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5G uptake with the promise
Government pressure and
of higher bandwidth. But
support in South Korea
there’s also interest in fixed-
have played their part in
wireless broadband over 5G,
the take up of 5G. He also
especially in areas where fibre
suggests that the insistence
is challenging to install. It’s
on the development of a
predicted that 90 per cent of
wide area network rather
rural America will have average
than limited geographic
5G speeds of 50Mbps within
coverage, coupled with the
six years, faster than current
support and subsidies from
US broadband averages. We
government agencies who
“5G will play a
expect to see industrial and
ensured industry players
enterprise applications emerge,
worked together have played
significant role
with examples ranging from
their part. “Some operators
in increasing live
automotive safety through to
will use 5G for revenue
production and
smart city infrastructure, as
maintenance,” he suggests,
contribution.” -
additional the additional 5G
acknowledging that currently
Baruch Altman,
benefits of ultra-low latency
some are not charging a
(URLLC) and network slicing
premium for 5G because of
LiveU
(reservation of bandwidth) come
the lack of network coverage.
into play.”
“Arguably, 5G is as pervasive in other
“We think it’s likely that South Korea,
markets,” says Pescatore. “All of the UK telcos
China, Japan and the US will lead the
have launched 5G in a relatively short period
way given the current state of play,” says
of time. Let’s not forget the States where they
Globecast’s Walker. “Dedicated enterprise take
up will depend on the availability of dedicated
bandwidth – which will be heavily impacted by
the regulatory frameworks in each country.”
Fautier agrees that for 5G video applications,
Korea is the furthest along, with operators like
SKT, KT and LGU+ having already deployed
VR applications in 5G networks. “Right now,
trials are underway for 5G in Europe and the
US, but there have not been any commercial
deployments to date.”
“We think that the adoption will be driven
by each country’s varying perceptions of
5G as a key economic and societal growth
engine, regulatory situations, financial states
of cellular operators and citizens’ spending
power,” comments LiveU’s Altman. “This
will be particularly so in the post-Covid-19
era. As just one example, we see lower than
expected uptake of new 5G cellular phones,
also due to the chicken-and-egg issue with
regard to 5G deployment versus devices versus
applications.”
APAC. Wallis-Jones identifies APAC as
key region driving take-up, agreeing that
12 EUROMEDIA
solutions that are only accessible to a few,
to experiences & solutions that are widely
available to be enjoyed by many.”
“5G is essential in the realisation of the
gigabit society,” states Forrest. “But the
headline gigabit speeds that 5G is capable of
will only be available in a handful of cities
worldwide in the medium term. Indeed,
operators have been quick to explain that
the infrastructure investment is significant
and therefore we should not expect to
receive blanket coverage for several years.
Many commentators forget that gigabit
mobile necessitates multi-gigabit backhaul
connections to ensure high bandwidth
is available to all users of the service, so
there’s a corresponding fibre backbone to
install alongside densification of 5G mobile
infrastructure. Nonetheless, the move to 5G
ultimately promises to deliver gigabit network
performance with wide area coverage and
ultra-low latency.”
“5G will, no doubt, be a major component
of the ‘bandwidth mix’ of the future,” suggests
Walker. “The telcos delivering 5G capacity to
consumers will need to balance the investment
required for 5G with that already made (or
not) in 4G and fibre. As ever, they will be
looking at the relative commercial returns
for B2C vs B2B and urban versus rural
investments in terms of the optimum usage for
their spectrum. That mix will also depend on
the appetite of governments/regulators to get
involved and on the licensing conditions they
impose, as we are seeing playing out in the US
now with the C-Band/5G frequency rulings.”
ECONOMICS. “On paper, 5G can deliver
on Gigabit traffic, but in practice, it will be
more in the realm of 100 Mbps,” says Fautier.
are all jostling for position and using 5G in
“In the commercial offerings we see for fixed
different ways such as a replacement for home
wireless in US, the 5G service from Verizon is
fixed line broadband. South Korea seems to be
at 300 Mbps and for T-Mobile it is guaranteed
leading in terms of deployment and consumer
up to 50 Mbps. We are far from Gigabit
take-up, however coverage is still limited
connectivity. In the UK, speeds measured are
while devices and services are still pricey. The
between 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps, though
current concern over the Coronavirus will have
there’s been no commitment from operators.
an impact on the supply chain; more so for
Why limit the speed of the 5G network in a
companies that rely on parts
Gigabit society? It’s a matter
coming from China.”
of economics and planning.
GIGABIT. As to what role
To bring a Gigabit per user
5G can play in the move to
requires a very good backhaul
a gigabit society, Everson
infrastructure, and when the
says that it can indeed
traffic starts to grow, there
make gigabit speeds widely
will be contention risks. Also,
available for mobile users.
from an application point
“The typical experience on
of view, for a true mobile
the best 4G networks today
experience, 100 Mbps is
is several hundred Mbps
sufficient while for a fixed
“People buying
(often significantly slower),
mobile experience (your
5G devices and
and that’s on the best LTE
5G phone is your modem),
services are high-
networks. 5G CAN make
higher speed will be required,
gigabit the TYPICAL mobile
especially to compete with
end users.” - Seth
experience – that can move
Wallis-Jones, Omdia fixed Gigabit technologies.”
the gigabit society from
“The industry needs to