tech giants, namely Apple, Samsung, and Google, to allow users the ability to disable insecure cellular standards within their devices. Until these changes are implemented, adversaries have the potential to side-step all the security controls implemented by 5G by performing downgrade attacks.

The current 5G standards define very explicit details, but there’s a number of areas of 5G that are deemed out-of-scope. It’s these areas that companies and network operators have to figure out on their own and therefore where there is the highest probability of being wrong. This includes security problems with the cloud, web application vulnerabilities, and privacy concerns.

Cloud computing vulnerabilities

To enable the flexibility of virtualization and network slicing, many companies will push their 5G environments into the cloud. Empowering 5G with cloud will result in many benefits. However, these benefits come at a cost. Cloud misconfigurations are frequently cited in the news, such as storage services open for anyone to browse, or management interfaces exposed with default credentials. Telecom companies will need to ensure their cloud environments are completely secure before going live.

Another consideration is attacks from inside the 5G network. Unlike previous generations of cellular standards, 5G will be required to execute potentially untrusted third-party code within its environment. With multi-access edge computing, companies will be able to run applications in edge locations all around the world. 

Web application issues 

With 4G/LTE, rather than having separate protocols for voice, text messages, and data, all communications are treated as Internet Protocol (IP) packets. On top of IP, custom telecommunications protocols were built. 5G eliminates these custom protocols and instead leverages HTTP for internal network communication.

The adoption of such a well-known standard will enable flexibility in the future for upgrading or changing components. However, it will also lower the bar considerably from a security perspective, allowing adversaries to attack core infrastructure. Web related vulnerabilities are thoroughly documented by organizations such as OWASP and can allow anyone to understand and attack the next generation of wireless technology. 

Complications managing user privacy

In recent years, end-user privacy has become a focus around the world. Researchers are examining the controls within 5G, looking to identify improvements to the standard before the design is finalized. In the whitepaper “5G Privacy Scenarios and Solutions”, researchers identified that one of the main privacy concerns relates to responsibility ambiguity.

Mobile network operators will need to work with cloud providers and third-party developers to define who has what responsibilities in terms of user privacy, and how each player will be held responsible. One might suspect that current privacy regulations help provide assurance here. But 5G networks do not stop at a country’s border since radio waves have no comprehension of political jurisdictions. So, it is entirely possible for overlapping laws to conflict. The situation becomes even more convoluted when an incident occurs, because it’s not possible to predict which law(s) will take precedence when a victim, an attacker, and the service provider are from different locations.

And all of this is assuming that a nation state has implemented 5G with industry best practices. To ensure confidentiality and integrity of over-the-air communication, 5G leverages the New Radio Encryption Algorithm (NEA) and New Radio Integrity Algorithm (NIA) respectively. Both algorithms support the highly secure Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). 

As 5G becomes ubiquitous, lawmakers around the world will need to devise adequate policies to ensure there are no gaps in protecting end-user data.

Conclusion

The emergence of the fifth generation of cellular technology will revolutionize the world and facilitate unprecedented use of internet-connected devices. As it stands, the security of the protocol is not only with the researchers developing the standard, but also the law makers developing policies that pertain to 5G. Entities involved in deploying the next generation of cellular technologies need to ensure they are considering security early in the planning stages, ensure that any third party code running at the network edge is safe and isolated from the rest of the network, and that their overall cloud configurations are secure and adhering to best practices. Because at the end of the day, the security of 5G rests in the hands of the entities implementing it.

The Internet of Things (IoT) – and what it will enable – has been a discussion point for well over a decade, but the speed, low latency and reliability of 5G promise to bring the concept to life. Network slicing will allow a wide range of product types, with distinct reliability and throughput requirements, to be run out of the same architecture, and edge computing will allow nodes to communicate directly with one another, bypassing the network’s core and enhancing speed and reliability. These characteristics underpin some the most interesting projects currently making use of 5G, and have made a plethora of 5G use cases possible. Here are 18 of the best.   

1. Untethered industrial robots

Robots are already widely used in factories, particularly in the automotive industry. However, 5G’s speed and low latency will ‘untether’ them, meaning they are physically free. Ericsson is currently collaborating with robot manufacturer Comau to develop fully automated untethered robots for use in an industrial setting. These robots will move in response to input from sensors rather than direct human control. Ultimately, they will make use of artificial intelligence and be multipurpose and intelligent enough to adapt, communicate and interact with each other. They will also be able to ‘personalise’ products, leading to more flexible production lines. The robots will work from a 3D image of a customised product (called a digital shadow), allowing them to optimise the manufacturing process by detecting quality issues and making continuous improvements.   

2. Robots on farms 

Untethered robots will be able to wander through fields determining, via interaction with sensors, which crops need more fertilizer or water, or which are suffering from disease. They might also be able to sift through images of fruit or vegetables using image processing software to determine whether produce is saleable or damaged. A company called FFRobotics has developed a ‘fresh fruit harvester’ that does exactly this. The company’s website states that these robots pick fruit ten times faster than a human harvester.  

3. Robots in surgery 

Untethered robots would help medical staff lift patients, or move beds and other equipment around the hospital, but perhaps more interestingly, they will also help with surgery. Surgeons located in a hospital will be able to conduct operations remotely. Telecoms company Ericsson is currently working with King’s College, London to develop haptic gloves enabling surgeons to do this. These gloves will be connected to a robotic intermediary located with the patient (perhaps inside a drone). The surgeon would view the operation via a virtual reality (VR) headset, as well as feel pressure transmitted from the robot to the gloves using vibrating motors. The technology relies on ‘edge computing’ systems (computation handled and stored locally) within the surgical device and the robot at either end of the 5G stream.  

4.  Virtual patient operations (telesurgery) 

VR is one of several technologies that lends itself to medicine in interesting ways. Earlier this year, virtual reality software specialist, EchoPixel, launched a 3D viewer for use in diagnostics and surgical planning. This software converts 2D medical imaging data such as MRI and CT scans into VR images that float above an ordinary desktop. Doctors will be able to manipulate and dissect body parts from within the image.  In time, haptic technology is likely to be used to make the different parts of the clone – skin, bone and tendon - feel differently to the surgeon, thereby guiding him in his work.  

5. VR and palliative care 

The low latency afforded by 5G provides far more potential for artificial and virtual reality applications than any previous iteration of the mobile network. AT&T and Vitas Healthcare are working together to combine on a VR product that aims to reduce anxiety and pain for the chronically ill. Patients will wear headsets and interact with scenes that aim to improve their mental health, this might include a walk through their home town or a visit to Machu Picchu in Peru.  

6. AI in diagnosis 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already being used for diagnosis of ailments. For example, in 2017 Stanford computer scientists used a computer vision tool to successfully diagnose early instances of skin cancer. The computers are provided with many thousands of images as well as mathematical functions and algorithms allowing them to extract meaningful patterns. 5G will increase take up of this technology, since it allows for real time rapid learning and calculations when assessing a patient’s symptoms. The government’s ‘industrial strategy’, has seen it open five new AI research centres in the UK (Leeds, Oxford, Coventry, Glasgow and London) focused on image analysis.  

7. Self-driving vehicles 

Ultimately, self-driving cars are another form of robot, and more than 40 manufacturers are working on robocars. Google’s is particularly interesting. It features a rotating roof top camera containing an array of 64 laser beams with a 200m range, these create images of hazards and other cars. A camera on the windscreen helps it see nearer-range obstacles such as pedestrians. Radars on the front and rear bumpers mean it is able to see cars in front and behind, and it will maintain a distance of 2-4 seconds at all times. An aerial at the rear receives information about the location of the car from GPS satellites. Mapping technology analysing road services, markers, signs and more, is recorded using an ordinary car and fed into the self-driving vehicle’s software. It also recognises signals and gestures, such as those used by cyclists for example. It will interpret these and slow down accordingly.  

8. Drones

5G drones are already ubiquitous, but they will come into their own once they are 5G enabled. Although the regulation around air traffic safety is still to be agreed upon, sophisticated autonomous drones, designed for industrial, government and enterprise use, are already in production by manufacturers such as Percepto. These in-the-box-solutions can be programmed to carry out remote surgery, precision agriculture, defence activities, disaster recovery (following forest fires or other natural disasters), and inspection of difficult to reach infrastructure such as oil rigs, electrical systems or derelict buildings. They are likely to be rented ‘as a service’ by different sectors. 

9. AR smart glasses and safety 

Augmented reality (AR) smart glasses will overlay the real world with useful information. Developers in this field argue that they make the entire world a desktop. There are many interesting examples of glasses of this sort, particularly those for use in an industrial setting. The ODG R-7 are AR smart glasses fitted with stereoscopic displays of 720p each, these are untethered and come with a variety of sensors. Off-site experts in an industrial setting will be able to see what an on-site person is seeing and AI can be used to retrieve step by step instructions around how to fix faults. One can easily see how this might be used by trainee mechanics or someone with a broken boiler in contact with a remote engineer. Miners or people working in dangerous environments might be warned of potential gas leaks by sensors communicating with their glasses. In a standard business context, these glasses will provide useful face recognition and travel guidance.  

10. 5G on the underground

The Department for Media Culture and Sport is currently collaborating with various Korean institutions on a project called 5G RailNext to develop 5G infotainment services for public transport. The project will initially test the live deployment of infotainment mobile services using AR and mixed-reality content. The beta test will take place in a subway environment in Seoul and deliver travel information, video streaming and gaming through wearable devices such as headsets.  

11. Robots fighting Covid-19

In recent weeks China has managed to ‘flatten the curve’ of its coronavirus outbreaks, reporting only a handful of new cases each day, and 5G technology is playing an integral part in the country’s battle against Covid-19.

One use of 5G tech, which has drawn particular attention is patrol robots, which are being used in busy areas such as airports to monitor citizens, and ensure that people are wearing face masks in public spaces.

The robots were developed by Guangzhou Gosuncn Robot Company, with additional support from IoT hardware and software specialist Advantech. And the robots have already been deployed in airports and shopping malls in cities such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an and Guiyang.

12. 5G drone taxis

Getting to and from the airport to the city is time-consuming. So why not fly? A new generation of eco-friendly electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – effectively ‘drones’ you can sit in – are now in advanced prototype stage. Developed by the likes of Airbus, Ehang, Volocopter, Kitty Hawk, Uber Elevate, Terrafugia and PAL-V, they’re pilot-less, autonomous, and have a range of about 50 miles. Potentially perfect for transferring quickly from airport to city, or from airport to airport – such as between Heathrow and Gatwick in London, or JFK and Newark in New York – these so-called ‘drone taxis’ require 5G-powered autonomous airspace identification, crash-avoidance and geofencing so they can’t enter sensitive areas. Expect 5G-enabled air taxis to go mainstream by 2030. 

13. Virtually attend the Oscars

Visitors to Times Square had the opportunity to “walk the red carpet” at the Oscars earlier this year, using a 5G-enabled smartphone. Verizon created this world-first Oscars experience using the power of its Ultra-Wideband 5G network, which projected the red carpet experience to fans 2,500 miles away, in New York City.

The Verizon 5G portal transported fans from Times Square to the famous Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where they were then able to see all of the live celebrity action unfold right before their eyes, as if they were standing on the red carpet themselves. 

This was done by placing a Verizon 4K 360-degree camera on the Red Carpet. Using a 5G smartphone connected to Verizon’s 5G Ultra-Wideband network, which operates on a higher mmWave frequency with a wider spectrum bandwidth, fans stepped into a virtual portal that transported them to the real-time Red Carpet. 

Once “on” the red carpet, viewers could control what they looked at thanks to a 360-degree camera. They could see the celebrities walk right past them in real-time, providing an innovative, new way to watch the Oscars.

14. Enhancing fashion with 5G

At the 2020 Bafta Awards MTV and Channel 4 presenter Maya Jama made a futuristic fashion statement, by wearing the world’s first 5G-powered augmented reality (AR) dress

The dress itself – a fashion first for 5G use cases – took British designer Richard Malone 250 hours to complete, and the final piece uses an array of technology to collect movement and positional data, which is then fed into an augmented reality app.

The 5G-enabled dress was able to digitally transform itself when viewed through an augmented reality app on a tablet device. And Richard Malone, designer of the 5G-powered AR dress, is already well-known for his unique pieces, which are renowned for pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with fabric, and with this dress he went one step further. 

The dress contained more than 12 full body-length wires and 18 sensor bulbs. To keep all of the technology hidden, it was hand sewn with more than 100,00 stitches. The sensors were tracked using the EE 5G network, allowing Jama and others to interact with the design using a smartphone.

15. Going underground

China Mobile and Huawei managed to take next generation networking 500 meters underground, in a 2020 partnership with China’s largest hard coal producer, Yangquan Coal Industry.

According to Chinese news outlets, the 5G network in Yangquan’s subsidiary, Xinyuan, is the country’s first commercial 5G service to be completed under a coal mine shaft. And the partnership between China Mobile and Huawei is expected to reduce its labour force in one underground team from more than 170, to about 90, whilst maintaining the current levels of coal output.

This is only the first step in a long process, though, as the mining company is implementing  5G networking with a view to introducing its first  “smart mine” in the next few years. 

And Yangquan Coal Industry Group is not alone in embracing the new technology. According to Liu Feng, Vice Chairman of the China National Coal Association, China now has more than 5,000 coal mines, which have built more than 200 intelligent mining platforms facilitated with automated equipment. And 5G networks will be integral to the development of smart mining within China.

16. Monitoring forests with 5G

In 2020, Vodafone announced a partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Forest Research - Britain’s foremost forestry and tree research organisation - to use a Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) network to monitor two forests in Surrey and Northumberland.

The two networking technologies that will power the industrial Internet of Things over the next five years are narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and Cat-M (officially known as LTE Cat-M1). And it’s predicted that industrial IoT use cases will overtake the likes of wearables, home security, and digital home products, by 2025.

This pilot will use NB-IoT technology, future-proofed to work on 5G networks when available, to monitor how trees respond to environmental changes within the UK’s forests.  

17. Driverless 5G shuttle for football fans

Aurrigo, an autonomous vehicle company based out of Coventry in the UK, has been selected as a partner in the £4m Milton Keynes MK 5G Create project, and will manufacture and operate a ten-seater shuttle running a short autonomous route from Bletchley train station to MK Dons Stadium.

Aurrigo, which has already completed a successful driverless vehicle trial in the town, having previously delivered autonomous vehicles for the Welsh Open golf competition last year. For this trial, Aurrigo will join forces with Milton Keynes Council, MK Dons, BT and five other consortium partners to test out how 5G applications can create a world class visitor experience.

The company will manufacture and operate a ten-seater shuttle running a short autonomous route from Bletchley train station to MK Dons Stadium, together with two pods operating around the retail park perimeter.

18. Delivery bots

Tele2, one of Sweden’s leading mobile network operators, became the first company in Sweden’s Stockholm area to launch a 5G network in 2020, and it has announced that a new 5G robot pilot scheme will be available via that network, which it hopes will make automated deliveries commonplace across Sweden.

The pilot, launched in conjunction with online meal delivery service, Foodora, will use delivery droids, affectionately referred to as Doora, to carry out home deliveries in Stockholm. 

Doora has a camera that sends information via 5G in real time to Foodora, which can track and trace the robot, while quickly sending data to and from Doora, which the company hopes will provide a seamless experience for customers when using the service.

Doora will be tested around Stureplan, and will be used to transport both food and other products, weighing up to 20 kg. And it is hoped that Doora, with a top speed of 6km/h, and an eight-hour battery life, will be seen in cities across Sweden following the trial.

The world underwent a digital revolution over the past year as a result of the pandemic. We now primarily work online, socialise online, and learn online – a trend that will likely persist for the foreseeable future. While most people have successfully adjusted to this shift, the same can’t be said about our networks. Wi-Fi downtime and sub-par video calls are still common tales 12 months on. While we were heavily reliant on technology for many aspects of our lives before the pandemic, our needs for performance and reliability (and lots of bandwidth) are at an all-time high.

As a result, interest in 5G technology adoption has gone mainstream; hardly a day goes by without mention of it in the news. With the upheaval of office-based work, anticipation for the next generation of network connectivity continues to build. In a future where we envision connected healthcare and autonomous vehicles that will not tolerate network instability or downtime, the speed and flexibility that 5G promises is a necessity, along with unwavering network performance. 

Beyond the significant jump in download speeds and the promise of faster, more agile connectivity, 5G’s ability to manipulate the network in real-time makes it ideally suited to meet the unique demands put on today’s networks. Despite the mounting need for 5G, full deployment is still some time off. However, one thing is clear – automation technology can accelerate the rollout.

The inextricable link between 5G and automation

The very existence of 5G depends on intelligent automation. For example, dynamic network slicing relies on automation to ensure that each slice is properly managed and assigned, and that the frequency ranges are reliable. 

The infrastructure required to deploy 5G includes a multitude of devices (antennas, transmitters, receivers, etc.), and ensuring that all of these pieces are connected and communicating effectively is a complex job. If any one of those devices has an issue, the entire network is at risk. Automation can streamline device monitoring, identify the probable root cause of any technical snags, and perform proactive health checks to spot problems before they surface, enabling service providers to resolve incidents in the making.

The widescale deployment of 5G and associated infrastructure expansion will introduce many new tools and devices to manage, monitor, and maintain. The antennas for 5G are much smaller (often the size of a fingernail), requiring more power and many more of them to create the network. Estimates indicate that Vodafone would experience a 60% increase in power draw by upgrading to 5G. 

The expansive scale of 5G creates higher failure potential, which is compounded by next-gen technologies like Software Defined Networking (SDN) and virtualisation that add further complexity when it comes to management and incident response. Meanwhile, the critical traffic that 5G networks will carry requires continuous connectivity; consider autonomous vehicles and the dire consequences of potential downtime. Solutions like automation mitigate these risks by performing ongoing maintenance and management of the network’s intricate infrastructure, as well as by efficiently pinpointing the root cause when issues do arise. 

Automation can also be used to provision the network dynamically in real-time as traffic fluctuates, which reduces latency. By adding in predictive capabilities from artificial intelligence, recurring peaks and troughs in network demand can also be accounted for, and proactive actions can be taken to optimise service.

5G powers the new normal 

The conversation around 5G is by no means new, but COVID-19 has been a powerful catalyst for prioritising deployment. While the longer-term impact of the pandemic remains uncertain, widespread remote working is expected to continue, along with broader digital consumption trends. Adapting for this new normal means that businesses must adopt what Gartner refers to as ‘a default-is-digital requirement’. 

With 5G predicted to add as much as £120 billion to UK productivity over the next ten years, accelerating deployment should be a priority. In order to reap the potential benefits of 5G, businesses must have a strategy and the right tools to manage this new network infrastructure. Improving monitoring and maintenance inherently lowers the risk of downtime, as well as its associated costs. Leveraging intelligent automation will be key for network teams to successfully facilitate this next generation of connectivity.   

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5G research and reports are being used to predict and measure the current state of play within 5G technology, and some of the world’s leading technology, testing, research, and financial companies have invested large sums in pulling information together into online reports and surveys.

Sadly, such 5G research is often buried away within the news archive of corporate websites, or falls out of circulation after a few days of being shared online. In this post, we have pulled together a number of the most insightful and relevant reports, providing you with a single page where you can access the latest stats and information.

So, whether you’re pulling together a presentation, looking for credible figures to support a piece of research or investment, or simply educating yourself on the role 5G is currently playing, and will play in the future, this post will hopefully provide you with the relevant insight.

1.  The global economic impact of 5G 

This piece of 5G research from PwC has claimed that by the year 2030, 5G technology will contribute More than one trillion dollars in global GDP, with the US and UK accounting for $484bn and $54bn respectively.

The report, titled ‘The global economic impact of 5G’, found that productivity and efficiency gains will drive 5G adoption, but it’s in the health and social sectors that 5G is expected to provide the biggest uplift.

According to the report, over half the global economic impact (US$530bn) will be driven by the transformation of health and social care within the next decade, with 25 percent coming via smart utilities in energy, water and waste management.

Download the report

2. 5G User Experience Report for Australia  

In August 2020, Opensginal, a mobile testing company, released a new report that focussed on the current state of 5G in Australia, with Telstra and Optus vying for the position of best provider.

Vodafone was not included in the testing, as its availability was limited, but for the remaining two providers, Opensignal tested the average speed of the 5G connection when users have an active 5G link; the time users spend connected to 5G represented by 5G Availability; and the overall speed our 5G users experience across different generations of mobile technology, which the company calls ‘Download Speed Experience – 5G Users’.

Download the report

3.  The global telco 5G cloud gaming opportunity 

In September 2020 Ribbon Communications surveyed 5,000 gamers about their views on 5G, in a piece of 5G research that highlighted the increasing willingness of gamers to spend more for superior speeds and lower latency.

The ‘The global telco 5G cloud gaming opportunity’ survey of 5,000 gamers across the UK, US, Japan, South Korea, and Germany, revealed a $150 billion revenue opportunity for carriers offering 5G services to gamers, with 79% saying they would ditch their broadband connection for a 5G service that improved speed and latency. 

Download the survey

4.  The impact of mid-band 5G: lessons learned from early adopters

This September 2020 report from global crowdsourced data company, Tutela, focussed on mid-band 5G spectrum, looking at what this could mean for US consumers, as it reviewed countries where mid-band 5G is the primary deployment type.

This 5G research focuses on South Korea, Australia, Suadi Arabia, Switzerland, Spain, and the UK. All of these countries had allocated mid-band spectrum by March, 2019, and by measuring their coverage and performance, Tutela can provide a snapshot of what the US can expect.

Download the report

5.  Realising 5G’s full potential: setting policies for success

In this report, the GSMA – the global industry organisation that represents 750 mobile operators around the world – revealed that, despite a great deal of progress being made with the global 5G rollout, there is still a considerable amount of work to be done.

The GSMA report, titled ‘Realising 5G’s full potential: Setting policies for success’, has been created in partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and offers advice and context for mobile network operators and enterprises looking to take 5G to the next stage of its development. 

6.  COVID-19 and corporate strategies in the US and China

A report from Wind River, a software company specialising in intelligent edge products, shows that spend on 5G projects has significantly increased since the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting that – whilst 5G rollout may be stalling – the focus on 5G investment amongst enterprises is increasing.

The Wind River study, titled ‘COVID-19 and Corporate Strategies in the U.S. and China: A Seismic Event Demanding Change and Action from Top Executives’, surveyed 400 executives within enterprises with revenues ranging from $100 million to $1 billion, and online research was conducted from April 12 to April 20, 2020 (for respondents in the US), and from April 16 to April 23, 2020 (for respondents in China).

The 5G research found that those enterprises looking to digitally transform are placing over 50% more focus on key investment areas such as 5G, containers, and cloud native. And the research findings among these leaders indicate that they understand the core technology components that will be vital for digital transformation. 

Download the report

7.  5G for SMEs: what does it mean for CSPs? 

 According to a 2021 report from BearingPoint//Beyond, in collaboration with Omdia, the SME services market, worth $433 billion by 2025, is being overlooked by CSPs delivering 5G services, with 70% of resources aimed at just 1% of businesses in the enterprise sector.

The study, titled ‘5G for SMEs: what does it mean for CSPs?’, reveals that whilst SMEs might make 99% of the world’s businesses, the majority of CSPs are focusing 70 percent of their resources on the one percent enterprise market.

“Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often viewed as the unfashionable end of the B2B universe – only one in three communication service providers (CSPs) view them as a major source of future 5G revenue,” the report says. “However, they can be an important asset in the 5G landscape.”

Download the report

8.  5G in the UK: The 5G experience across the UK’s 16 biggest cities

RootMetrics by IHS Markit has published its latest 5G in the UK report, which delivers key data and insights on 5G availability and speed in 16 of the UK’s biggest cities, with a focus on 5G performance in Greater and central London.

The new RootMetrics report found that 5G median download speeds in the UK hit 216.6 Mbps on Vodafone’s network in London, whilst EE was the best provider of 5G availability across London, with 40% in Greater London and 83% in the centre.

Customers of the four major 5G networks in the UK – EE, 02, Three, and Vodafone – will be pleased to hear that 5G services in the UK have improved since initial deployments, with speeds and availability increasing. But the report found some key differences between major providers, and below is an overview of how each operator fared. 

Download the report

9.  5G 2021: Market Drivers, Insights & Consideration

Spirent Communications, the leading testing and analytics company for mobile devices and networks, has released its second annual 5G outlook report, based on analysis and takeaways from over 600 global 5G engagements in 2020. 

The ‘5G 2021: Market Drivers, Insights & Consideration’ report provides insights from across the 5G eco-system on the current status of 5G, and one area that draws particular focus is a look ahead to what the main 5G trends will be in 2021. 

Download the report

10. Verizon 5G business report 

This 2021 report reveals that seven in 10 business decision-makers (BDMs) say that 5G will help their company overcome the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Verizon, conducted in partnership with Morning Consult, polled 700 business technology decision-makers across the United States, asking them about their views on 5G, with the majority - 69 percent - saying that they believed 5G would help them recover from the impact of Coronavirus.

The 5G research focussed on a number of areas, and was conducted to gauge interest in how 5G might be applied to sectors such as the sports, entertainment, media, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail.

Download the report

11.  TMT predictions 2021

A 2021 report from Deloitte – titled Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Predictions 2021 – has focussed specifically on perceived 5G dangers, having discovered in 2020 that up to one fifth of people in ‘advanced economies’ believe 5G comes with associated health risks.

In its 2021 TMT Predictions report, Deloitte has focussed on 5G health concerns, debunking many of the myths around mobile networking technology.

Download the report

12.  Cost-benefit analysis on full 5G deployment - UK results

A November 2020 study conducted by Analysys Mason, on behalf of Ericsson and Qualcomm, has calculated the effect that 5G use cases will have on the UK’s economy, and has concluded that it can deliver £14.8bn in additional economic growth for the UK, with a five-fold increase in ROI, at a cost of £3bn.

And what’s particularly noteworthy about the study – titled ‘Cost-benefit analysis on full 5G deployment’ – is that, of the £14.8bn in projected contribution from 5G technology, more than 75% of that will come from just three sectors: manufacturing, construction and agriculture.

Download the report

13. Review of 138 mmWave studies finds “no evidence” of 5G health risks

In a bid to try and make sense of the 100+ studies that have been undertaken into the health effects of 5G millimeter wave technology, two new scientific reviews have been carried out by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and Swinburne University of Technology.

Both reviews found no evidence of adverse health effects from the radio waves used in 5G.

The review of 138 pieces of 5G research, which included 107 experimental studies, investigated potential effects of 5G technology on genotoxicity, cell proliferation, gene expression, cell signalling, and membrane function, finding no significant evidence of a health risk.

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• 5G towers: everything you need to know

In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy said, "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” The quote still holds true today; no less in the mobile business than anywhere else. And, one of the biggest changes ever experienced by that industry – the build-up of the 5G network – is on the way. 

5G has already been deployed in thousands of locations around the US. But for that change to be a positive one, it needs to be guided and managed – and the industry needs to do a better job of that. Management and deployment systems that were acceptable until now just won't work in the 5G era.

Done right, 5G deployment could open up a whole new window for development, as small companies and start-ups develop applications and services that will take advantage of the fast speeds and greater capabilities offered by 5G.

For that to happen, the telecom industry needs to implement systems that will enable operators to free themselves from the burdens they have carried for so long – specifically the need to deploy and redeploy technology to satisfy the requirements of telecom equipment manufacturers (Ericsson, Nokia, etc.).

Opening up 5G technology

To truly benefit from 5G, the market for services, applications, and even equipment needs to be opened up, enabling smaller companies, including startups, to develop for the market. Efforts to do that are indeed underway with the development of standards for open RAN solutions (O-RAN Alliance, TIP), and the deployment of automated 5G networks. But making headway has proven slow, and much more needs to be done.

RAN management is generally a “closed garden” for equipment manufacturers like Nokia and Ericsson. Operators (AT&T, Verizon, etc.) needed to build their applications and gear their service to satisfy the interfaces of the networks they were working with, based on the equipment deployed on that network – with the interfaces, of course, being different, as the equipment manufacturers sought to differentiate their products.

This resulted in a great deal of redundancy – having to essentially do the same work several times in order to match the requirements of the equipment, with applications, service management and assurance, and other ancillary services that were required for the smooth functioning of the network.

Siloed management systems, SON, and other tech and policy factors contributed to the situation – and the system cost operators a great deal of money. According to industry statistics, more than half of R&D dollars went into implementing the changes that allowed connecting and passing between networks – and the need to adjust applications took as much as three quarters of development time and costs. 

Not just a big expense and waste of time, redundant development put a crimp in the ability to develop new solutions - after all, there are only so many hours in a day.

And because the telecom business was based on this system, resources were deployed to cope with it – to the extent that today, there are vested interests who prefer to keep things the way they are. Equipment manufacturers have an interest in keeping operators as customers for their closed-silo equipment and stack; IT teams have an interest in maintaining current systems that they are familiar with; and operators need to be able to integrate new equipment with legacy equipment.

That might have been acceptable until now, but it is proving to be a real drag on the deployment of 5G. New networks involve deployment of a lot more equipment, which means more things that can go wrong on more segments of the network. To truly take advantage of the power of 5G, and not get bogged down in the drudgery of ongoing maintenance and redundant development, a new way of doing things is needed.

The new way with 5G

Key to that new way is the decoupling of application development from equipment-specific systems. Developers would be able to spend more time building applications and services for the benefit of users – taking full advantage of the power of 5G – instead of doing redundant integration work for the various systems.

With a single standard that will apply to all 5G deployments, developers can give their full attention and creativity to creating new applications and services; operators will save huge amounts of money, savings that will likely trickle down to customers; and systems will be more scalable and redundant. 

Initiatives such as those by O-RAN, which is developing standards for RAN virtualization, open interfaces, and AI-capable RAN, will enable the development of off-the-shelf hardware that could be used in any 5G deployment. According to the O-RAN alliance, the standard's open architecture will free up developers to develop many new, innovative applications and services, better and more efficient hardware, more secure base stations, etc.

Automated systems will also contribute to the effort. A single standard will allow for the development and implementation of automated management, deployment, and operation – an absolute requirement for 5G, because of the large amount of hardware that the small cell-based networks will require. Automation of systems, based on a single interface, will allow for the smooth redeployment of resources when needed, and easy repairs when an alarm sounds and a network component needs replacement.

To avoid missing that future, operators need to move forward. What we had until now might have been workable, even suitable; for the 5G future, it's untenable. If 5G is ever going to reach the potential we are relying on it to reach, things need to change, sooner rather than later.

The rapid pace of 5G rollout has come as a pleasant surprise to those within the industry, especially among those who were scarred by the relatively tepid adoption of previous generations of mobile connectivity.

According to Qualcomm, there will be 45 commercial 5G networks available around the world by the end of 2020 with 340 operators in 115 countries making investments. The momentum is such, that by 2025, Ericsson expects there will be 2.6 billion subscribers and networks will cover two thirds of the world’s population. 

This is undoubtedly good news for consumers who want a better mobile broadband experience and for businesses that hope to take advantage of new applications that will accelerate their digitisation efforts.

However this rapid pace of rollout and development may not to extend to indoor coverage. In urban areas especially, indoor coverage will take some time to materialise, leaving users reliant on 4G and Wi-Fi networks. 

5G will eventually work indoors, but there are a number of factors to be taken into consideration.

Solving a problem like 5G indoor coverage

The first consideration is spectrum. Whereas previous generations of mobile connectivity, such as 3G and 4G, were designed the principal aim of improving mobile data services for smartphone users, 5G will enable a significantly wider array of applications and use cases. 

Industries such as education, healthcare and manufacturing will all be transformed, while the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will become a reality thanks to ultra-low latency.

Mobile operators are transforming the core layer of their networks to meet the demands of such a diverse range of user groups, but 5G will also use a greater variety of spectrum than its predecessors. Networks will be built using low, mid and high-range spectrum frequencies.

Bands such as the 700MHz will be used to improve coverage over wide areas, while high-level spectrum such as millimeter Wave (mmWave) frequencies will be required for urban areas and bandwidth-hungry applications.

However high-level spectrum has low range and poor propagation qualities that make it a challenge to provide coverage – especially in urban areas. This means indoor coverage will suffer, at least initially.

Low-level spectrum

In the UK, operators are using the 3.4GHz airwaves they won at the 2018 Ofcom auction, while US carriers are harnessing mmWave spectrum to deliver their 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband services. 

Neither band is especially suited for the task of delivering a signal indoors and the initial focus in the UK has been to improve speeds and capacity at the busiest parts of the network – such as large public squares, train stations, and sporting venues.

However as operators build out their 5G infrastructure, the use of low-range spectrum will help alleviate the issue. Next year, UK operators will participate in Ofcom’s auction of the 700MHz airwaves vacated by Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), while in the US, T-Mobile plans to build out its 5G network with an even lower band – 600MHz.

These bands will not only improve coverage in rural communities where 5G is expected to have a significant economic and societal impact, but will have the additional effect of boosting indoor coverage in rural locations.

Major 5G equipment manufacturers, such as Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia, have adapted their Radio Access Network (RAN) product ranges to account for this diversity of spectrum. This gear not only supports wide range of frequencies but is also designed to be as small and as lightweight as possible. 

This makes the kit easier to install but also ensures that the physical capacity of mobile sites, which might also have to provide 3G and 4G coverage is not exceeded. Lighter, smaller radio gear also allows for more flexible deployments, something which will be crucial in addressing the challenges of 5G mast infrastructure.

The densification of network

The poor propagation qualities and geographical range of higher-level spectrum means operators will have to densify their networks with more access points than 3G or 4G. This will be essential for indoor coverage and for mission critical applications that rely on constant connectivity.

However traditional masts are simply unsuited for network densification. Cell towers a significant amount of space that cannot be found in a major city like London or New York and even if authorities could identify a location, the height of the mast would be unsightly and would likely fall foul of local planning laws. 

That’s before you consider the expense of maintenance and the tower’s power requirements. The use of cell towers will be restricted to lower-level spectrum and 5G operators will instead deploy 5G microinfrastructure such as small cells alongside traditional macroinfrastructure like towers.

Small cells are compact antennas that can be deployed in areas where it is impractical or impossible to install a full size tower. Small cells consume less power and cover a much smaller geographical area than macroinfrastructure and can be deployed on the side of buildings, on bus shelters and even on lampposts. 

Microcells typically have a range of 2km, while picocells have a typical range of around 200 metres. Operators typically deploy multiple cells in a single location. This approach increases capacity and also ensures that users can be handed off from one access point to another – ensuring a seamless experience.

However, some of the limitations that apply to conventional masts also apply to small cells. Operators must ensure they have backhaul – either fibre or wireless – at the site. There must be an appropriate power source and operators must have physical access to the site. This might mean complicated or lengthy negotiations with the landowner or through a public authority.

Femtocells are a way to improve their indoor coverage independently of a mobile operator and without the need to gain access or planning permission. Individual users or businesses install and maintain the femtocell themselves, providing power and backhaul – usually a standard mobile broadband connection.

Typically, femtocells have a range of 10 metres and can only support a handful of users. However they are pitched as a low cost method of improving indoor coverage for offices, restaurants or even rural homes.

Regulating 5G small cells

One of the biggest challenges within the world of 5G small cells is coming up with a set of industry standards and definitions for this emerging tech. To this end, the Small Cell Forum (SCF) - whose members include Airspan, AT&T, Cisco, CommScope, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Vodafone - has begun publishing the first “informed and consensual” overview of 5G small cell network architectures and product definitions. 

Titled ‘5G Small cell architecture and product definitions’, this is the first such study of its kind, with the aim of providing an informed view of the most important configurations and specifications for companies deploying small cells between now and 2025. 

“In the early days, small cells looked fairly similar, regardless of the environment in which they would be deployed, and were easily distinguishable in size, weight and power output from other mobile equipment,” said Prabhakar Chitrapu, Chair of Small Cell Forum. “In the 5G era, small cells will be deployed in a far wider range of scenarios, and form factors and architectures will be extremely varied.”

NEC has successfully demonstrated mmWave 5G in an office environment, using distributed-MIMO, which has enabled them to triple the number of simultaneous connections and capacity in an office environment, using distributed-MIMO in the 28 GHz millimeter-wave frequency band.

“NEC has established itself as a leader in digital beamforming technology and has commercialized Massive MIMO in the sub 6 frequency band,” NEC said. “Moreover, NEC has developed digital coordination technology among antenna elements distributed in the millimeter-wave frequency band and conducted verification activities to solve the problems of indoor mobile communications, such as shadowing and diffraction of propagation paths.”

The demo achieved approximately three times the number of simultaneous connections and transmission capacity, compared to test cases without distributed-MIMO in the 28 GHz frequency band. 

This was the first demonstration in the industry to apply a distributed-MIMO system in the millimeter-wave frequency band in an office environment, with NEC hoping that it will contribute to the construction of 5G environments that enable simultaneous multiple connections in the future.

“Applying Massive-MIMO techniques to millimeter-wave frequency is considered to be optimal for applications where each terminal requires a high transmission capacity, such as indoor offices or stadium seats with high terminal density,” the announcement explained. 

NEC conducted propagation and transmission trials in a real office environment, using a distributed-MIMO technique for the Radio Units (RU) of a 28 GHz band base station system, which boosted simultaneous connections and increased capacity. 

Fight for your right to 5G

Because millimeter wave signals don't travel very far, and can’t penetrate walls, small cells become vital for in-building coverage. However, with US mobile network operators (MNOs) already billions of dollars out of pocket, having already stumped up for mmWave spectrum, many have claimed that cities are not adhering to an FCC declaration that was issued in 2018, which was intended to aid the densification of 5G networks, and ensure that cities don't put unnecessary barriers in place.

The case was brought before the federal court, with Portland, Oregon cited as an example by major MNOs AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. And a federal appeals court recently upheld the 2018 decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to cap fees for wireless carriers, and ensure that they are “reasonable” and “no higher than the fees charged to similarly-situated competitors”.

Ahead of the 2018 declaration, the FCC was already receiving complaints from MNOs over unrealistic fees for small cell installations. 

Cited in the FCC’s original 2018 declaration was a report from Accenture, which estimated that, during the next three or four years, 300,000 small cells would need to be deployed – a total that it noted was “roughly double the number of macro cells built over the last 30 years”, and which the FCC now says is probably closer to 800,000.

“The many-fold increase in Small Wireless Facilities will magnify per-facility fees charged to providers,” the report said. “Per-facility fees that once may have been tolerable when providers built macro towers several miles apart now act as effective prohibitions when multiplied by each of the many Small Wireless Facilities to be deployed.”

Thankfully, for the likes of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the orders from the FCC to stop putting barriers in the way of small cell roll-outs, which, despite objections from a number of US cities, should now make the process of rolling out small cells easier, cheaper, and quicker.

And speaking following the decision, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called the ruling a “major victory” for the commission, and for American consumers.

Wi-Fi 6 and offloading

Until mobile operators start deploying more spectrum and small cells, indoor coverage will likely either be provided by 4G networks or through next-generation Wi-Fi services.

Wi-Fi 6 is positioned as the wireless equivalent to 5G, a complementary technology that possesses four times the capacity of previous generations of Wi-Fi, supports speeds of up to 10Gbps and delivers significantly lower latency.

Adoption of Wi-Fi 6 is accelerating. Analysts at ABI Research believe half of all wireless kit will be compatible by 2024 and the Wireless Broadband Alliance says nine in ten service providers, technology vendors and enterprises plan to deploy Wi-Fi 6. This will help mobile operators develop converged services that combine fibre, wireless and cellular connectivity into a seamless experience.

From an indoor coverage perspective, Wi-Fi 6 will allows operators to offload some users and traffic from the 5G network onto a public wireless network when they move indoors. Cisco’s Annual Internet Report suggests 7.4 per cent of all end points will be Wi-Fi 6 and 11 per cent of all public hotspots will be compatible by 2023.

5G is a hugely promising technology that will deliver numerous economic and societal benefits, but it will take time for networks to mature and for services to be widely available. The technologies and spectrum are available but deployment can be complex.

Expect early 5G rollouts to focus on outdoor coverage and for indoor connectivity to be reliant on the progress of operator’s technical roadmaps. But the fact that the vast majority of mobile traffic is generated indoors makes the issue of in-building coverage impossible to ignore. 

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• 5G towers: everything you need to know

According to a report from Fortune Business Insights, the global investment in 5G small cell technology is set to increase from $175m in 2019, to $15.9bn by 2026, resulting in a huge compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81.9% in that period.

The reason for this expected growth in 5G small cell technology is because millimeter wave signals – the gold standard of 5G connectivity – don't travel very far, and can’t penetrate walls, therefore making small cells vital for in-building coverage.

5G small cell networks

There are different types of 5G small cells; femtocells, picocells, and microcells, all providing different coverage limits. Broadly speaking, femtocells reach 10 meters, picocells 200 meters, and microcells around two kilometers.

And the term small cell is a catch-all that describes all the above mobile base stations, used to boost signals in indoor areas, such as shopping centres and offices. With the deployment of mmWave technologies within urban areas currently requiring the need for thousands of these small cell antennas to boost network capacity. 

This densification of 5G network infrastructure is both expensive and time-consuming, and it's why 5G small cell technology, for now, will be the preserve of dense urban environments, as well as buildings in crowded places such as sports stadiums. 

Not a new kid on the block

Small cells aren’t new tech. Indeed, the femtocells used in 3G/4G cellular boosters – which work over your home or business broadband – are small cells. One of the best-known of these is Vodafone SureSignal. (Although using this technology for making calls is increasingly being sidelined in favour of Wi-Fi Calling, with more and more handsets now able to route calls over Wi-Fi when a cellular signal degrades.)

The small cells used in 5G networks get their connection via a macrocells, before sending data from one small cell to another in a relay. This helps carry signals over much larger distances.

For 5G signals sent over mmWave, the number of these small cells will need to increase exponentially, and be placed much closer together to move the shorter waves from one site to the next without a user dropping connection or losing speed. One solution, put forward by Samsung, is to fit 5G cells to existing street lights and lamp posts. 

5G small cells and towers

The use of cell towers will be restricted to lower-level spectrum, and within urban settings 5G operators will instead rely on 5G microinfrastructure such as small cells, alongside traditional macroinfrastructure, like 5G towers.

However, some of the limitations that apply to conventional masts also apply to small cells. Operators must ensure they have backhaul – either fibre or wireless – at the site. There must be an appropriate power source and operators must have physical access to the site. This might mean complicated or lengthy negotiations with the landowner or through a public authority, and there have been legal proceedings in the US to ensure that mobile network operators are not excessively charged for the installation of 5G small cells in cities.

Regulating 5G small cells

One of the biggest challenges within the world of 5G small cells is coming up with a set of industry standards and definitions for this emerging tech. To this end, the Small Cell Forum (SCF) - whose members include Airspan, AT&T, Cisco, CommScope, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Vodafone - has begun publishing the first “informed and consensual” overview of 5G small cell network architectures and product definitions. 

Titled ‘5G Small cell architecture and product definitions’, this is the first such study of its kind, with the aim of providing an informed view of the most important configurations and specifications for companies deploying small cells between now and 2025. 

“In the early days, small cells looked fairly similar, regardless of the environment in which they would be deployed, and were easily distinguishable in size, weight and power output from other mobile equipment,” said Prabhakar Chitrapu, Chair of Small Cell Forum. “In the 5G era, small cells will be deployed in a far wider range of scenarios, and form factors and architectures will be extremely varied.”

Main recommendations for 5G small cells

Headline elements of the new report include a clear definition of a 5G small cell network, key indoor and outdoor small cell deployment scenarios, a summary of 5G small cell RAN architecture options, an overview of small cell regulation and power classes, and a reference to hardware configurations for the main 5G small cell products expected to launch over the next five years.

“The form factor, power, size, interfaces and specification will vary according to the use case and deployment scenario, and with the introduction of virtualized, disaggregated networks, some small cells will consist of two or three elements, while others will still be all-in-one,” said Chitrapu. “It is clear that old definitions are now inadequate, and there are clear and present dangers of the industry fragmenting between hundreds of different designs with insufficient common features to achieve any scale.”

The report aims to provide a consensus view and concise definition of the types of 5G small cells being rolled out now and in the near future. It also includes definitions of the key characteristics of the different types of commercially viable 5G small cell RAN products that will be available over the next five years, including 3GPP and O-RAN Alliance 5G disaggregated open RAN specifications – work that covers macrocells, but also includes microcells and picocells.

"Small cells, or femtocells as they were previously known, have played an increasingly important role in wireless networks since their introduction more than a decade ago. One would have thought that a small cell is well defined; however, it has taken significant effort to work out what a 5G small cell is,” remarked Vicky Messer, Director, Product Management at Picocom.

It is hoped that the report will enable the networking industry to innovate within “common, agreed design frameworks”, which will support product diversity, whilst also maintaining scalability and interoperability as 5G small cells are increasingly installed in our communities over the next five years.

15.  Smart contracts for small cells and beyond

Jurie Roux, product marketing manager at TEOCO, thinks that operators will need to address how to automate and manage small cell contracts, as he explained in our 20 industry predictions for 5G in 2021 post.

"The regular joke is that blockchain is a solution in search of a problem. With telecoms, it’s found it. Infrastructure and hardware is often a mess of complex relationships and agreements, and smart contracts that run on blockchain can manage these relationships effectively," Roux explained.

"The rollout of 5G also means also rolling out hundreds of thousands of small cells across cities and towns over the next year. Many of the best sites for these small cells involve complicated right-of-way issues that will require resolution. 

"Every municipality has its own rules resulting in complex contracts between carriers, equipment vendors, landowners, technology partners and government agencies. Adapting contracts for each of these is tricky, but made much easier by using smart contracts that replace legalese with code, and use blockchain to record transactions. This is one example that could start the use of blockchain in mobile networks."

SCF launches the 5G nFAPI 1.0 spec

The Small Cell Forum (SCF) has published the first release of the 5G nFAPI 1.0 specification for 5G small cell deployment, which it claims is a: “Highly flexible next-generation network interface which leverages the widely adopted FAPI MAC/PHY API used in the vast majority of the world’s millions of deployed System-on-a-Chip (SoC) based small cells.” 

Put simply, this will eventually enable fully open, multi-vendor 5G small cell designs, right down to the chip level. 

The announcement adds 5G network-FAPI (nFAPI) to the already established 3G, 4G and 5G API specifications, currently used in small cells the world over, with nFAPI providing a transport wrapper around the established FAPI PHY API, to create an open ‘split option 6’ interface between an S-RU and S-DU.

“The flexibility and scalability of modular and virtualized radio access networks are primed to accelerate innovation in cellular infrastructure, help lower OPEX and CAPEX costs, and enable a software upgradable network architecture,” said Puneet Sethi, senior director of product management at Qualcomm Technologies. “Qualcomm Technologies is very pleased to support development and implementation of the 5G nFAPI 1.0 specification, with the goal of enabling a standards-based and interoperable marketplace that is more open, robust, innovative and competitive.”

Open RAN and disaggregation are getting a lot of attention right now, and the 5G nFAPI ‘split option 6’ is one of several functional split options to have been shortlisted as a candidate for further evaluation. 

“This specification has brought together the combined knowledge and deployment experience of leading mobile operators, silicon vendors and telecoms software companies to enable an open interface for disaggregated small cell solutions,” said Ganesh Shenbagaraman, vice president of engineering at Radisys. “As a leading small cell software provider and a key contributor to this specification, we are eager to see the adoption of nFAPI open interface in 5G small cells deployment.”

The release of the specification will enable early implementations for evaluation by mobile operators and other deployers.

“Operators are currently evaluating the various approaches to building 5G networks which enable them to deploy disaggregated RAN architectures based on standard specifications to increase competition and increase economies of scale,” said Ravi Sinha, director of product development and solutions at Reliance Jio. “As a leading operator we are proud to have been involved in helping define this specification within SCF and look forward to evaluation feedback from MNOs and other deployers.”

SCF also took the opportunity to announce a roadmap for ongoing future implementation and ecosystem support, the full details of which can be downloaded here: https://www.smallcellforum.org/5g-network-fapi-specifications/.   

• Discover the best 5G networks in the UK and US
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• Millimeter wave: the secret sauce behind 5G
• The complete guide to 5G security
• We reveal the latest 5G use cases
• Discover the truth behind 5G dangers
• 5G towers: everything you need to know

5G offers a whole host of opportunities but also poses a significant risk to security. Here’s how to stay safe. In this post we speak to Didier Wylomanski, Business Development Director for EMEA and 5G expert at Thales, about the opportunities and risks of 5G. 

Q: What is the potential of 5G?

"Unlike 4G, which is largely a one-size-fits-all service, 5G will offer organisations unprecedented opportunity, flexibility, and choice. It will radically enhance the way enterprises use networking tools to capture and store data, but also increase the extent to which businesses can glean insights from data in order to drive their digital operations.

Importantly, 5G will enable IoT devices to generate and exchange a wide variety of both high and low value data at much greater scales and lower price points than 4G. The technology will also be able to drive ultra-low latency down to a few milliseconds and take advantage of edge computing to allow new use cases. Network slicing, not seen on such a scale before, will allow enterprises and service providers to operate off their own tailored 5G services, geared up to their specific requirements."

Q: So, what’s the risk? 

"While the potential of 5G is significant, 5G also poses new risks to the security of enterprise data that organisations need to be prepared for. It is so important that we all think of breaches as a case of ‘when’ not ‘if’. 

In terms of what this risk looks like, it is worth signposting that 5G is the first cellular generation to launch in the era of global cybercrime, which is often heavily funded by organised crime and nation states. The software and technology that has driven the digital economy over the last decade is the exact same tech that is being weaponised to steal, expose, compromise, or block access to data. If 5G is not built and used with robust protections in all use-cases, there is a risk that trust in the 5G ecosystem could be undermined. Businesses who want to benefit from the competitive advantage 5G promises, could find their data, operations, and reputation at risk. 

Risks might come from many other angles, like from the criticality of data circulating in the mission-critical use cases that 5G will enable, the complexity of the 5G infrastructure – given that5G is the meeting point of the mobile communication technology evolution and the latest cloud-based virtualized IT technology evolution -, the spread-over architecture of data centres serving 5G use cases, from core to edge computing sites and up to the cloud, and finally the need for both connectivity providers and enterprises to comply with highly security demanding regulations and laws.

With 4G and other previous cellular generations, the most pressing risk to data, whether it be consumer or enterprise-owned, was that communications can be intercepted, and unauthorised actors can succeed in accessing network services. 5G has propelled the cellular industry forward on this front, ensuring end device authentication and encryption of sensitive subscriber permanent identification across the network are now staple parts of the approach to cellular security.

However, promises of 5G opportunity must be shared in tandem with guidance around the risks businesses may face when incorporating this technology into their operations. Companies will certainly look to the 5G ecosystem of providers to not only provide the connectivity, but also the associated security perspective. Nevertheless, ultimately, it’s their data and companies have to understand that this is their responsibility to protect it, just like companies have now understood the shared security responsibility model that applies to data in the cloud. Control and supervision of its security strategy applied to 5G is so a must for any company deploying 5G services."

Q: You mention that 5G has changed the game when it comes to how we should approach cyber-security. In what way?

"5G has forever changed how we think about cybersecurity but while the risks may be greater, there are still some important steps businesses should follow to ensure they have their best defence up against a potential cyberthreat. 

Take the example of slicing services that Mobile Network Operators will be able to offer to their enterprise customers. There is no more possibility for Operators to commit on the physical isolation of each slice as with 5G, all core functions are now virtualized and based on so-called VNF (Virtualized Network Functions), deployed and instantiated as pure software running in Virtual Machines (VMs) or Containers. If such VNF’s and their associated data are left unprotected, this poses a risk of cross-contamination of malware and/or unauthorized access to data. For companies willing to benefit from what slicing offers, a true demonstration of the associated security and isolation of the tailored services, will be mandatory.

Similarly, for the 5G Multi-Access Edge Computing that will serve ultra-low latency use cases. The applications hosted at the edge of the network, deployed as small remote sites, will benefit from fewer physical protections than you would see in a centralised data centre. Companies will also face an increased attack surface. While MEC’s will help conserve costs and enhance performance, it is vital that any locally stored data is physically and logically securely stored, whilst being encrypted in such a way that can cope with the ultra-low latency requirements of the target use case. 

Ultimately companies who wish to benefit from 5G service via the deployment of their own Private Mobile Network, which is a highly expected deployment model of 5G, will need to act as their own managed security services provider. This means they must deploy a security strategy which is under their full control just like they would have done for any their traditional IT systems. In practice, this includes ensuring the privacy of their communications, the internal access control to applications and data, and their protection of data at rest and in motion.

What are the key takeaways for businesses and IT professionals looking to start using 5G?

"5G will be secure –or will simply not be. Thus building a 5G world we can all trust is a must.

The most important thing for businesses and IT professionals to know is that parts of our current understanding of data security needs to adapt to meet the demands of 5G technology. 5G will expand the attack surface area, with data being located anywhere between a few metres from its origin, or miles away in the cloud. 

Advanced security controls, such as encryption applied to data at rest or in transit, will also need to be applied to the 5G selected service deployment, everywhere through the network – from the radio access network to edge computing sites, to the core and up to the cloud. 

Encrypting data is an important first step, but not the only one. It is the equivalent of locking the front door and putting the keys under the mat. Businesses must ensure they keep control and fully secure the entire life cycle of their encryption keys, establishing a truly mastered security strategy over their 5G services.

While such security strategy will be vital for the protection of the 5G service itself, companies must not forget to act on the protection at their application layer in the case of IoT services, implementing end-to-end protection from the device to the application thru mutual authentication and encryption of the exchange data."

According to estimates from Transparency Market Research, the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market will exceed $98.4 billion worldwide by 2026, with an average annual growth of 8.6 percent. 

The main drivers of such rapid MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) growth are 5G and changing needs - based on market demand shifting in favor of mobile Internet services and customer preferences for obtaining products and services via convenient digital channels.

In response, technology companies and telecom operators have begun to cultivate their own ecosystems by offering users integrated products and services across industries such as Finance, Media, and Health. put simply, if mobile operators can act like a bank, banks are now beginning to see the benefits of delivering mobile services, and with banks eager to keep clients within their ecosystem, some have expanded their proposition by creating their own MVNOs. In turn, telecom operators have started to acquire companies in other industries (or create their own from scratch) as they transform into one-stop digital companies.

By stepping into one of these ecosystems, clients receive an "all-in" solution. But there's a downside, too. Converging technologies bring serious risks to information security. In this article, we will review the security issues that may affect companies building an MVNO, how attackers strike, and most importantly, what to do to stay safe.

How MVNOs get attacked

What does an ecosystem mean in this context? Clients receive a comprehensive offering thanks to use of digital platforms and fully paperless onboarding and account servicing. They log in with single sign-on: logging in once is enough to use all of the platform's services. The boundaries between "banking" and "non-banking" become fuzzier: money credited to a mobile subscriber account can be used not only to pay for a phone plan, but for other services as well.

This is convenient for clients. They tend to place high trust in companies and are ready to provide access to their personal data and bank accounts in return for relevant product suggestions and personalised communication.

This is why it's so beneficial to have a virtual operator as part of an ecosystem: the very same 5G network has a service-oriented architecture for seamless integration of both internal technologies, and partner-provided ones. The security of all these technologies directly depends on the security of the underlying telecom systems.

Although companies sell MVNO services under their own brand, they usually use the existing infrastructure of other operators. This is a major contributor to security risks. Telecom networks harbor serious architectural flaws relating to previous generation networks that enable attacks on operators and subscribers.

Exploiting MVNO vulnerabilities

As shown by our research, exploitation of vulnerabilities in 2G/3G/4G/5G networks can lead to disruption of subscriber service, disclosure of subscriber location and connection information, disclosure of subscriber profile and encryption keys, identity theft, sender spoofing, call eavesdropping, SMS interception, billing bypass, and fraud by charging services to other subscribers.

What are some of the other issues threatening technology companies that decide to add an MVNO to their ecosystem?

1.  Account compromise. Single sign-on, despite its benefits, can amplify the effects of breaches. An attacker can leverage vulnerabilities in telecom networks to obtain access to users' digital lives and impersonate them.

2.  Theft of funds. Vulnerabilities in 2G/3G, for example, can be used by criminals to access subscribers' bank accounts. In one case, attackers struck subscribers of German operator O2-Telefonica, making off with money from their accounts. The attackers were able to intercept two-factor authentication codes due to a vulnerability in the SS7 signalling protocol. In a similar incident with U.K.-based Metro Bank in 2019, attackers also exploited SS7 vulnerabilities to intercept two-factor authentication codes. 

3.  Social engineering. Telecom vulnerabilities can help to enable social engineering attacks. A variety of attack scenarios are possible, from imitating a bank over the phone to spoofing of SMS messages and malware infection of user devices. One popular method is SIM swapping, when an attacker with knowledge of the subscriber's personal information reissues the subscriber's SIM card or ports the subscriber's phone number to their own SIM card. Consequences of such social engineering attacks can include compromise of payment card details, theft of funds via SMS banking, theft of credentials, and redirection of calls and SMS messages intended for the victim to the attacker.

Whenever a bank decides to build an ecosystem with an MVNO inside it, the security team needs to take the security of telecom infrastructure seriously. Banks already have plenty of experience with securing banking infrastructure and can draw upon industry standards and regulatory requirements. But information security for telecom networks is a bit more mysterious: companies are already getting attacked, but often do not understand how to respond.

Three step approach

We recommend a tried-and-tested three-stage approach to security: network evaluation, monitoring, and protection. Companies start off by getting the lay of the land, making an attacker model, and then deploying defences—most likely including an IDS (Intrusion Detection System), in order to spot suspicious activity, as well as a signalling firewall for blocking attacks.

Banks and digital companies have deep expertise in general enterprise security, but telecom network security still remains underserved. This works to the advantage of attackers, who can exploit this vector against the target's entire infrastructure while in-house security teams are stuck playing catch-up, refining their knowledge and skillsets.

The MVNO market is set to take off. The number of companies committed to creating their own MVNO will only increase. Some MVNOs promise that beyond just using a single network, subscribers will be automatically switched between different networks. Since plastic SIM cards are on the way out, switching operators could become as easy as tapping a button in an app.

This lack of friction is sure to increase the competitive heat between operators. In the old days, operators could get by offering communications that were reliable ("five nines") and of high quality. But now, security will become a decisive factor. The approach taken by banks and technology companies to securing their telecom infrastructure could become a significant competitive differentiator.

2020 saw significant progress made towards the roll out and deployment of 5G NSA. Operators are finally switching on their 5G networks and excitedly looking forward to making a return on their investment. But 5G revenue won’t just fall out of the sky. Operators will need to work for it, and working for it will mean being able to monetise the deluge of data that will come with 5G. That data will be generated across all parts of the network—from the core, all the way to the edge. 

To maximise their chances of success, there are four key factors operators must consider to ensure they are ready to take ownership and capitalise on the data deluge that 5G is set to bring about.

1. There’s gold in 5G use cases

The arrival of 5G has focused everyone on one thing: data. And while there have been disagreements about roll-out strategies and business models, one point that isn’t of contention across the industry is that 5G will bring more data than operators will have ever seen before. Despite presenting a new, daunting challenge for operators, it also presents a wealth of opportunities. The industry has been abuzz with hopes and dreams of new 5G use cases, and no vertical has been left untouched. So far, the industry has envisioned and predicted everything from augmented reality sports, autonomous 5G electric vehicles, and connected robots and sensors on a factory floor, all the way to remote surgery conducted over 5G. All of these use cases are different, but they have one thing in common: data.

In order for operators to be make the most of these new use cases, they must be able to control and manage all of this subscriber data to help them better understand how subscribers and applications use the network. In a 5G cloud-native environment, this processing of data must happen in real-time to deliver concrete value from the data. That means processing billions of data events per second. The end result will see operators open up and create new lucrative business models, using insights pulled from this end-to-end 5G network data.

2. Data for assurance

One area where end-to-end operator-led data management can be particularly beneficial is service assurance. Service assurance is crucial to helping operators understand how their network is behaving—in today’s increasingly demanding customer experience-led world, even slight degradations in service can have significant repercussions on customer satisfaction. This becomes all the more important in a 5G world when we think about the different use cases that are reliant upon high availability and ultra-low latency. 

Take autonomous cars for example, it is critical that if a vehicle detects danger, it is able to stop quickly, without lags in connectivity preventing it from doing so. In fact, delays in data getting from one point to the other could be the difference between life or death. Operators taking control of the data, end-to-end, can play a pivotal role in assuring the expected Quality of Experience (QoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) for autonomous vehicle passengers. Doing so means they are able to take a holistic view of all services related to the autonomous vehicle as they traverse the network, replicating key measurements from the perspective of the end customer. In having this full control, they are able to continuously analyse the service and compare it to expected SLAs and thresholds to ensure optimum performance. 

3. Data for monetisation

Another area where data management can prove to be a boon for operators is monetisation. With so much pressure to monetise their 5G investment, it’s critical that operators are able to turn data into dollar signs. Data can tell operators a great deal about their subscribers and it can prove to be extremely important when upselling or cross-selling new services. For example, geo-locational data can be particularly powerful when trying to drive footfall to make instore purchases based on a user’s close proximity to a retail outlet. 

Going further, data insights can help to build predictive models based on different types of customer information—age, gender, handset type, and more. This helps operators to develop cross-selling offers that are more targeted and personalised to individual subscribers. This bespoke approach not only maximises the chance of a sale—as offers sent to subscribers are more relevant and therefore more likely to be received well—but it also increases customer loyalty and affinity with the operator brand, increasing stickiness and reducing the likelihood of churn. 

4. Facing the data deluge

5G presents many exciting opportunities for operators—there’s no doubt about it. End-to-end data management will be a key part of turning these opportunities into reality and operators are perfectly placed to be the enablers. But they can’t do that without having the right tools in place; that is, microservices-based cloud-based event processing at scale, in real time to deliver real value from data. This will give them the agility they need to cope with an ever-evolving 5G network, allowing them to continuously deliver insights and drive innovation for their subscribers. 

The tools are there, now it’s up to operators to put them in place to ensure they are ready to face the 5G data deluge.

Wi-Fi 6 – the next-generation of Wi-Fi standards – has officially launched, promising to usher in a new era of speeds and connectivity.

These standards, released by the non-profit Wi-Fi Alliance, outline the minimum requirements needed for devices, routers and networks to be officially Wi-Fi 6 certified.

The technology has been in the works for the best part of a decade and, while a number of Wi-Fi 6 certified devices are already on sale – namely the iPhone 11 range, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 and Netgear’s range of Nighthawk AX routers – the official release is significant because it will open up the standards to even more manufacturers.   

What is Wi-Fi 6? 

As the name suggests, Wi-Fi 6 is the sixth generation of Wi-Fi technology standards and is the first to be branded in this way. While its official name is 802.11ax, or high-efficiency wireless, and it follows on from 802.11ac, 802.11n and 802.11g, these monikers aren’t particularly palatable for the everyday consumer to get their head around, so the Alliance is taking a new route. 

As part of the global launch, it is rebranding all existing Wi-Fi standards to follow suit: Wi-Fi 6 is used to describe devices that support 802.11ax technology, Wi-Fi 5 is the new name for 802.11ac technology, Wi-Fi 4 is used to identify devices that support 802.11n technology, Wi-Fi 3 refers to 802.11g, and so on. But there’s a lot more to Wi-Fi 6 than a simple name change.

It’s been more than two decades since the initial Wi-Fi standards were released and very little has changed in terms of how these networks work. Speeds have increased, latency is much improved but the fundamental technology powering the whole system still works largely the way it always has, and is not suited for the rising number of connected devices.

Whereas the Alliance and manufacturers largely focused on increasing speeds with the launch of each of the previous set of standards, Wi-Fi 6 goes a step further, using recent advances in technology to not only boost speed, but also improve efficiency, extend range, enhance security and increase the number of devices connected to a network. 

These improvements will make browsing and downloading faster, yet they also promise to boost the battery life of phones, save energy and, subsequently money, on energy bills, and bring billions of predicted Internet of Things devices online.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because the claims being promised by Wi-Fi 6 aren’t too dissimilar to those promised by 5G, and in a number of ways the two advancements are linked. 

What’s wrong with current Wi-Fi networks?

To understand why Wi-Fi 6 is set to be so groundbreaking, it’s worth explaining how current Wi-Fi networks work. 

Wi-Fi networks, whether those in your home or large-scale public networks covering stadiums, hospitals and factories, all connect to devices in the same way – via access points. Every smart device, from phones to TVs and smart lightbulbs, get their data from these access points and they can subsequently send data back. This data is sent over channels, and sub channels, which were introduced and developed as Wi-Fi standards were improved in a bid to streamline the process and help manage the influx of connections.  

The problem with the majority of current Wi-Fi technology is that these access points can only send data to one device at a time, so the other devices have to sit and wait their turn. Then, when the access point is receiving data, it has to stop sending data. This is a slow, inefficient process. On your home Wi-Fi network, or a small business network, it’s unlikely you’ll be impacted by these delays because the number of devices is relatively small and the delay may be milliseconds.

However, on public networks, these milliseconds add up. When access points are sharing and receiving data for dozens, if not hundreds, of devices, the system almost grinds to a halt. Even with the enhanced speeds seen in Wi-Fi 5, many networks still rely on this push and wait system, which is incredibly inefficient. 

To further add to this delay, each time the access point sends data to a device, it has to send the whole channel, including its sub-channels, individually. Even if the device being served only needs a tiny bit of bandwidth, the access point has to send it all and wait for it to be returned, all the while that channel and bandwidth can’t be used by any other device. 

How does Wi-Fi 6 make networks faster and more efficient?

Wi-Fi 6, like 5G before it, throws this systems (almost) out of the window. It takes existing technologies – to make sure its systems can be backwards compatible – and combines them in a way to maximise efficiency in populated areas, such as stadiums and airports, while also benefiting the increasing number of devices in our homes and businesses.

Wi-Fi 6 uses access points that can send data to multiple devices, all at once, rather than individually. These access points work out how much bandwidth is needed for each task and reserves the optimum amount of bandwidth for that device. For instance, a 4K video requires much more bandwidth than making a VOIP call, so the access point reserves and sends the larger amount of data to the streaming device, at the same time it is sending the smaller packet to the VOIP call, all at once, without slowing down the other.

In the second wave of Wi-Fi 5, MU-MIMO (Multiple user, multiple input, multiple output) technology was introduced. MU-MIMO on Wi-Fi 5 got round existing single access point delivery problems by sending multiple (four) streams at once. Wi-Fi 6 pushes this up to eight, while also using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology to further split these MU-MIMO streams into four. Then, beamforming technology, makes sure these streams are delivered directly to their intended device.

Wi-Fi 6 speed

To boost bandwidth, Wi-Fi 6 operates in both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz ranges. 802.11ac only operates in the 5Ghz range and while this can be good for speed, it reduces the number of channels available. Early Wi-Fi 6 chipsets support a total of 12 channels, eight in the 5Ghz and four in the 2.4Ghz range.

Finally, Wi-Fi 6 technology has a feature called Target Wake Time. With existing networks, if a Wi-Fi radio inside a device “went to sleep”, it could lose connection to the access point so it would stay awake, even if it wasn’t needed or being used. Wi-Fi 6’s Target Wake Time feature only connects to, or “wakes”, these Wi-Fi radios at a certain time of day or for a certain type of task, before letting it power down. By only using power when needed, this feature can significantly reduce the battery consumption, and energy use, of devices.

What devices are compatible with Wi-Fi 6 and do I need to upgrade?

We’ve seen a small number of devices being launched in recent months that are Wi-Fi 6 Certified, including the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and the iPhone 11 range. Netgear was one of the first to sell a range of Wi-Fi 6 routers, under its Nightgear AX brand and other manufacturers, including Asus and TP-Link have also pioneered this technology. 

Now the Wi-Fi 6 standards have officially launched, we’d expect to see even more devices and routers carrying the Wi-Fi 6 Certified badge hitting the shelves. All of these Wi-Fi 6 devices will be backwards compatible with your existing router, meaning they’ll work with older Wi-Fi standards. Similarly, older Wi-Fi devices will be able to connect to new Wi-Fi 6 routers. However, only Wi-Fi 6 devices will benefit from the faster Wi-Fi 6 speeds, and you won’t be able to use Wi-Fi 6 features without a Wi-Fi 6 router.  

How will Wi-Fi 6 and 5G work together?

A new report from the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) – whose members include Facebook, HPE Aruba, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Swisscom, Telstra and T-Mobile – has revealed five essential building blocks for a successful convergence between Wi-Fi 6 and 5G.

The report, led by Broadcom, Cisco, Intel and Orange, looks at technologies that enable access to 5G services via Wi-Fi. 

“It highlights several critical action areas for industry bodies and operators related to supporting trusted WLAN integration with the 5G core and enabling QoS differentiation for 5G flows over WLAN access,” the WBA announcement explained. “The specific enhancements and suggested actions for the industry are broken down into five distinctive key areas.”

Five things that will enable convergence with 5G

The organisation says that convergence is critical to enabling new breed of services, applications and experiences such as Industry 4.0, AR/VR, Connected Cities and mobile edge computing. And the report focuses on five critical areas that must be addressed, which are: 

• 5G and Wi-Fi convergence architecture
• Multi-access functionality for Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting (ATSSS)
• End-to-end QoS (Quality-of-Service)
• Policy Interworking and enhancements across 5G and Wi-Fi
•  Support for Wi-Fi only devices

The report builds on previous work carried out by the WBA, which covered the benefits and use cases of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G convergence, such as an increase in deployment possibilities and scenarios for operators and access providers; opportunities connected to Industry 4.0; smart city development; the opportunity for fixed wireless access services; and the ability to access 5G services via Wi-Fi only devices.

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 Communication has never been more important than during the pandemic. Whether you’re using a mobile device to stay connected to friends and family, a laptop to jump into your next Zoom meeting, or a television to see the latest news - without knowing, most of the world relies on Communication Service Providers (CSP) to provide them with reliable connections. But, with the rise in use, comes the rise in competition and the loss of revenues from the rise of campus networks and network slicing - two things CSPs have been fighting for some time. 

CSPs have been in the process of a digital transformation for the last few years, with the end goal to improve efficiencies and enhance the customer experience.

As CSPs continue with their core business model to sell phone devices with 5G, they are now on a mission to transform themselves from product-selling providers to services and solutions providers. As 5G rollouts continue to gain momentum and the Internet of Things solutions continue to accelerate, we will see CSPs move closer to being solutions-focused.

Below are the reasons why I believe CSPs and the Internet of Things will be the real winners of the implementation of 5G. 

1. CSPs will rely on 5G to offer unique opportunities

Prior to the pandemic and lockdowns, across the globe, people were preparing for the implementation and execution of 5G. Many believed 2020 was going to be the year 5G did - or did not - live up to the built-up hype it had continuously received. 

As stay at home orders in most of the world ease, 5G’s implementation is continuing at a steady pace, with many providers again jostling for a position amidst the rollouts.  

Once telecom operators like Verizon and AT&T own their spectrums, they can build out their own 5G networks, opening opportunities for new revenue streams from new business models and ecosystems on top of everything 5G offers. This will enable CSPs to offer private networks to the industry to replace fixed infrastructures with easier to use and cheaper wireless connections. This is a brand new area for CSPs and a strong differentiator against competition. 

2. IoT drives CSP demands 

IoT solutions have never been more in-demand than during the pandemic, with many enterprises turning to the emerging technology to enable smart social distancing practices and other ‘tech for good’ initiatives. 

As expectations in the execution of IoT solutions continue to increase, CSPs will need to have end-to-end vertical solutions available. To do this, it takes an ecosystem of partners and is not always something telcos want to take on. CSPs will instead look for aid in building solutions that will combine devices, platforms, connectivity, applications, and analysis.

 3. Understanding the future of CSPs  

As telco vendors and CSPs dive deeper into IoT-led vertical solutions across businesses, they will require a flexible environment where they can share knowledge and experience. The most efficient way to do this is by putting APIs into a single, branded environment where customers can easily find them. 

So far, we have already seen two areas of growth in end-to-end solution developments:

• Massive IoT solutions: Low-cost devices, sensors, and actuators that consume very low amounts of energy to sustain long battery life. A prime example of this is the IoT-powered devices worn by players in the NFL that sense what players spent the most time near them on the playing field in case someone contracts COVID-19.
• Critical IoT solutions: Applications requiring very high reliability and availability and very low latency as well as wireless connectivity for industrial processes. An example of this would be using IoT for traffic safety.

If all goes well, CSPs globally will have the opportunity to gather and participate in new ecosystems for IoT success. Otherwise, the sensor environment could become unmanageable, with up to 29 billion connected devices expected by 2022. 

There was tremendous time pressure on CSPs and telcos from their customers prior to the pandemic to fulfil. CSPs are continuing to find ways to differentiate themselves in order to gain new resources and revenue streams. In 2021, it will be up to the CSPs to completely implement 5G in order to make much of this a reality. 

With all that being said, no one could have predicted the impact the pandemic had on the acceleration of the use of IoT. Is 5G the next emerging technology to go down a similar path? We will see. 

2020 is a year that will live long in the memory. Not just for the obvious reasons: a global pandemic; a trade war between the US and China, which impacted the telecoms sector; and history’s most divisive US presidential election; but the year will also be remembered as the one that saw 5G technology tip into the mainstream. 

5G predictions for 2020

Mobile network operators around the world chose 2020 to roll out their first 5G services, billions of dollars were spent on upgrading technology and marketing these new services, and Apple – although a little late to the party – chose 2020 to release its 5G iPhone.

But with so much disruption within the networking and telecommunications industries, what can we expect to see in 2021?

Marc Serra, CMO and head of strategy and development at Infovista, offers up his predictions of what the near future may have in store for the telco industry:

1) Mobile operators accelerate OSS integration and cloudification

"Operation Support Systems (OSSs) are often an obstacle to evolving mobile networks as most of them were designed and built in the 2G/3G era.  With the rise of virtualised networks and newer OpenRAN technologies, more operators are preparing to move their OSS to the cloud to become more agile while reducing their total cost of ownership (TCO).

A few operators have already started this journey, with Rakuten, Elisa and DT being some of the most visible examples, each of them following specific paths and dealing with radically different backgrounds. But they all demonstrate how crucial network functions – such as planning, design, service assurance, troubleshooting and optimisation – can now be delivered from the cloud in support of the 5G rollout."

2) Consumers will drive 5G adoption

"A host of lower cost 5G chipsets released in 2020 along with Apple’s recently unveiled iPhone 12. 5G will lead to a surge in 5G adoption during 2021 with consumers rather than businesses leading the charge. As Covid restrictions ease, video will continue to drive the bulk of data consumption but fixed-wireless access (FWA) technology, which aims to provide “fiber-like” connectivity at homes through 4G/5G will gain more momentum especially in suburban and rural areas.  All this may help counterbalance the uncertainties toward 5G within the Enterprise market, where the pandemic aftermath will be felt in many industries, some harder than others."

3) The network lifecycle gets automated

"The promise of SON (self-organised networks) has been around since the early 2010’s but has failed to deliver on its potential. For several years, there have been efforts to automate parts of the network lifecycle through specific use cases and a recent study commissioned by Infovista suggests that half of CSPs intend to deploy or expand automated solutions within the next 12 months. The expansion of 5G networks during the next few years will provide a catalyst for more automation to span the full set of network lifecycle activities.

Over the coming year, more operators will follow the example of disruptors such as Rakuten in Japan, Dish in the US, or Jio in India, that have started their mobile networks from scratch in the 4G/5G era, with the big advantage of no legacy technology to support. The headline benefit is that by combining the latest RAN technologies with advanced network automation, these pioneers can produce services at 40-50% lower cost than leading carriers. This is not going unnoticed by other operators, which are starting to prioritise automation, looking for more interoperability, as well as vendors which can offer integrated solutions."

Ofir Zemer, CEO at Cellwize, agrees that automation will be a fundamental element of 5G's make-up in 2021 and beyond: 

4. 5G Must Be Born Automated

"5G is not just another “G”, but an entire sphere containing multiple levels of complexities: multi-band, multi-technology, multi-layer, multi-architecture, and multi-RAN players. These complexities pose challenges for mobile network operators, who are already under pressure to deploy 5G quickly enough to meet market demands. Therefore, automation - both at the network level and throughout all business processes - will be a crucial element towards operators’ success in their 5G rollouts."

Nick Offin, Head of Operations at dynabook Northern Europe, believes that 2021 will be the year that mobile edge computing (MEC) comes into its own:

5. Mobile Edge Computing

“Edge computing has continued to gain significant traction in recent years, yet it’s this coming year that we’ll finally see where this technology can bring real benefits. While public 5G is still years away from mainstream adoption, Forrester sees immediate value in private 5G – a network dedicated to a specific business or locale like a warehouse, shipyard, or factory. 

This technology is here now and is ready to drive edge computing in 2021. The evolution of 5G and mobile edge computing technology will also provide a platform for enterprise wearable technologies to really come to the fore. Smart glasses allow field workers to carry out tasks hands-free, while still having access to the information and tools they need. With mobile edge computing solutions acting as the gateway, smart glasses are a natural next step and close to becoming mainstream for frontline and field-based workers.”

Dan Graham, global product leader, mobile edge computing at WWT agrees that edge computing will be key, especially when it comes to opening up new revenue opportunities:

6. Edge computing as a revenue engine

"In 2021, Edge will be critical in creating new revenue streams for network operators, helping offset the costs of executing their 5G strategy. Increasingly, Enterprises are looking towards Edge computing as a solution to help fix business problems, decrease cost, and increase efficiency. 

Edge computing is also enabling private mobile broadband to fill in the gaps of geographic coverage, reach latency targets, and support industrial IoT and manufacturing use cases. We’ll also see traditional cloud applications get extended into on-prem or near prem locations to take advantage of the new 5G infrastructure, real-time data processing, and low latency use cases. 

5G advances aren’t just about deployments, they are about perception change. In 2021 the days of 5G simply being perceived as the next stage of mobile phone connectivity will be over. 5G is a catalyst for brand new enterprise edge use cases and private connectivity which will set the stage for the fourth industrial revolution. Carriers will either meet the demand of these new use cases and support their enterprise customer’s digital transformation or will be relegated to costly dumb pipes."

Graham's colleague at WWT, Paul Rhodes, who is an OpenRAN and 5G principal consultant at WWT sees 2021 as the year O-RAN becomes integral to mobile network operators, as they create new network blueprints:

7. Operators will lay out O-RAN roadmaps

"By the end of the year, it will be mainstream for service providers to commit to deploying Open RAN. 2021 will be the year of confirming Open RAN commercials and refining blueprints. Setting out roadmaps is about confidence, and we’ll begin to see real momentum as deal terms come into view. We may even see the first practical Macro deployments of O-RAN towards the end of the year, with Enterprise and Private Network deployment likely even sooner.

In 2020, Vodafone laid out an updated commitment to O-RAN deployments, promising to deploy equipment at 2600 sites. This includes a commitment to deploy 1150 sites by the end of 2023, countering pessimism from those who were saying sites would not begin rollout until 2025. The roadmap is putting pressure on other service providers to lay out similar commitments. Confidence in the system is critical, as it encourages investment and proves there is a market for equipment makers. At the time of going to press, Telefonica has announced that it has plans to connect a live Enterprise Open RAN pilot to its network in the new year, leveraging UK & Ireland System Integrator Vilicom’s Mavenir-based blueprint.

Service providers have voiced public support for O-RAN before, but they will be keen to set out a timeline for delivery so they do not appear to be holding up progress. Operators are likely to realise that simply promising ‘open’ or ‘virtualised networks’ rather than specifically O-RAN deployments is no longer enough. Those promises slightly sidestep the O-RAN question - but are still a step in the right direction.

The rollout will target specific use cases such as 4G O-RAN in rural areas, with the expectation that other use cases like city centres will catch up later. Network operators will continue to pursue both 2G/3G and 5G deployments for specific use cases too. Expanded testing schemes are already in progress in the private space. For example, Mavenir is conducting 2G/3G O-RAN trials, and Vodafone has created a 5G O-RAN proof of concept in the Netherlands. On the basis of trial successes and vendor roadmaps, in November 2020 the Telecom Infra Project published their own readiness plan for 2021/22 and they believe that all rural, residential, urban and dense urban deployment requirements will become available in 2021, with the sole exception being massive MIMO beamforming which arrives in mid-2022."

Teradata’s Martin Tidell, a senior industry consultant, sees 5G and IoT having a much greater impact over the next 12 months:

8. 5G and IoT continue to prevail

"Most recent trends in telco rolling over to 2021, are related to 5G and IoT. Telcos are increasingly turning towards partnerships in adjacent industries, which will be enabled by 5G and IoT. Examples of new business benefits are countless, but industry 4.0 related topics, such as predictive maintenance and automation will be significantly improved. 

In smart health, we are already seeing advancements beyond fitness trackers and blood pressure measurements. Products already exist that with subdermal sensors (implants), can capture fever at an early stage, in a population, and hence predict pandemic spread closer to real time. Enhancements and just-in-time precision in supply chain will continue and cities will become smarter beyond emptying waste bins and optimizing traffic lights, powered by analytics and connectivity."

Mark Bole, CEO at Quortus, believes that 2021 will be the year where private 5G networks become essential for enterprises looking to open up new opportunities.

9.  The year that private 5G networks truly arrive 

"2021 is set to be a year of 5G maturity as standalone networks start to launch in earnest. This will focus minds of global enterprises as they look to leverage optimal, bespoke connectivity to suit their own specific needs. This will see a flurry of private 5G, and LTE, network deployments across all sizes of enterprises, across many countries and many vertical markets. The US will lead as enterprises look to realize a return on the $4.6 billion they have invested in CBRS spectrum."

Martin Morgan, VP of marketing at Openet believes that 2021 will see the emergence of a 5G value plane that will bridge a service provider’s network with its supporting IT and business systems.

10.  Bridging beyond the network 

"With the roll-out of standalone (SA) 5G, the emergence of network embedded services and the subsequent monetisation of the 5G network, there will be closer scrutiny on how service providers develop, manage and monetise 5G services. 

Clearly the network functions in 5G need to be very tightly integrated into BSS - after all, the network attributes are not just a means of delivering a service, but they are now part of the service. As such we’ll see the emergence of a 5G Value Plane that bridges IT and business functions and the 5G network. 5G policy and charging functions in the Value Plane need to be integrated to service catalogs in existing BSS stacks and also to the 5G network, thus providing a bridge between business & IT, and the 5G network. This provides the agility needed for service providers to quickly develop, launch, manage and monetise new SA 5G offers."

Alan Carlton, VP at InterDigital Europe, is getting ahead of the competition, and predicts that the biggest issue facing 5G in 2021 will be how we progress to 6G technology.

11. 6G must finish the work of 5G

"2021 is the year that industry attention will turn to 6G. Although 5G has been touted as the last generation, just like any other G, it’s only when deployments begin that limitations are noted and the need for the next generation is made clear.

While 5G has made significant moves to a more software defined Core Network and RAN, there are some big steps remaining. Take extended reality—mainstream adoption requires the technology to facilitate both augmented and virtual reality as well as piece the experiences together in real time. This roadmap is very rich, and the truth is 5G may only take us so far.

6G must also fix 5G’s sustainability shortfall. While many claim 5G will be more energy efficient than previous generations, these claims myopically focus on energy consumption per data unit, which will be lower. But 5G will require much higher data units than any other generation, meaning overall energy consumption will significantly increase. Put simply, to claim 5G is more sustainable is to say that a Bugatti Chiron is more efficient than a Toyota Yaris because it uses less fuel per horsepower.

5G has opened the door to new use cases such as immersive reality, but it will be 6G that pushes these use cases into the mainstream—and does it sustainably."

Sanjay Bhatia, VP of solutions marketing and strategy at Ribbon, thinks that commercial services that harness the power of 5G will become prevalent in 2021.

12. Commercial services that harness 5G

"This year South Korea Telecom partnered with Microsoft to provide “SKT 5GX Cloud Game” Powered by Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It’s very much a sign of things to come in 2021 – operators partnering with content providers to better monetize 5G network capabilities. Mobile cloud gaming is a perfect example of a consumer service that needs the low latency (less than 10 milliseconds) that 5G offers. 

This has the potential to revolutionize the global mobile gaming experience and insert mobile operators firmly within the service value chain. More operators in more countries will pursue mobile cloud gaming along with other services that rely on low latency, mission critical connectivity that results from investment at the network edge."

Paul Miller, chief technology officer at Wind River, predicts that virtualization will take  center stage in 2021, providing benefits for deployment, operation, and ROI.

13. Operators will continue the vRAN buildout

"2020 saw Verizon complete its first end-to-end fully virtualized 5G data session in the US. Rakuten and Dish continued to pursue greenfield vRAN deployments and many other global operators also contemplated how they could benefit from the significant CAPEX and OPEX savings the new architecture presents. 

However, these cost savings will not be the only catalyst for growing momentum behind vRAN in 2021. It will also help operators accelerate deployment of distributed cloud architecture needed to power vRAN and a host of other enterprise use cases across a range of vertical markets including industrial, automotive and healthcare, to further accelerate 5G ROI."

Angus Ward, CEO at BearingPoint//Beyond, predicts that CSPs will need to move fast in 2021, moving beyond the traditional formula, and moving towards a more innovation and experimentation.

14.  CSPs must innovate in 2021

"With the value of listed telecoms companies dropping almost 20% on average over the past year, it’s become clear that staying in the comfort zone of simply selling connectivity and clinging on to legacy business models is having a stranglehold on the business, as more stakeholders start to abandon the Communication Service Provider’s ‘sinking ship’.

The truth is that customers are losing patience and CSPs can’t rely on the “traditional formula”. In 2021, this will become even more apparent when CSPs will need to assure payback from their $1 trillion investment in the much hyped 5G technology. The traditional way of monetizing 5G by selling smartphones and contracts to millions of retail customers is simply no longer viable. We have already seen this in China and S. Korea where this approach has been met with a relatively cool reception, so there needs to be some reputational damage control.

In 2021, CSPs need to execute a much broader set of changes if fibre and 5G is to be an economic success for them. Most are uncomfortable with change and it will take time, but time is not on their side! Survival means the acceleration of the speed of innovation, opening up to experimentation with new business model(s) and moving beyond connectivity into the ecosystem, data services and technology."

Jurie Roux, product marketing manager at TEOCO, thinks that operators will need to address how to automate and manage small cell contracts, whilst the race is on to deliver network slicing, and the plethora of services that it will open up.

15.  Smart contracts for small cells and beyond

"The regular joke is that blockchain is a solution in search of a problem. With telecoms, it’s found it. Infrastructure and hardware is often a mess of complex relationships and agreements, and smart contracts that run on blockchain can manage these relationships effectively. 

The rollout of 5G also means also rolling out hundreds of thousands of small cells across cities and towns over the next year. Many of the best sites for these small cells involve complicated right-of-way issues that will require resolution. 

Every municipality has its own rules resulting in complex contracts between carriers, equipment vendors, landowners, technology partners and government agencies. Adapting contracts for each of these is tricky, but made much easier by using smart contracts that replace legalese with code, and use blockchain to record transactions. This is one example that could start  the use of blockchain in mobile networks."

16.  The race is on for 5G network slicing

"Earlier this year in October, Nokia announced the world’s first automated 4G/5G networking slicing within RAN, transport and core domains – a huge step forward. With standalone 5G core available, I expect 2021 will see the race begin for the first non-commercial trials of 5G slices to be configured with selected leading operators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Slicing has so far been touted as operators’ solution to delivering end-to-end 5G services within their existing operations – that may be overpromised. In some cases, it’ll require more than just a mobile network slice to make new use cases a reality. In the realm of 5G drones for example, connectivity assurance will be a combination of satellite as a primary and mobile as secondary, for the simple reason that mobile doesn’t cover everywhere geographically, particularly in rural areas. We’re already seeing plans by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos for low orbit satellite rollout which would see drones always staying connected. This two-pronged approach could also be adopted for autonomous cars on rural roads where forestation means mobile signal struggles to penetrate.

But that’s not to say that network slicing won’t deliver a great deal of benefit in 2021. The sports industry is huge, spanning billions of sporting fans across the globe. The initial use cases for 5G network slicing will be applied to live VR sporting events, and there are fans ready to pay a premium for this service."

Raj Talluri is senior vice president and general manager of Micron’s Mobile Business Unit, and believes that our increasing reliance on mobile technology will come with an increased demand for low-power memory.

17. Increased demand for low-power memory

"In 2021, we’ll see near-term benefits in mobile, especially with the deployment of 5G networks this year — which will accelerate globally.  The fast speeds and low latencies will enable people to truly multitask with their phones as the hub.  Consumers will be able to stream a high-definition multiplayer video game to their television while video chatting, texting, and doing work on their phone simultaneously.  With all these rich, data-heavy mobile needs, in 2021, we’ll see increased demand for low-power memory such as LPDDR5 which will be critical for keeping pace with compute-intensive behaviors without draining battery."

Kris Baxter is corporate vice president and general manager of Micron’s Embedded Business Unit, and although 2020 didn't see the level of adoption many people expected, Baxter says the first step towards autonomous vehicles could be taken in 2021 via advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

18. Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS)

"For 2021, set autonomous aside for a second and think about advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). COVID put a damper on the aggressive adoption we might’ve seen otherwise in the mobility space; people are hesitant about public transportation and ridesharing. We’re also a long ways away from having the technology to be fully autonomous. We’ve seen Tesla backing away from autonomous claims and highlighting ADAS Level 2 and Level 3. We see an increase in that space — adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, automatic braking, driver monitoring systems. The overall market is going to be very strong in 2021, not for autonomous vehicles, but digitalization of the cabin.

"We still believe that autonomous vehicles are going to make it into the enterprise first: robo-taxis, long-haul trucking applications, areas that can afford the costs associated with autonomous. And with the explosion in automotive data, we’ll also see a shift towards centralizing vehicle computing. There’s an architectural transition where we're going to go from having a fragmented architecture with individual ECUs around the car to having a single domain controller."

Raj Hazra is Micron's senior vice president of emerging products and corporate strategy, and Hazra says that the Coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way data centers operate, and envisages a post-pandemic world where streamlined resources and AI-as-a-service will be key.

19. Disaggregated composable systems

"The pandemic has allowed hypothesis to be proven true by catalyzing digital transformation. As meetings go virtual, streaming data has exploded. And all of the sudden, AI self-learning models look less risky. In the past, a CIO would say “It would be great to do that, but I can't take those risks.” This risk tolerance has changed because they’ve had to make the changes.

"In 2021, the prevalence of remote work—even post-pandemic—will continue accelerating capabilities in the cloud. This will drive unprecedented interest in disaggregated composable systems, so there aren’t wasted resources in an over-provisioned environment. This move toward streamlining resources will be critical in reducing the rising environmental impact of IT. For example, information and communication technology is already predicted to use 20% of the world’s electricity by 2030. As companies look to incorporate sustainability into business strategy and reduce OpEx for compute-intensive workloads such as AI and high-performance computing, we’ll see escalating demand for energy-efficient memory and storage."

20. Boundaries between memory and storage will blur

"2021 is going to see AI-as-a-service become mainstream, intelligence migrate to the edge, and 5G come to life. This is going to propel fundamental changes in the way server systems are architected. Memory will extend into multiple zones—and will become a shared resource. And storage and memory will merge. You’ll no longer think “DRAM for memory and NAND for storage,” because faster NAND will create the ability to use it as memory.

"The age-old demands of “Let's get one more generation of faster DRAM” or “Let's get less costly memory at higher capacities” are going away. As data demands complexify, we’ll see enterprises asking, “Can we get memory with half the power of DRAM” or “Can we get memory with a different interface to be pooled amongst servers?” The real interest is in innovation beyond CPUs and GPUs. In 2021, we’ll see enterprises seeking new kinds of solutions such as storage-class memory and memory virtualization to meet these evolving needs."

As new predictions come in, we will be updating this post, to bring you the the most complete list of 5G industry predictions for 2021.

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