AWS looks to dominate 5G edge with telco partners that include Verizon, Vodafone, KDDI, SK Telecom

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

On Dec. 3rd at AWS re:Invent (Dec. 2-6, 2019) in Las Vegas, Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), announced AWS Wavelength, which provides developers the ability to build applications that serve end-users with single-digit millisecond latencies over the 5G network. AWS is partnering with Verizon on making AWS Wavelength available across the United States. Currently, AWS Wavelength is being piloted by select customers in Verizon’s 5G Edge, Verizon’s mobile edge compute (MEC) solution, in Chicago. Additionally, AWS is collaborating with other global telecommunications companies (including Vodafone, SK Telecom, and KDDI) to launch AWS Wavelength across Europe, South Korea, and Japan in 2020, with more global partners coming soon. From Amazon’s AWS Wavelength press release:

AWS Wavelength enables developers to build applications that deliver single-digit millisecond latencies to mobile devices and end-users. AWS developers can deploy their applications to Wavelength Zones, AWS infrastructure deployments that embed AWS compute and storage services within the wireless telecommunications providers’ data centers at the edge of the 5G networks, and seamlessly access the breadth of AWS services in the region. This enables developers to deliver applications that require single-digit millisecond latencies such as game and live video streaming, machine learning inference at the edge, and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).

AWS Wavelength brings AWS services to the edge of the 5G network, minimizing the latency to connect to an application from a mobile device. Application traffic can reach application servers running in Wavelength Zones without leaving the mobile provider’s network. This reduces the extra network hops to the Internet that can result in latencies of more than 100 milliseconds, preventing customers from taking full advantage of the bandwidth and latency advancements of 5G.

China ITU-R WP5D submission: work plan and working document for IMT-2020.SPECS

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

Introduction:

ITU-R WP 5D has received final submissions from 3GPP, Korea, China, ETSI/DECT Forum, TSDSI and Nufront; and then additional information for complementing the proposals of ETSI/DECT Forum, TSDSI and Nufront has been submitted by September 10^th, 2019.

The draft new Recommendation ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.SPECS] (Detailed specifications of the terrestrial radio interfaces of International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020)) should be developed from the 33^rd 5D meeting (December 10-13, 2019) in Sub Working Group-IMT Specifications. The schedule calls for completion of that recommendation at the December 2020 ITU-R WP5D meeting.

Editor’s Note:

As ITU-R WP5D reports to SG 5, they must complete IMT 2020.specs at their Nov 17-19, 2020 meeting so that they can forward it for approval to the next scheduled SG 5 meeting which takes place the following week – Nov 23-24 in Geneva. Failure to do that will result in IMT 2020.specs to not be approved by ITU-R till 2021.

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China proposes detailed work plan and working document towards Preliminary Draft New Recommendation ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.SPECS]:

Preliminary Draft New Report: ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.SPECS]

Detailed specifications of the terrestrial radio interfaces of International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020)

Note: China proposes that ITU-R WP 5D finalize this report at Wp 5D Meeting No. 36bis (17-19 November 2020).

Scope

This Recommendation identifies the terrestrial radio interface technologies of International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020) and provides the detailed radio interface specifications. These radio interface specifications detail the features and parameters of IMT-2020.

This Recommendation includes the capability to ensure worldwide compatibility, international roaming, access to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC) and ultra reliability and low latency communications (URLLC).

Keywords

IMT, IMT-2020, RIT, SRIT, eMBB, mMTC, URLLC

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Abbreviations/Glossary

eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

IMT International Mobile Telecommunications

mMTC Massive Machine Type Communications

MTC Machine Type Communications

URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications

RIT Radio interface technologies

SRIT Set of Radio interface technologies

GCS Global Core Specifications

Related ITU Recommendations, Reports, Document and Handbook¹

Recommendation ITU-R M.1036 Frequency arrangements for implementation of the terrestrial component of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) in the bands identified for IMT in the Radio Regulations (RR)

Recommendation ITU-R M.1224 Vocabulary of Terms for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)

Recommendation ITU-R M.1579 Global circulation of IMT terrestrial terminals

Recommendation ITU-R M.1822 Framework for services supported by IMT

Recommendation ITU-R M.2083 IMT Vision – Framework and overall objectives of the future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond

Report ITU-R M.2320 Future technology trends of terrestrial IMT systems

Report ITU-R M.2334 Passive and active antenna systems for base stations of IMT systems

Report IMT-R M.2370 IMT traffic estimations for the years 2020 to 2030

Report IMT-R M.2375 Architecture and topology of IMT networks

Report ITU-R M.2376 Technical feasibility of IMT in bands above 6 GHz

Report ITU-R M.2410 Minimum requirements related to technical performance for IMT‑2020 radio interface(s)

Report ITU-R M.2411 Requirements, evaluation criteria and submission templates for the development of IMT-2020

Report ITU-R M.2412 Guidelines for evaluation of radio interface technologies for IMT-2020

Report ITU-R M.2441 Emerging usage of the terrestrial component of International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT)

1 The latest edition of the recommendation/ report in force should be used.

Report ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.OUTCOME] The outcome of the evaluation, consensus building and decision of the IMT-2020 process (steps 4-7), including characteristics of IMT-2020 radio interfaces

Resolution ITU-R 50 Role of the Radiocommunication Sector in the ongoing development of IMT

Resolution ITU-R 56 Naming for International Mobile Telecommunications

Resolution ITU-R 57 Principles for the process of development of IMT Advanced

Resolution ITU-R 65 Principles for the process of future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond

Document IMT-2020/2 Rev2 Submission, evaluation process and consensus building for IMT-2020

Handbook on Global Trends in International Mobile Telecommunication

The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly, considering

a) that IMT systems are mobile broadband systems including IMT-2000, IMT‑Advanced and IMT-2020;

b) that IMT-2020 systems include the new capabilities of IMT that go beyond those of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, and will interwork with and complement existing IMT and its enhancements;

c) that IMT-2020 is envisaged to expand and support diverse usage scenarios and applications that will continue beyond the current IMT;

d) that such systems provide access to a wide range of telecommunication services including advanced mobile services, supported by mobile and fixed networks;

e) that ITU has contributed to standardization and harmonized use of IMT, which has provided telecommunication services on a global scale and global operation and economies of scale are key requirements for the success of mobile telecommunication systems;

f) that IMT-2020 systems support low to high mobility applications (NOTE: but NOT fixed wireless) and a wide range of data rates in accordance with user and service demands in multiple user environments;

g) that the usage scenarios of IMT-2020 include enhanced Mobile Broadband, ultra-reliable and low latency communication and massive machine-type communication;

h) that IMT-2020 systems support not only human communications but also the machine type communications;

i) that IMT-2020 systems support ultra-reliable and low latency communications which are necessary in particular use cases;

j) that IMT-2020 also has capabilities for high-quality multimedia applications within a wide range of services and platforms providing a significant improvement in performance, quality of service and user experience;

k) that the key features of IMT-2020 are:

– a high degree of commonality of functionality worldwide while retaining the flexibility to support a wide range of services and applications in a cost-efficient manner;

– compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks;

– capability of interworking with other radio access systems;

– high-quality mobile services for maximum user experiences;

– user equipment suitable for worldwide use;

– worldwide roaming capability;

– further enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications (10 Gbit/s for uplink and 20 Gbit/s for downlink) and enables 100 Mbit/s user experienced data rate;

– enhanced spectrum efficiency by three times higher compare to IMT-Advanced;

– high downlink area traffic capacity;

– ultra low latency over-the air;

– extreme connection density;

– ultra reliability communication success probability within 1 ms in certain condition;

– high speed mobility station ;

– enhanced energy efficiency mechanism;

l) that these features enable IMT-2020 to address evolving user needs in various usage scenarios;

m) that the capabilities of IMT-2020 systems are being continuously enhanced in line with technology developments;

n) the necessity of priority services (e.g. emergency calls shall be supported as higher priority than other commercial services);

o) that IMT systems are considered as the major candidate for Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR);

p) that due to the large effective bandwidths required to support the very high data rates needed for the various services offered, allowances must be made for either much larger single carrier bandwidths (even as spectral efficiencies increase) or aggregation of RF carriers;

q) that for some scenarios of IMT-2020 requiring bandwidths of at least 100 MHz, and up to 1 GHz, there would be a need to consider wideband contiguous spectrum above 6 GHz;

r) that IMT-2020 will realize the Internet of Things (IoT) by connecting a vast range of smart appliances, machines and other objects without human intervention;

s) that applicable areas of IMT-2020 and beyond are expected to be expanded further to various specific verticals industrial applications to facilitate the digital economy, e.g. e-manufacturing, e-agriculture, e-health, intelligent transport systems, smart city and traffic control, etc., which could bring requirements beyond current capabilities of IMT;

t) that IMT-2020 should be able to provide these capabilities without undue burden on energy consumption, network equipment cost and deployment cost to make future IMT sustainable and affordable;

u) that other capabilities may be also required for IMT-2020, which would make future IMT more flexible, reliable, and secure when providing diverse services in the intended usage scenarios,

recognizing that Resolution ITU-R 65 on the “Principles for the process of future development of IMT for 2020 and beyond” outlines the essential criteria and principles used in the process of developing the Recommendations and Reports for IMT-2020, including Recommendation(s) for the radio interface specification, noting that Report ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.OUTCOME] contains the outcome and conclusions of Steps 4 through 7 of the IMT-2020 process, including the evaluation and consensus building, and provides the characteristics of the IMT-2020 terrestrial radio interfaces for the first release of Recommendation ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.SPECS],

recommends

1 that the terrestrial radio interfaces for IMT-2020 should be:

– “[name of candidate radio interface technology AAA in this Recommendation]”¹;

– “[name of candidate radio interface technology BBB in this Recommendation]”²; and …………

– “[name of candidate radio interface technology ZZZ in this Recommendation]”ⁿ;

2 that the information provided or referenced in Annexes 1, 2, ･･･ and n should be used according to the terrestrial radio interfaces referred to in recommends 1 above as the complete set of standards for the detailed specifications of the terrestrial radio interfaces of IMT‑2020.

[Editor’s note: the Recommends part can be finished after discussed report M.[IMT-2020 OUTCOME].]

1____________________Developed by [name of proponent-1] as [candidate radio interface technology AAA].

2____________________Developed by [name of proponent-2] as [candidate radio interface technology BBB].

….

n____________________n Developed by [name of proponent-m] as [candidate radio interface technology ZZZ].

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An Annex for each 5D approved IMT 2020 RIT/SRIT should contain the following information:

Annex x

Specification of the [name of candidate radio interface technology in this Recommendation]¹ radio interface technology

[Editor’s note: Annex x is a template for candidate radio interface technology by utilized GCS case.]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background xx

x.1 Overview of the radio interface technology xx

x.2 Detailed specification of the radio interface technology

1____________________Developed by [name of proponent] as [name of candidate radio interface technology XXX].

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Reference:

ITU-R WP 5D China contribution submitted Dec 3, 2019:

China (People’s Republic of) Proposals on the Detailed WORK PLAN and the working document towards PRELIMINARY DRAFT NEW RECOMMENDATION itu-r M.[IMT-2020.SPECS]

Google Fiber drops 100Mb/s; Goes ‘All In’ on 1 Gig Internet Access

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

Google’s affordable, high-speed Fiber internet service has been around for quite some time, but only in select areas of the U.S. As it continues its very slow expansion to more cities and regions, Google is looking to streamline its operations by eliminating one of its only two Fiber based Internet access subscription plans. Google Fiber is dropping its $50/month, 100Mb/s subscription for NEW CUSTOMERS. 100Mb/s FTTP has always been a slightly cheaper alternative to its 1 Gigabit plan, which is only $20 more at $70/month.

“Starting today, we’re recommitting to our roots. We’re going all in on a gig, just like we did all those years ago. We will no longer offer a 100Mbps plan to new customers,” Google said in a blog post. “We are excited to turn our attention back to our gig service, still offered for $70/month—the exact same price it cost back in 2012 when we first launched,” Google added.

Currently, the Fiber service is available in 18 U.S. cities: Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Huntsville, Alabama; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Oakland, California; Orange County, California; Provo, Utah; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Washington; and The Triangle, North Carolina.. Even in Fiber-connected cities, not every geographic area within the city will have access to the 1 Gig service.

“With increasingly connected homes and ever-improving technologies, speed is more important than any time in our history—and becoming more important every day. And with our fiber networks, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver it,” Google said. “You won’t have any data caps to interrupt even the most impressive binge-watching session. And with the power of a gig, you’re able to use all your connected devices at home at the same time,” the company added.

If Google Fiber sounds like the internet plan for you, please visit the Google units official website to check if your location is supported.

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In its seven-year lifespan, Google Fiber has never had a single price increase. Its straightforward, month-to-month (cancel any time) payment model has always been more attractive than what many competing services offer (many require a one year contract with huge cancellation fee).

Google Fiber’s ambitions are a lot more modest than they used to be. So the news applies to a pretty small percentage of Americans. Fiber scaled back its roll-outs in the mid-2000’s and had to pull out of Louisville, Kentucky earlier this year, following problems with its cable installations beneath the city’s roads. Google put the brakes on most of its expansion efforts, like in the author’s home town – Santa Clara, CA. Apparently, there were just too many hurdles, including the cost of expanding into certain areas, getting permission from the city councils, disputes over access to utility poles, and other challenges.

References:

https://fiber.google.com/blog/2019/all-in-on-a-gig/

https://fiber.google.com/

FCC: Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Cellular exaggerated 4G-LTE coverage maps + 5G Fund for Rural America

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

FCC Investigation finds that three wireless network operators exaggerated coverage maps for rural areas:

In its MOBILITY FUND PHASE II -COVERAGE MAPS INVESTIGATION report, the FCC concluded that: “that 4G-LTE coverage maps submitted by Verizon, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile overstated their coverage and thus were not accurate reflections of actual coverage.”

As part of the Mobility Fund Phase II, mobile network providers were given U.S. federal support for deploying 4G-LTE services to rural and underserved areas. That initiative was supposed to bridge the digital divide between the served and underserved U.S. population. As part of the agreement, the mobile providers were obliged to provide accurate coverage maps to ensure the federal government cash they were receiving was being spent to provide better coverage to their under-served and unserved customers.

The FCC said that U.S. mobile network providers are responsible for submitting accurate coverage maps in accordance with the Commission’s rules and orders. In response to these concerns and based upon a preliminary FCC staff review of the challenger data, the Commission launched an investigation into whether one or more major mobile network providers violated the requirements of the one-time collection of coverage data.

The investigation was led by the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics, Enforcement Bureau, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Wireline Competition Bureau, and the Office of Engineering and Technology. FCC staff initially requested information directly from several providers in order to understand providers’ mapping processes, and later issued subpoenas to Verizon and U.S. Cellular.

This FCC investigation discovered that the MF-II coverage maps submitted by Verizon, U.S. Cellular, and T-Mobile likely overstated each provider’s actual coverage and did not reflect on-the-ground performance in many instances.

Only 62.3% of staff drive tests achieved at least the minimum download speed predicted by the coverage maps—with U.S. Cellular achieving that speed in only 45.0% of such tests, T-Mobile in 63.2% of tests, and Verizon in 64.3% of tests. Similarly, staff stationary tests showed that each provider achieved sufficient download speeds meeting the minimum cell edge probability in fewer than half of all test locations (20 of 42).

In addition, FCC staff was unable to obtain any 4G LTE signal for 38% of drive tests on U.S. Cellular’s network, 21.3% of drive tests on T-Mobile’s network, and 16.2% of drive tests on Verizon’s network, despite each provider reporting coverage in the relevant area.

In other words, these three mobile network operators were not spending federal money as promised. Worse, is that they were effectively lying to the FCC and their subscribers (or potential subscribers) in the geographical areas with inaccurate coverage maps.

Astonishingly, the FCC does not currently have any plans to punish (via fine or reduce future subsidies) these three mobile operators. Yet the FCC said that “inaccurate data jeopardize the ability of the Commission to focus our limited universal service funds on the unserved areas that need the most support.”

Instead of punishment, the FCC Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force made the following recommendations:

First, the Commission should terminate the MF-II Challenge Process. The MF-II coverage maps submitted by several providers are not a sufficiently reliable or accurate basis upon which to complete the challenge process as it was designed. The MF-II Challenge Process was designed to resolve coverage disputes regarding generally reliable maps; it was not designed to correct generally overstated coverage maps. 7.

Second, the Commission should release an Enforcement Advisory on broadband deployment data submissions, including a detailing of the penalties associated with filings that violate federal law, both for the continuing FCC Form 477 filings and the new Digital Opportunity Data Collection.

Editor’s Note: The Commission relies upon coverage maps submitted by providers in accordance with data collection rules and specifications adopted through notice and comment rulemakings. For almost two decades, the Commission has relied on FCC Form 477 to collect data on mobile services.

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Overstating mobile broadband coverage misleads the public and can misallocate our limited universal service funds, and thus it must be met with meaningful consequences.

Third, the Commission should analyze and verify the technical mapping data submitted in the most recent Form 477 filings of Verizon, U.S. Cellular, and T-Mobile to determine whether they meet the Form 477 requirements.

Fourth, the Commission should adopt policies, procedures, and standards in the Digital Opportunity Data Collection rulemaking and elsewhere that allow for submission, verification, and timely publication of mobile broadband coverage data. Mobile broadband coverage data specifications should include, among other parameters, minimum reference signal received power (RSRP) and/or minimum downlink and uplink speeds, standard cell loading factors and cell edge coverage probabilities, maximum terrain and clutter bin sizes, and standard fading statistics. Providers should be required to submit actual on-the-ground evidence of network performance (e.g., speed test measurement samplings, including targeted drive test and stationary test data) that validate the propagation model used to generate the coverage maps. The Commission should consider requiring that providers assume the minimum values for any additional parameters that would be necessary to accurately determine the area where a handset should achieve download and upload speeds no less than the minimum throughput requirement for any modeling that includes such a requirement.

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In a call with reporters, a senior FCC official said that commission staff was unable to determine whether the carriers’ exaggerations were deliberate. The official said that the investigation did not establish a clear violation of a specific rule. The FCC official said that maps submitted by carriers were based on industry-standard propagation models and that the FCC’s own tests made it clear that those industry models do not reflect on-the-ground experience.

U.S. Cellular said it had warned that the FCC’s directions for the coverage maps would result in overstated coverage, and said the staff report comes as “no surprise.”

The company “faithfully implemented” the FCC’s requirements for the coverage maps it submitted but recognizes “better and more accurate maps are necessary,” said Grant Spellmeyer, vice president of federal affairs and public policy for the carrier.

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FCC to Launch $9 billion 5G Fund for Rural America:

In a related press release, the FCC will create a new fund which will make $9 billion available to ensure 5G connectivity reaches underserved areas that have been largely neglected by the large nationwide U.S. wireless operators.

“5G has the potential to bring many benefits to American consumers and businesses, including wireless networks that are more responsive, more secure, and up to 100 times faster than today’s 4G LTE networks,” said Chairman Pai in the aforementioned press release. He added:

“We want to make sure that rural Americans enjoy these benefits, just as residents of large urban areas will. In order to do that, the Universal Service Fund must be forward-looking and support the networks of tomorrow. Moreover, America’s farms and ranches have unique wireless connectivity needs, as I’ve seen across the country. That’s why I will move forward as quickly as possible to establish a 5G Fund that would bring next-generation 5G services to rural areas and would reserve some of that funding for 5G networks that promote precision agriculture. We must ensure that 5G narrows rather than widens the digital divide and that rural Americans receive the benefits that come from wireless innovation.”

The new 5G Fund would replace the planned Mobility Fund Phase II, which would have provided federal support for 4G LTE service in unserved areas. Pursuant to the Mobility Fund Phase II rules, wireless providers were required to submit 4G LTE coverage data in order to help the Commission target federal subsidies to unserved parts of the country.

Editor’s Note:

The smaller, rural wireless network providers (some of whom use Huawei gear) have long complained the nationwide, larger wireless operators were exaggerating coverage maps. These coverage maps helped the FCC determine who should get a slice of the $4.5 billion reserved for the Mobility Fund Phase II fund.

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Questions to Ponder:

What is being done to make sure the same abuses do not reoccur in the new 5G Fund for Rural America?

Can these three telco exaggerators be trusted to appropriately spend their allocation of the $9 billion moving forward?

Is FCC enforcement a thing of the past, now that net neutrality is gone?

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Closing Quote:

Michael Copps, Former FCC Commissioner and Common Cause Special Adviser had this to say:

“With its latest announcement to deploy 5G in rural America, the FCC continues its smoke and mirrors show to cover up the poor state of broadband deployment in the nation.

“First, many parts of the country – both urban and rural – lack 4G or any type of wireless connectivity at all. The FCC has systematically failed to address the wireless broadband needs of many communities but chooses to put the cart before the horse with another announcement on 5G.

“Second, the FCC buries the real story in its announcement – wireless carriers have greatly exaggerated their coverage maps, helping paint an inaccurate picture of who has access to broadband. The FCC has known the maps have been bad for quite some time but chose to do nothing. Even with its latest findings that carriers lied about coverage maps, the FCC has not leveled any fines or held the companies accountable in any way. This points to a larger problem regarding the FCC’s failure to provide the public with granular and accurate broadband maps. If we can’t even determine who does and does not have access to broadband, we can’t sufficiently close the digital divide.

Third, the agency is seemingly not providing any new funding to deploy 5G. Rather, it is terminating the current funding mechanism to deploy 4G only to open a new one for 5G. Moving a pot of money around shows that the FCC lacks a clear strategy and vision to deploy 5G nationwide. It is these kinds of zig-zags and diversions on broadband that make our country such an outlier when it comes to broadband penetration.”

References:

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-361165A1.pdf

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-361168A1.pdf

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/12/fcc-tries-to-bury-finding-that-verizon-and-t-mobile-exaggerated-4g-coverage/

https://telecoms.com/501286/verizon-t-mobile-and-us-cellular-lied-on-4g-coverage-but-will-get-away-with-it/

https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/fccs-9b-rural-5g-fund-insufficient-hides-poor-state-of-broadband-deployment/

GSA Report: Spectrum Above 6 GHz & related FCC Activity

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

Executive Summary:

GSA’s latest report provides a snapshot of the global status of national usage of spectrum above 6 GHz for 5G services. It is part of a series of reports which separately also cover spectrum bands below 1 GHz and between 1 GHz and 6 GHz. This report reflects a market that is in constant flux (which this author has repeatedly stated would be the case till the most important IMT 2020 recommendations have been approved by ITU-R and ITU-T).

Key statistics:

Sixty-seven operators in 13 countries hold licences enabling operation of 5G networks using mmWave spectrum.
Fourteen operators are known to be deploying 5G networks using mmWave spectrum.
Fourteen countries have announced formal (date-specified) plans for allocating frequencies above 6 GHz between now and end-2021.
Fifty-nine announced 5G devices explicitly support one or more of the 5G spectrum bands above 6 GHz (though note that details of spectrum support is patchy for pre-commercial devices). Eleven of those devices are known to be commercially available.

5G deployments in bands above 6 GHz:

Spectrum bands above 6 GHz are being explicitly opened up to enable provision of 5G services. GSA is aware of the following usage for 5G. The 24250–29500 MHz range covering the overlapping bands n257 (26500–29500 MHz), n258 (24250–27500 MHz) and n261 (27500–28350 MHz) has been the most-used 5G mmWave spectrum range to date:

113 operators in 39 countries are investing in pre-standard 5G (in the form of trials, licences, deployments or operational networks) across this spectrum range.
66 operators are licensed to deploy 5G in this range.
12 operators are understood to be actively deploying 5G networks using spectrum above 6 GHz.
Eight operators in seven countries have reported running 5G tests/trials at 15 GHz.
One operator has reported running 5G tests/trials at 18 GHz.
Band n260, covering 37–40 GHz, is also already being used, with three companies in the USA actively deploying networks using this spectrum.
Thirteen operators in eleven countries have been evaluating/ testing/trialling 5G using spectrum from 66 GHz to 76 GHz.
GSA has identified four operators that have run tests/trials using spectrum from 81 GHz to 87 GHz.

Figure 1: Use of 5G spectrum between 24.25 GHz and 29.5 GHz, countries plotted by status of most advanced operator activities

At WRC-2019 in November, delegates identiﬁ ed several new frequency ranges for IMT and IMT-2020 (5G). These encompassed many of the existing 3GPP specified bands plus some new spectrum ranges:
• 24.25–27.5 GHz

• 37–43.5 GHz

• 45.5–47 GHz

• 47.2–48.2 GHz

• 66–71 GHz.

Other spectrum being considered by national regulators and international standards bodies, or that has been used in operator trials, is between the 71–86 GHz range.

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5G device support for bands above 6 GHz:

5G device support for spectrum bands above 6 GHz is still at an early stage. GSA’s GAMBoD database includes 59 announced 3GPP compliant 5G devices that do or will support mmWave spectrum bands. Eleven of those are commercially available. The numbers of devices identiﬁed as supporting speciﬁc bands is much lower, as details of spectrum support is patchy for pre-commercial devices.

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USA (Federal Communications Commission (FCC)):

In the USA, any bands already used for mobile service can also be deployed for 5G; FCC doesn’t require any particular technology and the choice is driven by carriers. This means multiple historic auctions are relevant for 5G including but not limited to those for spectrum at 28 GHz (March 1998 and May 1999) and 39 GHz (May 2000).

The FCC is currently undertaking a range of activities with a view to opening up extra spectrum for mobile use. In 2016, the FCC adopted its Upper Microwave Flexible Use Rules to make spectrum at 28 GHz, upper 37 GHz and 39 GHz available (including for 5G). Then the new Spectrum Frontier order dated 16 November 2017 put in place plans to open up an additional 1.7 GHz of mmWave spectrum in the 24 GHz and 47 GHz bands for ﬂ exible terrestrial wireless use. FCC also enabled use of spectrum between 64 GHz and 71 GHz by unlicensed devices (subject to restrictions).

In October 2018, the Commission issued a notice of proposed rules that would open up the 5.925–6.425 GHz and 6.425–7.125 GHz bands for unlicensed use, subject to establishing a mechanism to prevent interference with incumbent services. It speciﬁ cally anticipates – depending upon the part of the spectrum concerned – the use of low or standard power WiFi or variants of LTE for indoor or outdoor use.

The FCC has been running auctions of spectrum in the 24 GHz and 28 GHz bands. The auction of spectrum at 28 GHz (27.5–28.35 GHz) completed in January 2019, with bids totalling more than $700 million. Thirty-three bidders won 2965 licences.

The auction of spectrum at 24 GHz (24.25–24.45 GHz and 24.75–25.25 GHz) ended in May 2019 raising $2.02 billion in net bids. Twenty-nine bidders won 2904 licences.

In June 2018, FCC announced that it is also considering making an additional 2.75 GHz of the 26 GHz and 42 GHz bands available for 5G. In December 2018, FCC announced an incentive auction (Auction 103) covering spectrum at 37 GHz (37.6–38.6 GHz), 39 GHz (38.6–40 GHz) and 47 GHz (47.2–48.2 GHz) in order to free up more spectrum for 5G. Under the incentive auction, existing rights holders in those bands can choose either to relinquish their rights in exchange for a share of the auction revenue or alternatively receive modiﬁ ed licences after the auction consistent with a new band plan and service rules.

Auctions for 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands are planned by the end of 2019. Procedures for reconﬁguring the 39 GHz band, enabling existing licensees to relinquish or modify their licences were published in March 2019. Technical guides for bidding procedures were published in April 2019, along with the announcement of a process for sharing the spectrum at 37 GHz with the Department of Defense. Timelines for the reconﬁguration of existing rights were published in June 2019.

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Planned 5G auctions and their dates:

Fourteen countries have announced formal (date-speciﬁ ed) plans for allocating mmWave frequencies between now and end-2021. A few other auctions/ allocations are timetabled to happen from 2022 onwards. Many countries are still deciding whether and when to hold auctions/ allocations for spectrum above 6 GHz.

Summary:

Spectrum above 6 GHz, and in particular mmWave spectrum, has rapidly become important for mobile telecoms. It is clear, with the number of spectrum awards expected over the coming years, and the agreement of new mmWave spectrum bands at WRC-19, the investment in these spectrum bands by operators and commitments to launch compatible devices by vendors, that the importance of spectrum above 6 GHz is going to continue to grow. GSA will continue to track this trend. This report will be next updated in early 2020.

Qualcomm Unveils Roadmap for 5G in 2020 at Snapdragon Tech Summit

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

During the first day of the annual Snapdragon Tech Summit in Hawaii, Qualcomm Incorporated President, Cristiano Amon said that 2020 will be the year for mainstream 5G (that’s before any part of IMT 2020 standard is finalized) and provide more consumers around the world with 5G’s multi-gigabit speeds. The new Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 5G mobile platforms were said to define what is possible in flagship smartphones while enabling broad based 5G adoption across the growing number of commercial 5G networks.

“5G will open new and exciting opportunities to connect, compute, and communicate in ways we’ve yet to imagine and we are happy to be a key player driving the adoption of 5G around the world,” said Amon. “Our Snapdragon 5G mobile platforms announced today will continue to show leadership in the industry and deliver on the promise of scaling 5G in 2020.”

“One year ago, we were talking 5G future. In 2019, we’ll be talking about 5G,” said Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s president. Forty operators and forty OEMs across the world are investing in 5G, he said. By 2021, there will be more than 2.8 billion subscribers, with more to come he said.

Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager, mobile, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., unveiled two new 5G Snapdragon mobile platforms to lead and scale 5G and AI in 2020. The flagship Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform, which includes the Snapdragon X55 Modem-RF System, is the world’s most advanced, global 5G platform, designed to deliver unmatched connectivity and performance for the next generation of flagship devices. The Snapdragon 765/765G bring integrated 5G connectivity, AI processing and select Qualcomm® Snapdragon Elite Gaming™ experiences. We expect Snapdragon 865 and 765/765G to power the most advanced Android-based smartphones launching in 2020 – regardless of whether users are in 5G or 4G coverage. Full platform details will be shared tomorrow.

Katouzian also introduced our first family of mobile platform-based modules, the Snapdragon 865 and 765 Modular Platforms. These modular platforms are products of an end-to-end strategy to empower the industry with the tools needed to scale 5G with ease, offering our customers lower development costs while also more quickly commercializing products with new industrial designs for mobile and IoT devices. The first carriers announcing support of the certification program for Snapdragon Modular Platforms are Verizon and Vodafone, with more expected in 2020.

Quotes from Partner Companies (mostly customers) at the Snapdragon Summit:

“Given its role to date in helping advance the global 5G ecosystem, I’m excited to see Qualcomm Technologies announce plans for mobile platform-based modules designed to further scale products across the industry,” said Nicki Palmer, chief product development officer, Verizon. She added, “the Snapdragon Tech Summit is a great venue for ecosystem partners to collaborate and for Verizon to share our vision of where 5G will make the greatest impact on society.”

“5G is a focus for the entire Lenovo organization – from network infrastructure to personal devices, being the first to launch a 5G smartphone and preview a 5G PC,” said Sergio Buniac, president, Motorola. “As the mobile arm, Motorola will continue leading the 5G era with our expanded lineup of 5G solutions in 2020 — driven by the high-performing Snapdragon 765 and 865 Mobile Platforms, re-invigorating our place in the premium flagship space.”

“The 5G era opens up new opportunities and challenges. It brings great innovations and redefines how users interact with devices, audio, and video applications. The next generation of “Super Internet” will be an all-new model that combines 5G + AI + IoT, and Xiaomi will be at the forefront of this, developing and bringing 5G smartphones to the masses,” said Bin Lin, co-founder, vice chairman, Xiaomi Corporation. “In 2020 Q1, Xiaomi is proud to announce that we will be introducing our flagship Mi 10 – one of the world’s first smartphones to feature the flagship Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform.”

“OPPO and Qualcomm Technologies have maintained a close and strong collaboration, and today we are honored to witness the launch of Qualcomm Technologies’ latest 5G mobile platforms and be part of its global commercialized plan. In 2020 Q1, OPPO will launch its flagship product using the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform, together bringing a faster and superior 5G experience to users. In the era of 5G and intelligent connectivity, OPPO will continue to invest in 5G products, research, standard development and application scenarios, with Qualcomm Technologies and other partners in the industry, to bring more 5G values and possibilities to users around the world,” said Alen Wu, vice president and president of global sales, OPPO.

“Our highest priority for 2020 is making 5G more accessible – bringing an affordable yet premium grade, future proof 5G experience for the best possible performance in NSA and SA networks with the Snapdragon 765 Mobile Platform,” said Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer, HMD Global. “Aside from being an excellent mobile platform for best-in-class 5G connectivity, Snapdragon 765 mobile platform allows us to offer breakthrough entertainment capabilities combined with our PureDisplay technology, and our unique ZEISS powered imaging solutions that enable fans to create and share amazing content over 5G.

We also congratulate Qualcomm Technologies on the announcement of its Snapdragon Modular Platform. This innovative approach to making 5G more accessible to OEMs will dramatically streamline the development process and we look forward to exploring possibilities of working with Qualcomm Technologies on this exciting platform.”

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This year’s Snapdragon Tech Summit keynotes are being live streamed daily Dec 3, 4 and 5 at 9:00 a.m. HST (11:00 a.m. PST / 2:00 p.m. EST / 7:00 p.m. GMT at www.qualcomm.com/snapdragontechsummit.

Reference:

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2019/12/03/annual-snapdragon-tech-summit-qualcomm-unveils-roadmap-bringing-5g

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3481783/qualcomms-next-gen-snapdragon-865-mobile-chip-focuses-on-5g.html

India: Low mobile tariffs end; Big 3 Telcos increase rates by 40-50%

Posted on December 1, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

by CanIndia New Wire Service (edited for accuracy and clarity by Alan J Weissberger)

The long honeymoon for India telecom subscribers has come to an end as all the three private wireless telecom network providers — Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Jio — on Sunday announced pre-paid tariff plans with 40-50 per cent higher rates. The hike comes after three years and amid the acute financial stress the sector is going through after a Supreme Court ruling on adjusted gross revenue. The hikes, however, come with enhanced data and other benefits.

Editor’s Note:

India is currently the world’s second-largest telecommunications market (China is number 1) with a subscriber base of 1.20 billion and has registered strong growth in the past decade and half. The Indian mobile economy is growing rapidly and will contribute substantially to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to report prepared by GSM Association (GSMA) in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As of January 2019, India has experienced a 165 per cent growth in app downloads in the past two years.

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Reliance Jio, the last one to announce a revised rates on Sunday, said it would raise tariffs by up to 40 per cent. “Jio will be introducing new ‘all-in-one’ plans with unlimited voice and data. These plans will have a fair usage policy for calls to other mobile networks. The new plans will be effective from December 6,” Jio said.

“The new ‘all-in-one’ plans will be priced up to 40 per cent higher, staying true to its promise of being ‘customer-first’, Jio customers will get up to 300 per cent more benefits,” it said.

Airtel’s new rates will be effective from December 3. After December 3, the Rs 129 pack for 28 days with unlimited calling, 300 SMS, and 2GB data would cost Rs 148, it said.

A major hike is witnessed in Airtel’s Rs 998 plan with 336-day validity, unlimited calling, 3,600 SMSs and 12GB data. It would be replaced by a Rs 1,498 plan, marking 50 per cent rise, with 24GB data and 365-day validity. The users of Rs 1,699 plan would have to pay Rs 2,398, which is an increase of 41 per cent. It would continue to offer unlimited calling, 100 SMS and 1.5GB data per day. Airtel had merged Rs 169 and Rs 199 plans for 28 days to offer a Rs 248 plan with same benefits — unlimited calling, 100 SMS and 1.5GB data a day.

The Rs 249 plan, which offered unlimited calls, 100 SMS and 2GB data a day, would now cost Rs 298. The Rs 448 and 499 plans for 82 days would now cost Rs 598 and Rs 698 for 84 days.

“Airtel’s new plans represent tariff increases in the range of 50 paise a day to Rs 2.85 a day and offer generous data and calling benefits. Airtel also provides exclusive benefits as part of the Airtel Thanks platform, which enables access to premium content from Airtel Xstream (10,000 movies, exclusive shows and 400 TV channels), Wynk Music, device protection, anti-virus protection and much more,” it said.

The revised Vodafone Idea tariffs too would come into effect from December 3. It has launched ‘First Recharge Packs’ where the four first recharge packs will cost Rs 97 with Rs 45 talk time, 100MB data and voice calls charged at 1 paisa per second along with 28 days validity. Other plans include Rs 197, Rs 297 and Rs 647. They offer up to 1.5GB data a day and unlimited ‘on-net’ calling for 84 days.

Vodafone Idea announced that the ‘on-net’ voice calls would be billed at 6 paise per minute. The ‘on-net’ voice calls after the provided FUP limit will be charged 6 paise per minute, similar to Reliance Jio. It is also providing bundled ‘on-net’ minutes, whereas Jio will be charging customers for IUC ‘top-up’ vouchers.

In unlimited packs with 28-day validity are — Rs 149 plan with unlimited voice (FUP of 1,000 minutes for off-net calls), 2GB data, 300 SMS; Rs 249 plan with unlimited voice (FUP of 1,000 minutes for off-net calls), 1.5GB data, 100 SMS per day.

The company has removed the All Rounder packs and introduced two Combo Vouchers of Rs 49 and Rs 79 with 28-day validity. It has announced new prepaid plans with 2 days, 28 days, 84 days, 365 days validity, and broadly compared with existing plans of similar nature. However, new plans are costlier up to 42 per cent.

Vodafone Idea had earlier said it would increase tariff in December. The announcement has come in the backdrop of its highest quarterly loss of Rs 50,922 crore.

It’s now expected that the state-run BSNL could also hike tariffs. The government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have made it clear that there will be no floor rate for voice or data and the telcos would have to thrash out pricing among themselves to cover up losses.

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References:

The original (unedited) article was first published at:

Low tariff regime over, telcos up rates by 40-50% (Roundup)

Also see:

Mobile call, internet to become costlier in India by up to 50% from Dec 3rd

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/biggest-telecom-tariff-hike-to-bring-40-higher-bills/72324808

ZTE and China Telecom: 5G network test on a high speed train; Uplink enhancement FAST verification

Posted on November 30, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

5G network test on a high speed train:

ZTE and China Telecom have jointly launched the world’s first commercial 5G maglev (magnetic levitation) high-speed network test in Shanghai, China. The test measured communications within a train travelling at a maximum speed of 500KM/h. During the test, the 5G commercial terminal was stable and easy to support various high performance mobile broadband services, demonstrating that the 5G network can provide high-speed maglev trains with ideal broadband communications.

Shanghai Maglev is the world’s first maglev line for commercial operation and at present it is also the fastest commercial high-speed train. It has been a business card for Shanghai and even for China since its operation. Built by China Telecom and ZTE together, the 5G network uses a full set of ZTE 5G system equipment, perfectly enabling passengers to get high-speed data access on a quick journey and enjoy services like mobile working, video conferencing, HD/UHD video or interactive games, ensuring a brand-new communication experience.

Due to special scenario restrictions, providing high-quality network coverage for high-speed trains has always been a challenge for both operators and equipment vendors. When a 5G network is deployed in a higher frequency than 2G, 3G and 4G networks, the situation will be even less ideal. To solve these problems, ZTE and China Telecom have made breakthroughs in multiple aspects by constantly challenging the technical limits through technological discussions and tests. With proprietary doppler frequency shift channel compensation technology, wireless channel deterioration caused by high-speed movement is eliminated. The solution can support a moving speed of over 500 KM/h, meeting the speed requirements of various high-speed trains. Besides, Multi-RRU (Remote Radio Unit) combination can realize single cell 6-12km belt shape coverage, reduce 90 percent of inter-cell handover and ensure continuous and stable access. Compared with the traditional 2T2R solution, ZTE is the first to introduce 8T8R RRU for high-speed railway coverage in the 5G industry. Multi-channel equipment, combined with 5G featured channels and beam scanning technology, can enhance the coverage significantly. It is also worth mentioning that the solution is implemented through technical innovation at the base station network side and has no special requirements for terminals.

The 5G network solution used for the Shanghai Maglev line can provide a complete set of network equipment for HSR (High Speed Rail) broadband communication. The radio units can support global mainstream 5G bands like N41 and N78. The top speed of Shanghai Maglev train is the highest among commercial trains in the world, which implies that this 5G network solution can be applied to various high-speed railways and maglev lines worldwide and has great market potential.

Over the years, ZTE and China Telecom have jointly provided broadband information channels for high-speed rail transit. LTE coverage has been deployed for multiple high-speed railway lines, which was highly appraised by users. Going forward, the two parties will continue to optimize the commercial performance of the 5G networks and steadily promote tests and verification according to specific service characteristics to facilitate ubiquitous high-speed broadband access.

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Uplink enhancement FAST verification:

On November 27th, ZTE announced a partnership with China Telecom to complete the verification of the industry’s first FAST (FDD Assists Super TDD) solution at 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz in Shenzhen, China. Based on China Telecom’s uplink enhancement technology, this solution enables spectrum to reach its full potential by integrating time and frequency domains and constructing high-quality 5G networks with excellent performance and coverage.

Editor’s Note: FDD=Frequency Division Duplexing; TDD= Time Division Duplexing

China Telecom’s innovation of the “uplink enhancement” concept enhances the 5G uplink by using low frequency bands, such as 1.8GHz and 2.1GHz, to improve 5G network coverage and performance. For China Telecom’s existing 2.1GHz FDD and 3.5GHz TDD bands, ZTE and China Telecom has launched the uplink enhancement FAST (FDD Assists Super TDD) solution.
Based on the complementary qualities of TDD and FDD, in 3.5GHz weak uplink area, the terminal can transmit data at a high speed based on the 2.1 GHz frequency band. In addition, it can continue to make use of the advantages of 3.5GHz in bandwidth and large-scale array antennas to benefit from the downlink ultra-high rate.

In other areas with quality 3.5GHz coverage, the potential of 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz frequency bands can be fully utilized. This enables the terminal to transmit uplink data, in conventional UL CA mode, via three channels on two frequency bands at the same time. In the time domain, all the uplink frequency bands of FDD are fully utilized.
In addition, by deeply analyzing the features of frequency division duplex at 2.1GHz and time division duplex at 3.5GHz, the innovative CA with transmission mode switching in time domain, is based on multiple uplink carriers for time division transmission. This makes the full use of downlink timeslot resources.

To make the most effective use of the uplink resources of TDD and FDD, the terminals that only support two Tx-channel transmissions can flexibly switch between two channels of NR 3.5GHz and one channel of FDD 2.1GHz. At the same time, the downlink throughput can be improved in the FDD and TDD band aggregation mode, so that the best performance can be obtained in the uplink and downlink directions in the complicated wireless environment.

The test shows that, the uplink rate of a single user can be up to 40% higher than that of a single carrier (3.5GHz) when time division multiplexing (CA) is used. When conventional UL CA is used, the maximum increase of the single-user uplink rate is 60%. In addition, through high and low-frequency aggregation, the downlink user experience rate in both conditions can be increased by 20%, compared with a 3.5GHz single carrier.

In the future, ZTE will continue to partner with China Telecom to explore the application of new 5G technologies and functions in commercial networks, improve network quality, build 4G and 5G top-quality networks and provide better network services.
ZTE is a provider of advanced telecommunications systems, mobile devices, and enterprise technology solutions to consumers, operators, companies and public sector customers. As a part of ZTE’s strategy, the company is committed to providing customers with integrated end-to-end innovations to deliver excellence and values as the telecommunications and information technology sectors converge. Listed in the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and Shenzhen (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), ZTE sells its products and services in more than 160 countries.

To date, ZTE has obtained 35 commercial 5G contracts in major markets, such as Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA). ZTE commits 10 percent of its annual revenues to research and development and takes leadership roles in international standard-setting organizations.

References:

https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/20191129e1.html

https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/20191127e1.html

ZTE, China Telecom and China Unicom complete 5G co-build, co-share verification

T-Mobile Netherlands: The Hague is ‘5G-ready’; Tests completed in 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

T-Mobile Netherlands announced on its website (in Dutch) that its mobile network in The Hague is now ‘fully equipped for 5G’ and will be ready to offer city-wide access to 5G services ‘immediately’ after the upcoming frequency auction expected by spring 2020.

Technical testing of the 5G infrastructure in the Hague has been completed using experimental frequency permits for the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands.

“Various innovative 5G-IoT applications in the field of care, safety and mobility will be realized in the coming period,” T-Mobile said.

As noted above, T-Mobile plans to participate in the Netherlands spectrum auction next Spring, and assuming it acquires the necessary spectrum, it will then open up access then to the 5G network within the entire country. That would enable T-Mobile to create a national 5G network in 2020, leaping ahead of rival KPN. A quick roll-out of 5G was one of the promises made by T-Mobile as part of its takeover of Tele2 Netherlands at the start of this year.

The global network operator has been working with the municipality of The Hague to prepare for the 5G launch. At its Living Lab Scheveningen, T-Mobile has various projects underway with local partners in the health, security and mobility sectors. These are expected to help develop general business cases for 5G applications.

The European Commission has called for each EU country to have at least one 5G city in 2020. T-Mobile has upgraded its network throughout the city. KPN also announced recently that The Hague is the first city with its new radio network from Huawei. This means KPN also will be able to start 5G quickly there, once the 700 MHz band is available.

References:

https://newsroom.t-mobile.nl/netwerk-den-haag-als-eerste-in-nederland-klaar-voor-5g/

https://www.telecompaper.com/news/t-mobile-says-network-ready-to-launch-5g-in-the-hague–1318043

SK Telecom Selects Ericsson 5G Packet Core (3GPP Release 16- 5GC)

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Alan Weissberger

SK Telecom has selected Ericsson to deliver a Cloud Packet Core for its 5G network. Ericsson says its Cloud Packet Core (part of the company’s Cloud Core portfolio) helps service providers to smoothly migrate to 5G Core (5GC) stand-alone architecture.

Author’s Note:

Please see below for more information on 3GPP 5GC which is part of Release 16 and as yet has not been submitted to either ITU-R or ITU-T for IMT 2020 mobile packet core. There seems to be no independent work on a 5G mobile packet core within ITU, which is evidently waiting anxiously for 3GPP Release 16 to be completed and forwarded to various ITU-R WPs and ITU-T Study Groups.

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Ericsson’s Cloud Packet Core is at the business end of mobile broadband and IoT networks. It creates value, visibility and control of traffic and applications by determining the optimal quality of a service, then enforcing it through appropriate policy.

Jung Chang-kwan, Vice President and Head of Infra Engineering Group, SK Telecom, says: “By utilizing Ericsson’s Cloud Packet Core network solution, which realizes simplified network operations, we will unleash the full potential of new 5G-enabled use cases with greater efficiency.”

Jan Karlsson, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Services, Ericsson, says: “This deal, and the opportunity to work with SK Telecom’s Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI), has put us in the ideal position to further strengthen their 5G network. Delivering our Cloud Packet Core solution will positively impact SK Telecom’s network operations and will reinforce Ericsson’s position as a leader in 5G core.”

SK Telecom switched on its commercial 5G network in December 2018 after selecting Ericsson as one of its primary 5G vendors. Previously, Ericsson provided radio access network (RAN) products, including mid-band Massive MIMO.

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3GPP 5GC (the only specification for a 5G mobile packet core):

The 5GC (5G packet Core), specified in 3GPP TS 23.501: System architecture for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2, will be part of 3GPP Release 16, which won’t be completed till June 2020 at the earliest.

3GPP’s 5G System architecture is defined to support data connectivity and services enabling deployments to use techniques such as e.g. Network Function Virtualization and Software Defined Networking. The 5G System architecture shall leverage service-based interactions between Control Plane (CP) Network Functions where identified. Some key principles and concept are to:

– Separate the User Plane (UP) functions from the Control Plane (CP) functions, allowing independent scalability, evolution and flexible deployments e.g. centralized location or distributed (remote) location.

– Modularize the function design, e.g. to enable flexible and efficient network slicing.

– Wherever applicable, define procedures (i.e. the set of interactions between network functions) as services, so that their re-use is possible.

– Enable each Network Function and its Network Function Services to interact with other NF and its Network Function Services directly or indirectly via a Service Communication Proxy if required. The architecture does not preclude the use of another intermediate function to help route Control Plane messages (e.g. like a DRA).

– Minimize dependencies between the Access Network (AN) and the Core Network (CN). The architecture is defined with a converged core network with a common AN – CN interface which integrates different Access Types e.g. 3GPP access and non-3GPP access.

– Support a unified authentication framework.

– Support “stateless” NFs, where the “compute” resource is decoupled from the “storage” resource.

– Support capability exposure.

– Support concurrent access to local and centralized services. To support low latency services and access to local data networks, UP functions can be deployed close to the Access Network.

– Support roaming with both Home routed traffic as well as Local breakout traffic in the visited PLMN.

The 5G architecture is defined as service-based and the interaction between network functions is represented in the following two ways:

– A service-based representation, where network functions (e.g. AMF) within the Control Plane enables other authorized network functions to access their services. This representation also includes point-to-point reference points where necessary.

– A reference point representation, shows the interaction exist between the NF services in the network functions described by point-to-point reference point (e.g. N11) between any two network functions (e.g. AMF and SMF).

GSMA’s Position on 5GC:

The network evolution from 4G-LTE mobile packet core (EPC) to 5G Core (5GC) plays a central role in creating a powerful network platform that is capable of being exposed and automated for service providers.

5GC has been designed from its inception to be “cloud native,” inheriting many of the technology solutions used in cloud computing and with virtualization at its core. Virtualization of network functions enables 5GC to be redesigned and become open and flexible enough to meet the diversity of service and business requirement in 5G era.

5GC will also offer superior network slicing and QoS features. Another important characteristic is the separation of the control plane and user plane that besides adding flexibility in connecting the users also allows an easier way to support a multitude of access technologies, better support for network slicing and edge computing.

5GC proposes a service based architecture (SBA), which provides unprecedented efficiency and flexibility for the network. SBA is an architectural for building system based on fine-grained, interaction of loosely coupled and autonomous components called services. This architecture model is chosen to take full advantage of the latest virtualization and software technologies.

Service-based architectures have been in use in the software industry to improve the modularity of products. A software product can be broken down into communicating services. With this approach, the developers can mix and match services from different vendors into a single product.

Compared to the previous generation reference point architecture as EPC, the elements of service based architecture are defined to be the NF (network functions), which interconnect with the rest network functions across a single API calling interface and provide the authorized services to them. Network repository functions (NRF) allows every network function to discover the services offered by other network functions. A service is an atomized capability in a 5G network, with the characteristics of high-cohesion, loose-coupling, and independent management from other services. This allows individual services to be updated independently with minimal impact to other services and deployed on demand. A service is managed based on the service framework including service registration, service authorization, and service discovery. It provides a comprehensive and highly automated management mechanism implemented by NRF, which greatly reduces the complexity of network maintenance. A service will interact with other services in a light-weight manner, e.g. API invocation.

Virtualization and cloud computing have resulted in lowering the cost of computing by pooling resources in shared data centers.

5G core networks can be shrunk in size by using virtualization. Varies components of the core network can be run as communicating virtual machines.
Moving the control plane of the 5G core network to a cloud provider lowers the deployment cost.

The 5G core is a mesh of interconnected services as shown in the figure below:

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Ericsson Addendum:

According to Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report, published earlier this week, global 5G subscriptions will exceed 2.6bn within the next six years and by that time Ericsson predicts that 5G will cover 65 percent of the world. It also believes that total mobile subscriptions, including to previous generation networks, will reach 8.9bn from 8bn over the next six years. More than quarter of the global subscriptions will be 5G by 2025 and will account for around 45 percent of worldwide mobile data traffic.

Additionally, Ericsson has also announced its partnership with NVIDIA in order to develop technologies that will enable communication service providers to build virtualized 5G radio access networks, which will boost the introduction of new AI and IoT-based services. The ultimate focus will be to commercialize virtualized RAN technologies to offer radio networks with flexibility and ability to enter the market in a shorter time for new services like VR, AR and gaming.

References:

https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2019/11/ericssons-cloud-packet-core-to-strengthen-sk-telecoms-5g-network2

https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Road-to-5G-Introduction-and-Migration_FINAL.pdf

https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/opb/tut/T-TUT-HOME-2018-2-PDF-E.pdf

https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/23_series/23.501/

https://www.ericsson.com/en/portfolio/digital-services/cloud-core/cloud-packet-core

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/ericsson-and-verizon-claim-worlds-first-cloud-native-tech-on-live-core/2019/07/

https://medium.com/5g-nr/5g-service-based-architecture-sba-47900b0ded0a

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IEEE ComSoc Technology Blog

China ITU-R WP5D submission: work plan and working document for IMT-2020.SPECS

Google Fiber drops 100Mb/s; Goes ‘All In’ on 1 Gig Internet Access

FCC: Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Cellular exaggerated 4G-LTE coverage maps + 5G Fund for Rural America

GSA Report: Spectrum Above 6 GHz & related FCC Activity

5G deployments in bands above 6 GHz:

Qualcomm Unveils Roadmap for 5G in 2020 at Snapdragon Tech Summit

India: Low mobile tariffs end; Big 3 Telcos increase rates by 40-50%

Mobile call, internet to become costlier in India by up to 50% from Dec 3rd

ZTE and China Telecom: 5G network test on a high speed train; Uplink enhancement FAST verification

T-Mobile Netherlands: The Hague is ‘5G-ready’; Tests completed in 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands

SK Telecom Selects Ericsson 5G Packet Core (3GPP Release 16- 5GC)

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