China IT Minister: 5G Licenses Coming this Year; Deployment timing dependent on technology maturation
by Yang Ge (edited by Alan J Weissberger)
China will issue 5G wireless communications licenses by year-end, the nation’s telecoms minister said, as the country pushes aggressively into 5G before the IMT 2020 standard or 3GPP Release 16 spec are completed.
“I expect 5G licenses will be issued at some point this year,” Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei, said on Thursday in a session at the Boao Forum for Asia in South China’s Hainan province, the Shanghai Securities News reported. Wei added that actual timing for the launch of 5G network deployments will depend on maturation of the necessary technology, most notably 5G handsets. “Large-scale commercial service will need to wait until networks are perfected,” he said. “We need to give China’s (wireless) carriers some time.”
Editor’s Note: The three state owned and controlled China carriers are: China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom.
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China is the world’s largest mobile market with some 1.5 billion subscribers, with many in the world’s most populous country holding multiple accounts. But in the past the nation was slow to roll out the latest generations of new mobile communications, often preferring to wait for the technology to mature first in more advanced Western markets.
Beijing has taken a sharply different tack in 5G, aiming to become a leader in the space for a technology expected to power many of the wireless high-tech applications of the future such as telemedicine and self-driving cars. Accordingly, it wants to roll out its networks sooner rather than later, and for the first time could be among the world’s first major markets to launch service.
The technology could facilitate data-transfer speeds up to 10 times faster than current 4G technology, said Yang Chaobin, president of 5G product lines at China’s own Huawei Technologies, the world’s leading manufacturer of telecom equipment. Miao estimated that 20% of 5G will be used for person-to-person communications, while 80% will be used for communication between things such as applications behind self-driving cars.
Among China’s three major carriers, the largest, China Mobile, is aiming to roll out “pre-commercial” 5G service this year, with full commercial service available sometime next year, said Vice President Li Huidi, according to the Shanghai Securities News report. China Mobile’s smaller rivals, China Unicom and China Telecom, have previously said they will each invest around $1.2 billion this year on 5G networks.
Miao also said that countries and companies should work together on 5G, even as a U.S. coalition is expressing concerns about the security of equipment produced by Huawei, worried it could be used for spying by Beijing. “In my view, in the development of 5G, the most important thing is open collaboration, and a single standard for the world,” Miao said.
Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez also spoke to the recent politicization of 5G earlier in the week at Boao, saying competition in new technologies including 5G is not between different nations, and instead is a competition among enterprises.
Contact reporter Yang Ge ([email protected])
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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=0_Yobh9MPQw
VSG LEADERBOARD : AT&T #1 in Fiber Lit Buildings- Year end 2020
Vertical Systems Group’s 2020 U.S. Fiber Lit Buildings LEADERBOARD results are as follows (in rank order by number of on-net fiber lit buildings): AT&T, Verizon, Spectrum Enterprise, Lumen, Comcast, Cox, Crown Castle Fiber, Atlantic Broadband, Frontier, Zayo and Altice USA. These eleven retail and wholesale fiber providers qualify for this benchmark with 15,000 or more on-net U.S. fiber lit commercial buildings as of year-end 2020.
Additionally, fourteen companies qualify for the 2020 Challenge Tier as follows (in alphabetical order): Cincinnati Bell, Cleareon, Cogent, Consolidated Communications, Conterra, DQE Communications, Everstream, FirstLight, IFN, Logix Fiber Networks, Segra, Unite Private Networks, Uniti Fiber and Windstream. These fiber providers each qualify for the 2020 Challenge Tier with between 2,000 and 14,999 U.S. fiber lit commercial buildings.
“The base of fiber lit buildings in the U.S. expanded in 2020, although the pace of new installations was hampered by the pandemic. Challenges for fiber providers ranged from impeded installations due to commercial building closures and business shutdowns to supply chain disruptions,” said Rosemary Cochran, principal of Vertical Systems Group. “As the economy rebounds in 2021, fiber providers have opportunities to monetize the millions of small and medium U.S. commercial buildings without fiber, as well as larger multi-tenant buildings with only a single fiber provider. However it remains uncertain how changes in U.S. regulatory policies and federal funding could alter fiber investments and deployment plans in the next several years.”
2020 Fiber Provider Research Highlights:
- AT&T retains the top rank on the U.S. Fiber Lit Buildings LEADERBOARD for the fifth consecutive year.
- The threshold for a rank position on the 2020 Fiber LEADERBOARD is 15,000 fiber lit buildings, up from 10,000 buildings previously.
- Atlantic Broadband advanced to eighth position on the LEADERBOARD, up from eleventh in the previous year.
- Windstream and Consolidated Communications move into the Challenge Tier from the LEADERBOARD.
- Vertical Systems Group’s 2020 U.S. fiber research analysis for five building sizes shows that fiber availability varies significantly based on number of employees. The Fiber 20+ segment, which covers four building sizes with twenty or more employees, has a 69.2% fiber lit availability rate. This compares to 14.1% availability for the Fiber <20 segment, which covers buildings with fewer than twenty employees.
Market Players include all other fiber providers with fewer than 2,000 U.S. commercial fiber lit buildings. The 2020 Market Players tier includes more than two hundred metro, regional and other fiber providers, including the following companies (in alphabetical order): ACD.net, Armstrong Business Solutions, C Spire, Centracom, CTS Telecom, Douglas Fast Net, EnTouch Business, ExteNet Systems, Fatbeam, FiberLight, Fusion Connect, Google Fiber, GTT, Hunter Communications, LS Networks, Mediacom Business, MetroNet Business, Midco Business, Pilot Fiber, PS Lightwave, Shentel Business, Silver Star Telecom, Sonic Business, Syringa, TDS Telecom, TPX Communications, U.S. Signal, Veracity, Wave Broadband, WOW!Business, Ziply Fiber and others.
For this analysis, a fiber lit building is defined as a commercial site or data center that has on-net optical fiber connectivity to a network provider’s infrastructure, plus active service termination equipment onsite. Excluded from this analysis are standalone cell towers, small cells not located in fiber lit buildings, near net buildings, buildings classified as coiled at curb or coiled in building, HFC-connected buildings, carrier central offices, residential buildings, and private or dark fiber installations.
Cuba-Google agreement to speed up Internet access on the island
Google and ETECSA signed a memorandum of understanding to begin the negotiation of a so-called “peering agreement” that would create a cost-free and direct connection between their two networks. That would enable faster access to content hosted on the Google’s servers, which are not located on the island. Internet in Cuba has been notoriously sluggish and unreliable. In a country where information is tightly controlled, it remains to be seen how much Google’d information would be available in Cuba. That’s if and when a fast connection can be made between Cuba’s ETECSA controlled Internet and Google’s servers.
The agreement creates a joint working group of engineers to figure out how to implement this peering arrangement, likely via an undersea cable. What’s needed first is the creation of a physical connection between Cuba’s network and a Google “point of presence,” the closest ones being in South Florida, Mexico and Colombia. Cuba currently has a single fiber-optic connection running under the Caribbean to Venezuela that has been unable to provide the island with sufficient capacity to support its relatively small but growing group of internet users, for reasons never disclosed by either country’s Communist government. Neither Cuban or Google officials provided any estimated timeframe for the island’s connection to a new undersea fiber-optic cable. That step could take years given the slow pace of Cuba’s bureaucracy and the obstacles thrown up by the U.S. trade embargo on the island.
“The implementation of this internet traffic exchange service is part of the strategy of ETECSA for the development and computerization of the country,” Google and ETECSA said in a joint news release, read out at a news conference in Havana.
“We are excited to have reached this memorandum for the benefit of internet users here in Cuba,” Brett Perlmutter, the head of Google Cuba, said before signing the deal.
References:
https://www.businessinsider.com/google-partners-etecsa-cuba-2019-3
https://phys.org/news/2019-03-cuba-google-island.html
GSA: 102 Network Operators in 52 Countries have Deployed NB-IoT and LTE-M LPWANs for IoT
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) reported on March 27th that 102 operators in 52 countries have now either deployed or launched at least one of the NB-IoT or LTE-M technologies. Of these, 20 operators in 19 countries had deployed or launched both NB-IoT and LTE-M,
Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and LTE-M are low power wide area network (LPWAN) radio technology specifications developed by the 3GPP to enable a wide range of cellular devices and services, in particular IoT and machine-to-machine applications. As of the end of March 2019, GSA had identified:
- 149 operators in 69 countries investing in one or both of the NB-IoT and LTE-M network technologies
- 22 countries are now home to deployed/launched NB-IoT and LTE-M networks
- 28 countries are home to deployed/launched NB-IoT networks only, and two countries are home to deployed/launched LTE-M networks only
- 140 operators in 69 countries investing in NB-IoT networks; of which 88 operators in 50 countries had deployed/launched their networks
- 60 operators in 35 countries investing in LTE-M networks; of which 34 operators in 24 countries had deployed/launched their network
“The global momentum behind LPWAN deployments is testament to the revenue opportunities which operators are racing to win and monetise in a diverse range of new IoT applications. Significantly, it can also be seen as a precursor to operators replacing legacy M2M services such as GPRS-based trackers and preparing the ground for the eventual switch-off of their 2G networks,” commented Joe Barrett, President, GSA.
The latest data on NB-IoT and LTE-M devices, is fully available to all employees of GSA Executive, Ordinary Member companies and GSA Associates who subscribe to GSA Analyser for Mobile Broadband Devices (GAMBoD) service. The report can be found at https://gsacom.com/paper/global-narrowband-iot-lte-m-networks-march-2019/
GAMBoD is a unique search and analysis tool that has been developed by GSA to enable searches of mobile broadband devices and global data on Mobile Broadband Networks, Technologies and Spectrum (NTS). The LTE and 5G Devices database can be searched by supplier, form factor, features, peak downlink and uplink speeds, and operating frequency. Results are presented as a list or in charts. Charts may be inserted into documents or presentations, subject to accreditation of GSA as the source.
About GSA:
GSA is the voice of the mobile vendor ecosystem representing companies engaged in the supply of infrastructure, semiconductors, test equipment, devices, applications and mobile support services. GSA actively promotes the 3GPP technology road-map – 3G, 4G, 5G – and is a single source of information resource for industry reports and market intelligence. The GSA Executive board comprises of Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung with representation for other members including Viavi Solutions and ZTE.
GSA Membership is open to all companies participating in the mobile ecosystem and operators, companies and government bodies can get access to GAMBoD by subscribing as an Associate. More details can be found at https://gsacom.com/gsa-membership
FCC’s auction of 24 GHz spectrum attracts >$1.5B in bids after 26 rounds; IMT 2020 frequencies?
Bids in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) 24 GHz millimeter-wave spectrum auction 102 have passed $1.5 billion after 26 rounds. The figure is more than double the the $704 million collected during the recent sale of 28 GHz spectrum.
Bidding has been from AT&T, T-Mobile US, Verizon and Sprint (bidding as ATI Sub LLC); U.S. Cellular; Dish Network, bidding as Crestone Wireless; Starry Spectrum Holdings and Windstream Communications (which recently filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of a court case). There are a total of 38 qualified bidders.
Auction 102 is the FCC’s second auction of Upper Microwave Flexible Use Service (UMFUS) licenses (see below for information on auction 1010). Auction 102 offers 2,909 licenses in the 24 GHz band. The lower segment of the 24 GHz band (24.25–24.45 GHz) will be licensed as two 100-megahertz blocks, and the upper segment (24.75–25.25 GHz) will be licensed as five 100-megahertz blocks. Those frequencies are being considered for the IMT 2020 5G radio aspects standard and will be determined at the ITU-R WRC-19 meeting this fall (details in Editor’s Note below).
Three rounds of bidding are being held each day at this point in the auction. The clock auction format begins with a “clock phase” (the current auction phase) which lets participants bid on generic blocks in each Partial Economic Area in successive bidding rounds, followed by an “assignment phase” that allows the winners of the generic blocks to bid for frequency-specific license assignments. The clock phase continues, with prices automatically increasing each round, until bidders’ demand for licenses at a certain price matches the supply — and at that point, the bidders who have indicated they are willing to pay the final clock price for a license will be considered winners and the assignment phase can begin.
The most hotly contested licenses are those covering New York City and Los Angeles, California. New York City metropolitan licenses are dominating the bidding: four bids for NYC licenses in the upper portion of the band are currently above $30 million. One of those is at $41.1 million, the largest bid of the auction thus far. The most expensive bid for a Los Angeles license, also in the upper portion of the band, is up to $31.6 million, with other bids on LA licenses as high as $28.7 million and $26.1 million.
Much of the auction process is secretive—there are anti-collusion rules and bidders can’t talk to one another, for example. The FCC isn’t releasing the names of the winners of the 28-GHz or 24-GHz auctions until both have been concluded.
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The FCC is making a total of 1.55 gigahertz of spectrum available through auctions 101 (which concluded in late January after raising $702 million) and 102. The agency plans to hold three more mmWave auctions during 2019, covering spectrum at 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz. Although the FCC has usually makes winning bidders public shortly after the close of an auction, the winning bidders from Auction 101 will not be publicly named until after the close of Auction 102.
References:
https://auctiondata.fcc.gov/public/projects/auction102
https://www.rcrwireless.com/20190325/policy/24-ghz-auction-hits-1-4-billion
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Update on FCC Auction 103:
Analysis and results of FCC Auction 103 for 5G mmWave Spectrum
Deputy PM: 5G Crucial to Vietnam’s Development; Viettel installs Vietnam’s first 5G base stations in Hanoi
Vietnam’s deputy prime minister Vu Duc Dam has thrown his support behind the adoption of 5G in the nation, stating that 5G will be crucial to Vietnam’s development.
During the recent ASEAN Conference on 5G, the deputy prime minister acknowledged that the government will need to proactively support businesses to ensure they are more confident in investing in 5G, according to Nhan Dan Online, the official newsletter of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has stated that 5G, the next-generation of mobile communications standard, is crucially important to the development of Vietnam
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During the conference, Dam said the technology will not only provide major speeds improvements but involve changes in global production methods. He suggested that participants use the Vietnam-organized conference to discuss the pathway to 5G development in the ASEAN region.
Vietnam aims to become one of the world’s early adopters of 5G. Several Vietnamese operators have been allocated licenses to trial the technology in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City ahead of a commercial launch.
Also at the event, Vietnam’s ICT minister Nguyen Manh Hung also stated that 5G will be the most vital part of the infrastructure required for the future digital economy. He told the delegates at the conference that Vietnam will be one of the first countries in the world to roll out the next-generation of wireless technology. Several local carriers have been licensed to trial 5G in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Minister Hung added.
Update (April 10, 2019):
Viettel deploys Vietnam’s first 5G base stations
Vietnamese military-run operator Viettel has installed Vietnam’s first 5G base stations in Hanoi ahead of planned 5G trials.
The operator has deployed three test 5G base stations at various offices, and expects to switch them on for trials in early May, state news agency Nhan Dan Online reported.
Viettel plans to test 70 5G base stations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in June in preparation for a large-scale deployment, the report states. The military run telecom group is targeting a 5G commercial launch in 2020. Viettel is taking the lead in the deployment of the technology in the market.
Military-run telecommunications group Viettel has installed the first base transceiver station (BTS) of fifth generation (5G) in Vietnam on the roof of the Viettel Centre in Hoan Kiem District.
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At the recent ASEAN Conference on 5G in Vietnam, minister of information and communications Nguyen Manh Hung said 5G represents an opportunity for Vietnam to change its global rankings by stimulating growth in the digital economy.
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Update: April 26, 2018:
Indochina Telecom on Thursday launched Vietnam’s first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) ITelecom, increasing the number of telecom service providers in the Southeast Asian country to six.
The five veteran mobile network operators in Vietnam include Vinaphone, MobiFone, Viettel, Vietnamobile, and G-tel.
An MVNO is a wireless communications service provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides the service to its customers.
Newcomer ITelecom obtained access to network services from telecom market leader Vinaphone under a business agreement to offer its own network service.
Prefixing phone numbers on its network with 087, ITelecom says it is committed to offering flexible telecom services and stable quality at reasonable costs.
The company’s deputy general director Luu Anh Son said the virtual model helps save considerable costs, time, and effort whilst still ensuring quality for its users.
For Vinaphone, the agreement offers an opportunity to resell voice and data packages and share network operating costs, allowing the telecom giant to ultimately add to its bottom line.
Indochina Telecom’s services are currently offered to workers in industrial parks in nine provinces and cities including Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh in northern Vietnam, and Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Long An and Dong Nai in the south.
The operator’s most popular package allows users to enjoy all under-20-minute calls within its and Vinaphone’s networks, as well as 30-minute calls to other networks and 3GB of daily Internet data at a cost of VND77,000 (US$3.3) a month. ITelecom has yet to establish its own system of representative offices in Vietnam, instead relying on wholesale and authorized agents to connect with customers – a system which could potentially inconvenience customers in need of customer or tech support.
To overcome this drawback, the operator plans to ink agreements with other networks to contract out such services at reasonable prices, while providing a variety of packages to different groups and user segments, according to Son. Established in 2008, Indochina Telecom has more than a decade of experience in providing basic mobile network and Internet services across Vietnam.
GSA announces 5G Device Database and 5G Ecosystem Report +Hadden Telecoms
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) today launched the industry’s first database tracking worldwide 5G devices. Part of the GSA Analyser for Mobile Broadband Devices (GAMBoD) database, the new 5G device tracking and reporting represents an important milestone for the 5G ecosystem as it moves from service trials and prototype user equipment to commercially available services and devices. 5G Ecosystem Report containing summary statistics can be downloaded here.
The report details that as of mid-March 2019 GSA had identified 23 vendors who have confirmed the availability of forthcoming 5G devices with 33 different devices including regional variants. There were seven announced 5G device form factors: (phones, hotspots, indoor CPE, outdoor CPE, modules, Snap-On dongles, adapters and USB terminals). Breakdown by 5G form factor:
- 12 phones (plus regional variants)
- 5 hotspots (plus regional variants)
- 8 CPE devices (indoor and outdoor)
- 5 modules
- 2 snap-on dongles / adapters
- 1 USB terminal
GSA also confirms that 5G chipsets have been announced or are available from five vendors (Huawei, Intel, Mediatek, Qualcomm and Samsung).
Editor’s Note:
Huawei and Samsung use their 5G chip sets for their products and so far have not announced they would sell them on the merchant market.
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Other potential, but – as far as GSA has been able to determine – not officially announced, 5G devices, include:
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- Netgear Nighthawk M2 5G Hotspot – reported by secondary sources as planned for Telstra’s network
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10 5G – secondary source confirmation only, based on analysis of Galaxy Note 10 Kernel code.
- In addition, earlier versions of the Huawei indoor CPE containing the Balong 5G01 chipset are, according to the vendor, still being used in selected pre-commercial trials.
This is the latest component of the GSA Analyser for Mobile Broadband Devices (GAMBoD) database, a tool designed to help industry stakeholders keep track of all this stuff. Its launch comes on the same day at the publication of the latest 5G Market Reality Check from Hadden Telecoms.
“Operators globally are preparing for the large-scale introduction of 5G, the first services have launched, and the devices ecosystem is rapidly building and poised for the imminent scale availability of a range of smartphone models,” said Hadden. “Dozens more operators are expected to launch their respective 5G services in the coming 12 months.”
211 operators are investing in 5G in 87 countries – List
Operators investing in 5G are at a variety of stages, ranging from network deployments, to technology testing, demonstrations and pilot trials. 15 operators have commercially launched 5G services, including Telstra and Optus in Australia, which are offering fixed wireless 5G services on the 3.6-GHz band. Vodafone Australia and the market’s national broadband network operator NBN Co are also investing in 5G.
Download the full list as of 24th March 2019: Operator-5G-investments-240319.pdf
References:
http://telecoms.com/496540/5g-has-already-yielded-12-phones-and-five-chipset-vendors-gsa/
Ericsson: MOU with SK Telecom for 5G SA core network; KT commercial contract for 5G roll-out in April
SK Telecom (SKT) and Ericsson have signed a MOU agreement to collaborate on research and development of 5G standalone (SA) core network technology and architecture. The three year agreement focuses on potential enhancements and optimization enabled by cloud native micro-services based design principles. The collaboration is directed at creating a more agile and programmable 5G standalone core network architecture capable of efficiently managing growth through automation and more simplified operations.
“After the successful launch of 5G [non-standalone] network, SK Telecom is preparing to migrate towards 5G [standalone – no LTE dependence] networks to provide the latest and greatest technology and services to its customers,” SK Telecom SVP and head of 5GX Labs Jong-kwan Park said.
“This joint collaboration with Ericsson on the next generation 5G Standalone Core and cloud native principles will not only enable us to introduce new services faster while at the same time improve our operational efficiency but also support higher availability through simplified operation.”
Ericsson head of packet core Peo Lehto added that cloud native micro-services architecture promises to deliver higher degrees of automation and availability, more predictable performance and more robust operations for next-generation mobile networks.
“This will relieve requirements on the infrastructure by allowing better handling of multiple failures, better infrastructure utilization with more flexible and granular scaling, as well as increased rate of innovation with independent life cycles and in-service software upgrade for each service,” he said.
“Ericsson and SKT have been cooperating closely for many years around 5G innovation. With the new MoU we can accelerate the necessary evolution of 5G core networks the profitable introduction of 5G-based services and use cases.”
A three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the companies focuses on possible enhancements and optimization enabled by cloud native micro-services-based principles. The MoU comes as increasing focus is being placed on the need for more agile and programmable 5G standalone core network that efficiently manage growth with automation and simplified operations.
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Separately, Ericsson has secured a deal from South Korea’s largest telecom firm KT to implement its forthcoming 5G network as South Korea wireless network operators target 5G launch in April 2019. In addition to 3GPP Release 15 “5G New Radio” hardware and software for KT’s 3.5 GHz Non-Standalone network, Ericsson is facilitating KT to stimulate the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 opportunities to local enterprises on a global scale. In addition to immersive media, KT’s 5G commercialization use case plans covers: smart factories; safety; drones; and connected vehicles.
Many believe that the extensive deployment of 5G networks will boost the adoption of IoT devices that require real time control and low latency. As 5G accelerates the digital transformation in many industries, enabling new use cases in areas such as IoT, automation, transport and Big Data, Ericsson is poised to benefit from favorable growth dynamics. The company is investing heavily in its competitive 5G-ready portfolio to enable customers to seamlessly migrate to 5G.
Jinho Choi, Vice President, Access Network Design, KT, says: “Having worked successfully with Ericsson on 4G LTE, we are pleased to continue that partnership to make our 5G ambitions a reality with Ericsson’s leading 5G technology.
“Korea is one of the most competitive and technology-advanced markets in the world. By taking a global lead to enable nationwide commercial 5G services through commercially available 5G smartphones, KT is demonstrating our commitment to our customers and showing how we can drive a global 5G ecosystem where Korea plays a key role.”
Patrick Johansson, Head of Ericsson Korea, says: “We’ve worked with KT for many years to bring the very best mobile user experiences to its customers. Notably on 5G, we worked closely together to show the world what 5G could do during a major global winter sports event in 2018.
“With 5G we aim to help KT to take their customers’ experiences to new levels, whether through enhanced mobile broadband for mobile subscribers, or helping to make national and global IoT and Industry 4.0 opportunities a reality for enterprises and industries.”
References:
https://www.ericsson.com/ci/en/news/2019/2/ericsson-and-sk-telecom-team-up-on-cloud-native-5g-core
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2019/3/ericsson-wins-5g-commercial-deal-with-kt
https://www.telecomasia.net/content/skt-ericsson-team-cloud-native-5g-core
China Mobile reports 2018 net profit of $17.58 billion; 5G accomplishments and 2019 plans
2018 Financial Overview:
On March 20, 2019, China Mobile (the world’s largest wireless carrier by subscribers and revenue) reported a 3.1% increase in net profit for 2018 to 117.78 billion yuan ($17.58 billion). The company focused on reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency. Telecommunications service revenue fell a reported 0.4% but grew 3.7% in comparable terms to 670.9 billion yuan. China Mobile’s net profit was aided by the listing of the company’s tower division China Tower in August last year.
2018 Highlights:
- China Mobile reported a 4.3% increase in its total customer base for the year to 925 million, of which 713 million are 4G customers – a 9.7% increase from 2017.
- However, mobile ARPU fell 8% to 53.1 yuan as a result of strong competition.
- Total wireline broadband subscribers increased by 39% to 157 million, of which 147 million were household broadband customers. Household broadband blended ARPU grew 3.2% to 34.4 yuan.
- The company’s four growth engines are: personal mobile market, home broadband market, corporate market, emerging business
- IoT revenue +40.2% to RMB7.53 bil
- ICT, Cloud Computing, Big Data Revenue Revenue =RMB4.19 bil which was +75.3%
- Boasted 2.41 mil 4G base stations with an industry-leading 4G network coverage capability
- Realized NB-IoT continuous coverage in areas at township level and above across China
- Achieved household broadband access capability of ≥100Mbps.
- More efficient deployment of CDN edge nodes resulted in ongoing enhancements to customer perception
- Maintained a backbone network with a further enhanced transmission and loading capability.
- Performance of international submarine cables, cross-border terrestrial cables and PoPs was substantially lifted
“2018 was a challenging year for telecommunications operators. Competition amongst peers changed in characteristics as products and services have become homogenized while cross-sector challenges have intensified. The value of traditional telecommunications business rapidly diminished, coupled with multiple challenges from a complex and rapidly-changing policy environment,” China Mobile chairman Yang Jie said.
“In order to counter market competition, overcome the major obstacles in the ongoing reforms and enhance management, we continued to encourage everyone across the Company to take the ‘Big Connectivity’ strategy even further and implement the integrated development of the four growth engines.”
2018 5G Accomplishments:
- Permitted to adopt 2.6GHz and 4.9GHz frequency bands for trials
- Network tests and application trials in 17 cities
- Developed 5G Ecology:
• 5G Joint Innovation Centre
• 5G Device Forerunner Initiative
• 5G Joint Innovation Industry Fund
2019 Goals dor 5G: Construct end-to-end network infrastructure; Promote 5G commercialization:
• Develop NSA and SA networks concurrently with SA (stand alone- no LTE) as the primary goal
• Promote 4G/5G synergistic development and expedite 4G VoLTE
• Join hands with the industry supply chain to develop devices supporting multiple modes, bands and form factors
• Share end-to-end smart technology capabilities and serve vertical industries
Work together to build an open and win-win innovative ecosystem. Promote 5G cross-industry integration:
- Culture and entertainment
- Smart transportation
- Smart city
- Smart manufacturing
- Remote healthcare
https://www.chinamobileltd.com/en/ir/webcasts/pre190321.pdf
China Mobile on 5G (from Press Release):
We will continue to conduct tests on the 5G network and perform trials on business applications to ensure the precommercial launch of 5G services this year. We aim to provide direction and leadership for 5G development, exploring suitable 5G products and business models with industry partners. To build a strong foundation for the ongoing transformation towards an intelligent network, we will speed up the pace of network upgrades and strengthen our core capabilities. The Company will expand into new retail business and strive for the large-scale development of our own branded intelligent hardware. We will build up our capabilities in key business areas and develop an open and shared innovative ecosystem. In order to realize a win-win situation, we will continue to enhance the collaborative opening-up efforts, reinforcing industrial cooperation,investment planning and international expansion.
http://mms.prnasia.com/00941/20190321/2018ARPressRelease_ENG.pdf
India delays 5G trials; Advocates “the Indian Way” within ITU-R WP 5D for IMT 2020
India Delays 5G Trials:
5G technology trials in India are now expected to begin by the end of the current calendar year or early next year, according to a recently-constituted committee looking into the 5G field trial initiative.
“5G trials may happen towards the end of this year or early next year. Early deployments may happen in the second or third quarter of 2020,” Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT Kanpur and chairman of the recently set up committee to look into SG spectrum for trials told ETT.
The much-anticipated 5G field trials have hit a policy roadblock with the department of telecom (DoT) wireless planning and coordination wing (WPC) averse to allocating airwaves beyond 90 days, which according to industry, would not serve any purpose.
March 29, 2919 Update from Prof AJ Paulraj:
“Government of India has confirmed that several statements in the article are incorrect. 5G trials are this year on and WPC has not created any hurdles.”
That implies the first reference cited (see below) is inaccurate.
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Prof. Karandikar said that the industry needs to get trial spectrum for a reasonable duration or for at least one year with a minimum cost to telecom carriers for carrying out 5G trials. “Current mechanisms of experimental license by DoT require modifications in terms of scope and duration for enabling telecom service providers and industry to undertake the 5G trial at the network level,” he said.
On February 25, the department has formed a committee headed by Karandikar with representation from the academia, industry and the government, to make recommendations related to licensing for carrying out 5G pilots, and also asked for the quantum, size, price and other aspects for offering experimental spectrum. The 5G India Forum will serve as a strategic national initiative which concerns all stakeholders, private and public, small and large, to meet the challenge of making 5G a reality in India, at timelines aligning with the rest of world. 5G India Forum is a collaborative body under the aegis of COAI.
- Objective: This 5G India forum aims to become the leading force in the development of next generation communications and will enable synergizing national efforts and will play a significant role in shaping the strategic, commercial and regulatory development of the 5G ecosystem in India.
Earlier in 2018, the Indian government has asked telecom service providers— Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio— to partner with telecom gear makers such as Cisco, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia, and showcase India-specific 5G use cases by early 2019.
The department has so far excluded Chinese telecom equipment firm ZTE from awarding intent letter to participate in trials. Shenzhen-based Huawei said it was still awaiting clarity from the government to conduct 5G trials and could deploy a 5G network within the three week’s time after the allocation of trial radiowaves.
Karandikar, one of the sector regulator’s advisers is also a member of the 5G high-level forum which under the noted scientist AJ Paulraj is working on to prepare a roadmap for 5G rollout in the country in tandem with some of the matured markets worldwide. In September 2018, the forum submitted its recommendations to the government which has constituted several implementation-level committees or working groups to develop a wider 5G deployment strategy.
References:
https://www.coai.com/5g_india_forum
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ITU-R WP5D split on the way forward for IMT 2020 specifications:
At the February 2019 ITU-R WP5D meeting 31bis, TSDSI (India’s telecom standards body) submitted updated information related to their proposal of candidate IMT-2020 radio interfaces. The TDSI contribution was reviewed and the respective IMT-2020 documents were revised accordingly.
This meeting received and reviewed a number of input contributions on “Process and use of the Global Core Specification (GCS), references, and related certifications in conjunction with Recommendation ITU-R M.[IMT‑2020.SPECS].” There continues to be two diverse philosophies on how to proceed with the document – one desiring to significantly alter the process to support specific national needs (e.g. India) in the transposition phase of the process and the other demonstrating how the same objective could be accomplished with the existing process remaining unaltered in its scope, steps, and procedures.
The two views are Indian Way Forward (provided by TSDSI) and Summary of a Proposed IMT-2020 VVV Way Forward (AT&T v3 2-14-19) (provided by AT&T).
The Indian Way courtesy of TSDSI:
- India believes that, the process works well ONLY for countries with strong industry presence in 3GPP
- Most developing countries have no way to influence the technology they consume
- Much of the value transactions in standardization are abrogated to external bodies
- That relegates most of the developing countries to be consumers
What the ITU-R IMT 2020 standardization process should enable:
- India believes the process should enable developing countries to take 3GPP (or other GCS) as the base specification.
- Then provide enhancements and innovations to the base specifications, depending on local use cases.
- TDSI believes it is possible to preserve interoperability/international roaming, while allowing for these regional enhancements
- That is not enabled by the current process
TSDSI Proposal for ITU-R IMT-2020 Standard:
- Reference to Base Specification – Version 1.
- Delta-DIS Version 1. (for national options)
References:
TSDSI’s Initial Proposal on candidate RIT/SRIT for IMT 2020 Accepted