Sprint to offer 5G Samsung Smartphone in Summer 2019
Sprint today confirmed plans for an innovative, pre-standard 5G smartphone expected to launch in summer 2019 from Samsung. The company says that Sprint customers will be among the first in the world to experience the incredible speed, reliability and mobility of 5G on this feature-rich handset. Note that AT&T and Verizon have also announced smartphone from Samsung for the 2nd half of 2019.
“We are proud that our longstanding relationship with Samsung has delivered some of the most innovative mobile technologies to our customers over the years – and this tradition continues with 5G,” said Dr. John Saw, Sprint chief technology officer. “Samsung is one of our key 5G network infrastructure Massive MIMO providers, so we are delighted that they will also deliver one of our first 5G smartphones, putting blazing fast connectivity right into our customers’ hands.”
This Samsung device will offer dual-mode connectivity to Sprint’s LTE and 5G network. For 5G and LTE, it will support Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum. In addition, it will support Sprint’s 1.9 GHz spectrum (band 25), 800 MHz spectrum (band 26) and other LTE spectrum bands for roaming. Additional device specifications and exact timing will be announced later.
That’s in contrast to the mmWave frequency technology that’s favored by AT&T and Verizon (defined as being between 30GHz and 300GHz). In December, both AT&T and Verizon announced that they would be carrying upcoming 5G smartphones. Verizon was first, and it announced that it would be selling one of the phones in the first half of 2019. AT&T responded by saying that not only would it have that same phone early in the year, but it would also offer a second 5G phone from Samsung in the second half of the year.
5G promises new levels of innovation and progress to connect people, places and the billions of things Sprint customers do with super-fast speed and ultra-reliable wireless connectivity. Customers should experience a shift from 4G to 5G with full-length HD movie downloads in seconds instead of minutes. Graphic-heavy videos and high speed games should play without delays, hiccups or lag-time.
Sprint is building its 5G product ecosystem to give customers choice in how they connect to Sprint’s 5G network. This is the third device announced for Sprint’s 5G network to date. In August, Sprint was the first U.S. carrier to announce timing for a network-integrated 5G smartphone, and it followed in November with news of a 5G mobile smart hub.
In the first half of 2019 Sprint plans to launch its mobile 5G network in nine of some of the largest cities in the U.S.–Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., with additional markets to be announced. Massive MIMO technology is a key part of Sprint’s 5G strategy and network build. This breakthrough technology dramatically increases the capacity of Sprint’s LTE Advanced network today and is software upgradable to 5G. With Massive MIMO at the foundation of its mobile 5G service, Sprint can meet its customers’ demand for unlimited data and high-bandwidth applications, such as television in high definition and virtual reality.
To follow Sprint’s Next-Gen Network build out and its road to 5G, visit http://newsroom.sprint.com/network/.
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Samsung is reportedly working on at least two variants of its upcoming Galaxy S10 smartphone: one with a Qualcomm modem and the other with a Samsung-made equivalent. One of these is also rumored to be a “Beyond X” version of the phone with a 6.7-inch screen. None of the three carriers have confirmed exactly which model of Samsung phone they’ll be carrying. Sprint stopped short of confirming that Samsung’s device would be the first 5G phone on its network, saying only that it would be “one of” the first after. The US carrier previously announced that it would carry a 5G phone from LG earlier in the year, and it also said it was working with HTC to develop a 5G “smart hub.”
D-Link announces 5G NR Gateway, but not which “5G” networks it’s compatible with
D-Link’s DWR-2010 “5G NR” Enhanced Gateway is one of the first gateway available for pre standard 5G broadband networks. D-Link claims it delivers speeds up to 40x faster than typical fixed broadband speed in the U.S. The average U.S. fixed-line broadband speed is around 70Mbps, the company claimed, citing a Forbes report.
Editor’s Note:
D-Link has not revealed which pre-standard 5G network this device will be compatible with. One would assume it would be for fixed broadband wireless access, which Verizon already offers but that service is based on their V5GTF proprietary spec. Verizon has said it would transition its (fake) 5G fixed service to 5G NR (3GPP Release 15)in the near future but has not said when that might be. C-Spire also offers a proprieatary fixed 5G service, but again it’s not compatible with 5G NR. Hence, we wonder where this D-Link device could actually be used.
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“With expanded spectrum and new applications, 5G is going to bring more competition to the broadband market within the coming years,” said Raman Bridwell, vice president of product and services, D-Link Systems, Inc. “This gateway will help more people access that network in more places with the same wireline experience we have today.”
As “fake 5G” adoption accelerates within the coming year, more people may be turning to wireless carriers as their home internet provider. D-Link’s 5G gateway will help them take full advantage of the new wireless capability.
The DWR-2010 also offers customization options for service providers, making it suitable for deployment on a range of network configurations. The gateway features an embedded 5G NR (New Radio) NSA module and can operate on the sub-6 GHz or mmWave frequencies in 200 MHz (2 x 100 MHz) or 800 MHz (8 x 100 MHz) configurations. Complete with remote management (TR-069) and FOTA, the DWR-2010 provides hassle-free operation and a better customer experience.
Device Overview:
Embedded 5GNR NSA module (3GPP Rel.15)
◼ Qualcomm SDX55 Chipset
◼ Sub-6 GHz or mmWave frequency compatible
◼ 5 Ethernet Ports
• 1x 2.5Gbps LAN
• 1Gbps LAN
• 1x 1Gbps WAN/LAN
◼ AC2600 Dual Band Wi-Fi (800 + 1732 Mbps) with MU-MIMO
◼ 4 external antennas for LTE/5G NR
◼ Whole home coverage with D-Link Wi-Fi Mesh
◼ Auto Firmware Upgrade
◼ Supports VoLTE
◼ Supports Remote Management (TR-069)
Availability and Pricing
The 5G NR Enhanced Gateway will be available in the second half of 2019. Pricing will vary depending on preferred service providers (?).
About D-Link
D-Link designs, develops, and manufactures award-winning solutions for homes, businesses, and service providers. The global leader in connectivity implements and supports unified network solutions that integrate switching, wireless, broadband, IP Surveillance, and cloud-based network management. For more, visit us.dlink.com, or connect with D-Link on Facebook, Twitter, and D-Link’s Blog.
Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata completes South Asia’s first 5G pilot transmission
Sri Lanka network operator Dialog Axiata announced the successful completion of what it calls South Asia’s first fully functional 5G pilot transmission over commercial grade base stations and end-user devices. The pre-commercial 5G trial was conducted in collaboration with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), using spectrum in the 3.5-GHz band that has been assigned by the regulator for 5G trials.
During the trial, Dialog achieved pilot speeds of over 2 Gbps in a real-world setting using commercial-grade 5G home gateway routers.
Dialog Axiata enables South Asia’s First Fully functional 5G Pilot transmission.
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The Director General, TRCSL, Mr. P.R.S.P. Jayatilake in congratulating Dialog on embarking on the bold initiative of setting up a pre-commercial 5G transmission said, “Sri Lanka has consistently led the South Asia region in technology introduction. The TRCSL is very proud to note the achievements of the mobile sector in delivering broadband services to Sri Lankan consumers on a very affordable basis – this along with wider availability has driven broadband penetration in Sri Lanka”.
Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC said, “Reaching the milestone of enabling a fully functional pre-commercial 5G transmission as well as our investments in making a major part of our expansive island-wide 4G network fully 5G compliant, demonstrate our commitment to deliver to our customers, network capability and digital enablement on par with the most developed markets in the world. The progressive policies of the TRCSL have enabled Sri Lanka to lead the region in this respect and we greatly appreciate the foresight of the TRCSL to allocate spectrum for pre-commercial transmission of 5G services. Dialog will build on the learning from the pilot transmission and will work in partnership with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Digital Infrastructure in leveraging the unique capabilities of 5G technology towards empowering Sri Lanka’s socio-economic transformation, enhancing productivity, efficiency and advancement of the country as a regional technology hub.”
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In August 2017, Dialog Axiata conducted South Asia’s first 5G demonstration in a laboratory environment, in conjunction with Huawei and Ericsson. The company said 20% of its base stations are now 5G ready due to the deployment of Massive MIMO technology. Since then Dialog has upgraded over 20% of its expansive base station network to ‘5G Ready Status’ by deploying Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology. Dialog’s Massive MIMO network today transmits speeds in excess of 720 MBps enabling superlative upload and download speeds on the company’s widely available 4G services. The same infrastructure will transmit 5G speeds upon the licensing of commercial 5G services in Sri Lanka.
References:
https://www.dialog.lk/south-asia-first-5g-pilot-transmission-goes-live/
https://www.facebook.com/dialog.lk/videos/10153877048811203/?permPage=1
SK Telecom completes live TV broadcast over its 5G network
As a follow on to yesterday’s IEEE techblog on Korea 5G and ideal content, SK Telecom has completed the first live TV broadcast over its commercial 5G network and live broadcasting solution.
The operator ushered in 2019 with a live broadcast of Korea’s largest New Year’s event at the Bosingak pavilion in Seoul from around 11 minutes starting at midnight Korea Standard Time.
The live broadcast used SK Telecom’s T Live Caster live broadcasting solution, which the network operator has developed over a four year period. T Live Caster is designed to enable live broadcasting of video taken by smartphones over channels including TV and personal broadcasting over 5G anThe video taken by smartphone cameras installed with the T Live Caster app and connected to connected to a 5G mobile router was transmitted through 5G stations and entertainment channel XtvN’s transmission system for cable and IPTV viewers of the channel.
The video was taken by smartphone cameras installed with the T Live Caster app and connected to 5G mobile routers and transmitted through 5G base stations and XtvN’s transmission system to cable and IPTV viewers of XtvN.
Despite the highly congested data environment, the video was transmitted at a latency of less than one second, comparable to that of existing wired broadcasting systems.
“With today’s successful live TV broadcasting over commercial 5G network, SK Telecom ushers in a new era of 5G-based media services,” SK Telecom SVP and head of 5GX IoT/Data Group Choi Nak-hoon said.
“In this new era, individual creators will be able to provide high-quality live broadcast anytime, anywhere, via 5G smartphones.”
South Korea has successfully switched on commercial 5G network on the first day of December, officially marking the era of high-speed network. The country’s No.1 mobile carrier has become the first to make a commercial 5G video call, using a prototype Samsung smartphone.
SK Telecom’s 5G network currently covers main areas of 13 cities and counties nationwide, including Seoul, four cities in Gyeonggi-do (Seongnam, An-san, Hwaseong, Siheung), six metropolitan cities, Seogwipo in Jeju Island, and Ullengdo and Dokdo Islands in Ulleng county.
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SK said it plans to continue to enhance the quality of T Live Caster to UHD and interconnect the solution to personal broadcasting platforms within the year.
Plans also call for tapping into the drone broadcasting market. Last June, SK Telecom struck a partnership with drone manufacturer DJI to jointly develop a drone video surveillance solution.
SK’s blog about the event didn’t identify the suppliers of the 5G network infrastructure.
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References:
https://www.globalskt.com/home/info/2482
Korea’s telecom/media partnerships forming in 2019 for 5G & ideal content
The Korea Herald reports that 2019 will be a cutthroat yet exciting year for South Korea’s telecommunications industry as the introduction of faster fifth-generation telecom networks in March will bring on upheavals in their own and other industries.
The Korean mobile operators at the forefront of the 5G commercialization are widely expected to escape their traditional areas of business, mainly centering on providing high-speed internet and high-quality calls, stretching out to the media industry by providing new services enabled by the 5G network.
Compared to the current 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile network, the 5G network provides 20 times faster speed for data transmission, allowing users to download a 2-gigabyte high-definition movie in less than a second.
Korea’s three mobile carriers — SK Telecom (SKT), KT and LG Uplus –in order of sales — are preparing to acquire or seek partnerships with small and mid-size broadcasters or media content startups to provide content for their respective 5G networks
SKT is forging ties with over-the-top mobile video content provider Pooq, run by the country’s three terrestrial broadcasters, in order to strengthen its own platform Oksusu that aims to rival Netflix.
SKT’s bigger plan is to spin off the Oksusu platform as one of four major subsidiaries along with the mobile network operator, and security and commerce arms.
This is also part of SKT CEO Park Jung-ho’s plan to establish an intermediary financial holding company – dubbed “ICT holding company of SK Group — that take control of the current four business areas of SKT.
KT is closely monitoring archrival SKT’s moves to start the new OTT business in a bid to lose out in the 5G content market.
KT’s New Media Business Group will be led by Kim Hoon-bae, former CEO of Genie Music — the mobile carrier’s music streaming platform — this year, which will focus on developing creative 5G content for its customers.
“KT is making efforts internally to develop content for 5G, for example the GiGA Live VR service on its IPTV platform,” said a KT official.
KT is also expanding Olleh TV subscribers’ access to TV content further to their mobile devices by launching Olleh TV Mobile application.
LG Uplus is gearing up for acquisition of CJ HelloVision, a cable TV channel provider under CJ Group, in order to enhance its cable TV business.
If LG acquires the CJ channel, it would become the second-largest cable TV service provider, beating out SKT’s Broadband with a total of 24.43 percent market share. KT is currently the market leader with a 30.86 percent share.
Taking a larger share of the pay TV market is becoming more important for the mobile carriers, because their internet protocol TV service subscribers are key customers for the home media business that would further develop into the future content business.
“Securing ideal content for the 5G network is the key to success in the new network market,” said an LG Uplus official. “We are seeking to enlarge the size of the home media business by securing more content provided by competitive third-party content providers with an ultimate goal of offering video content for 5G mobile customers, because the home media and mobile users prefer combined service plans.”
In an effort to attract around 300,000 Netflix users in Korea, LG Uplus has partnered with the US OTT business to offer access to Netflix content via its IPTV platform.
According to a report by KT Economics and Management Research Institute, the media industry is predicted to gain 3.6 trillion won in socioeconomic value by 2030 with the commercial use of 5G technology.
The report also mentioned the 5G technology will bring augmented reality and virtual reality content to end users, creating a new category in the media market.
By Song Su-hyun ([email protected]) and edited by Alan J Weissberger
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References:
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190101000072
South Korean Mobile Operators to Launch 5G Simultaneously on Korea 5G Day
India 5G Delayed due to spectrum sale and lack of fiber connectivity
The Indian government expects initial “5G” rollouts by late 2020. But sector experts say the country is running late and could be at least three years behind South Korea, Japan, Australia, the US, China, France and Germany in rolling out 5G networks. Pre IMT 2020 standard 5G services are likely to be rolled out in those markets by late 2019 or early 2020.
Some of the key reasons why India is slipping behind in 5G – after having missed the 3G and 4G early adoption train – include dismal state of fiber network infrastructure (needed for backhaul), absence of relevant use-cases and a very modest presence of household electronics plugged into the Internet.
Financial stress in the industry and a missing handset/mobile device ecosystem have already delayed a 5G spectrum sale to late 2019.
Further, high debt levels and the prospect of high reserve prices could further kill the appetite of telcos even when 5G airwaves are auctioned, especially for older carriers such as Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, whose India operations remain in the red, say experts.
Problems related to setting up and maintaining fiber networks and poor 4G Internet availability in the villages and small towns, they say, could further scale down the business case for early 5G rollouts in India. 5G smartphones won’t come to India before 2020, although they will be available in early adopter markets next year (again, pre-standard and likely based on 3GPP release 15 5G NR).
Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel said recently that the current wave of popular 5G use-cases such as “driverless cars to remote surgery are not practical in the Indian context,” which is why it expects deployments are four years away. He also said the company is in no hurry to bid for 5G spectrum.
Experts say a major deterrent to India’s 5G ambitions is lack of adequate fiber connectivity – less than 20% of the country’s telecom towers are linked by fiber. This can limit the capacity to connect the core of a mobile network to nodes and then on to towers for transmitting data. A reliable fiber-based network is critical to support 5G data speeds of 10 Gbps and next-gen applications such as video-on-demand and internet of things (IoT) to smart cities.
“If 5G is to succeed in India, at least 70-80% of mobile towers will have to be fiberised, failing which, severe data speed limitations will continue as present backhaul networks in India use microwave spectrum,” says TR Dua, director general of Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association, an industry grouping representing Indus Towers, Bharti Infratel, American Tower Corporation, GTL, Reliance Infratel and Tower Vision.
TV Ramachandran, president of the Broadband India Forum, agrees, saying, “Most 5G use-cases would fall if we don’t provide strong fibre connectivity.” The forum counts Huawei, Qualcomm, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Hughes and Intel among its members.
In comparison to India, China already has 75-80% of its mobile towers fiberised.
Moody’s Investors Service expects China to commercially deploy 5G services in late-2019 or by 2020, with pilot trials already under way. The Chinese government allocated 5G spectrum this month to the country’s top 3 telcos – China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom – to conduct field trials in the run-up to the commercial rollout of 5G services.
By contrast, India’s telecom department said that the 5G spectrum sale would take place in the secondhalf of 2019. It though recently invited telcos, equipment vendors and other stakeholders to partner with the government for 5G trials. Sources say trials are still some time away.
Nitin Soni, director (corporates) at global rating company Fitch, does not expect 5G to arrive in India before 2022 at the earliest because the telecom industry balance sheet – saddled with Rs 7 lakh crore in debt – is in no shape to support a 5G spectrum sale in the next one year.
“Even if 5G spectrum is auctioned by late-2019, I don’t foresee enthusiastic bidding, especially if reserve prices are high as older carriers are still struggling. Besides, India is nowhere near having ubiquitous fibre connectivity or a devices ecosystem comparable with China or Korea, which could delay 5G rollouts by another three years,” says the Singapore-based Fitch director.
Rajan Mathews, director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, which represents Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm, says the primary reason South Korea, Germany, Japan or the UK have been able to brace for 5G early is due to the strong “financial condition of their telecom operators.”
The reserve price of 5G spectrum recommended by India’s telecom regulator, he said, “is much higher compared to Germany, South Korea or UK.”
In August, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) set Rs 492 crore per unit as the minimum rate for 5G spectrum (in the 3.4-3.5 GHz bands), compared with Rs 131 crore per unit and Rs 66 crore per unit in South Korea and the UK, respectively.
A key global learning, Rajan says, is “pricing the spectrum at reasonable rates” to allow telcos to bid aggressively and roll out 5G services.
Fitch’s Soni says China has stolen a march over India as “it’s streets ahead in developing data-intensive 5G content coupled with music, movie and sport apps in regional languages,” which is slated to drive consumption once 5G services get rolled out there.
Experts also say that unlike India, China already has a buzzing internet of things ecosystem, wherein cars, machines and ordinary home appliances are plugged to the internet, providing the perfect springboard for 5G to rapidly gain traction.
The Modi government, though, doesn’t want India to miss the 5G bus – like the country did on 3G and 4G – as the economic impact alone of this superfast wireless broadband technology is estimated at over $1 trillion by 2035.
The government has set up a highpowered 5G Forum to advise on the path forward, which has suggested that most rules on regulatory matters be promulgated by next March to pave the way for early rollouts.
US chipmaker Qualcomm has downplayed concerns around 5G ecosystem challenges, saying that although the global infrastructure ecosystem is diverse, the vendors overseas and in India are the same.
“Different countries are at different stages of mass deployment of fibre and so on,” says Durga Malladi, senior vice president, Engineering & GM (4G/5G), at Qualcomm Technologies.
Reference:
Addendum:
Reliance Jio president Mathew Oommen told ETTelecom: “For service providers, just voice or even traditional data revenue alone is not going to be the cure. They have to invest and innovate so that they would not get displaced by other aggressive providers or more importantly by OTT companies.”
India telecom market leader Reliance Jio, second ranked Bharti Airtel and financially stressed Vodafone Idea (Vi) have filed applications for participation in the upcoming 4G spectrum auctions, due to start on March 1. The auction for over 2300 MHz of airwaves—valued at Rs 3.92 lakh crore at base price—though is likely to see limited bidding intensity for spectrum worth less than Rs 48,000 crore, with Jio and Airtel expected to be the main players. Industry executives have confirmed to ET that the three telcos have filed in their applications although Airtel, Jio and Vi did not respond to ET’s queries.
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/jio-airtel-vodafone-idea-apply-to-bid-in-spectrum-auctions/80769608
SD-WAN Market to Grow in 2019 with Managed Services Leading the Charge
The managed SD-WAN services market is expected to generate more than $282 million in revenue in the U.S. by the close of 2018, according to researcher Vertical Systems Group. The figure is based on billable U.S. customer sites and WAN access connections installed and under management. Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group, said he expects a major boost in revenue next year with network operators fully ramped up to sell, deliver and support managed SD-WAN services.
A managed SD-WAN service is defined as a carrier-grade network offering for enterprise and business customers, which is managed by a network operator, and delivered over a software-defined network (SDN) service architecture that has separate control (overlay) and data (underlay) planes, according to MEF.
Service providers currently selling managed SD-WAN services in the U.S. include: Aryaka, AT&T, CenturyLink, Cogent, Comcast, Fusion Connect, GTT, Hughes, Masergy, MetTel, Sprint, Verizon, Windstream and Zayo by Vertical’s count. Other network operators both domestic and foreign are expected to enter the U.S. market, which will grow the segment’s size, Vertical said.
While the managed SD-WAN services market in the U.S. is small, it began to pick up steam in the last half of 2018, said Malone. “Carrier-grade managed SD-WAN services in the U.S. began to generate notable revenue in the second half of 2018,” he said.
One main reason the market’s revenue is small is because money is new to it. However, SD-WAN has proved to be more complex than customers previously believed. “Prior to this, most providers supported customers with pilot SD-WAN services that were not substantively monetized,” Malone said. “A key driver for managed services is the growing appreciation that migration to SD-WAN is considerably more complex than the promise of ‘easily deployed’ plug-and-play DIY solutions.”
“In 2019, we’ll continue to see SD-WAN as a key enabler for enterprise customers’ digital transformations. The integration between MPLS and internet, combined with the move to cloud, requires a different network and security design – particularly on a global scale. With SD-WAN, enterprises can address these requirements and introduce automation to make networks even more efficient. Future-proof solutions with simple interfaces, like Flexible SD-WAN from Orange, enable enterprises to use their networks dynamically to anticipate and respond to changes in their business environments while migrating applications to the cloud.” Rob Willcock, senior vice president, Americas, Orange Business Services.
In 2018, Cisco integrated its Viptela SD-WAN, which is bought in 2017 for $610 billion, more deeply across its enterprise routing platform. Also this year, VMware integrated VeloCloud’s SD-WAN technologies—which it bought last year for an undisclosed sum, into its product lines. Both acquisitions have turned out to be solid moves. Oracle is looking to duplicate Cisco and VMware’s successes next year after buying buying Talari Networks , also for an undisclosed sum, this year.
While some of the current SD-WAN vendors will fall by the wayside next year, others will be bought by companies that serve the enterprise and business sectors. Oracle, Cisco and VMWare?Dell bought such SD WAN start ups in 2018.
Another trend that will likely continue into 2019 is more firewall vendors entering the SD-WAN market. In 2018, Fortinet and WatchGuard Technologies moved from supplying security to SD-WAN vendors to offering their own flavors of it.
There will likely be more partnerships between SD WAN vendors and cloud providers, similar to the deal that Versa Networks did with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer SD-WAN to AWS partners. Citrix and Riverbed also announced availability of their SD-WAN offerings on Microsoft Azure cloud and AWS in 2018.
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Vertical Systems has launched a new research service covering the carrier-based managed SD-WAN services market, focusing on service migration, network connectivity and market sizing. The research content it offers at this time spans managed SD-WAN purchase drivers, customers, WAN access connections, site configuration profiles, pricing and revenue.
At this point, SD-WAN research is a “moving target,” said Erin Dunne, Vertical’s research services director, in a video. “First of all the issue is definition. There’s no true definition out there. We pride ourselves on being able to lay out definitions that are from a market perspective — what service providers are selling and what enterprise, or business customers, are buying or what they want to buy.”
According to Vertical, managed SD-WAN services are a carrier-grade network offering for enterprise and business customers, managed by a network operator, and delivered over a software defined network service architecture that has separate control and data planes. Not included in this analysis are do-it-yourself SD-WAN solutions purchased directly from an SD-WAN technology supplier or a systems integrator.
STATFlash: Managed SD-WAN Services Market Tops $282 Million in the U.S.
2021 Commercial 5G pilots in India; Cisco #1 in India Network Equipment
Commercial 5G pilot networks in India are expected by 2021. Upstart wireless network operator Reliance Jio has the advantage to transform its telecom network to offer newer technology, said a Cisco Systems top executive responsible for the APAC region.
“By 2021, India should finally see 5G commercial pilots,” Cisco Head of Asia Pacific & Japan – Service Provider Business Sanjay Kaul told ETT, adding that most of the country’s service providers were already on the journey towards 5G.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has already asked equipment vendors— Cisco, Samsung, Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia— to partner with India service providers Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to start 5G-based field trials as early as January 2019 and demonstrate India-specific use cases to smoothe commercial rollouts.
Cisco has enabled the Mumbai-based Reliance Jio to foray into the fourth generation (4G) technology-based voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) services in September 2016, and the two companies are currently working together to develop content delivery through the cloud in a lower latency environment— a key 5G feature.
“Jio has an advantage with its greenfield network while others like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and even BSNL are transforming their network at a rapid pace,” Kaul said.
Earlier, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio has said that it could launch 5G services within the few months after acquiring the required spectrum. Kaul believes that Reliance Jio and other telco incumbents would launch 5G-based digital services as the India government makes spectrum available at a cost bearable to the industry.
Cisco said that in a 5G environment, telecom networks network would truly become a service platform, and digital services uniquely crafted for small-and-mid-sized companies and consumers would help telcos to monetise their investments in network transformation and data center architecture.
“5G technology and architecture will truly provide service provider another opportunity to evolve from being a communication service provider to a true digital value player,” the Cisco executive added.
Jio also feels that telecom service operators should innovate to become a digital player in a competitive landscape.
4G and 5G networks would co-exist, according to Kaul, who attributed 4G for mass adoption of data and social networks, and added that 5G technology, unlike 3G and 4G, has technical features like low latency and high density.
Kaul believes that 4G is progressing with full throttle, and in a year’s time, it would be closer to 90% penetration in the country.
The incumbents— Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are investing to make 4G networks widespread while the youngest telecom player Jio that has built next-generation all-IP data network, has already penetrated more than 90% of the country. The public-sector BSNL is yet to get 4G spectrum from the government to compete with rivals.
“We have covered 90% of the Indian population with 4G, and we’ll soon reach to 99% of the country,” Jio president Mathew Oommen said.
“4G is showing good results, and I think all operators are really going for country-wide coverage and are accelerating their efforts,” Kaul said, adding that the time for 5G has arrived in the country.
The department has said that it would be ready to hold mega airwaves sale including frequencies in the 3300-3600 Mhz range, used to offer high-speed 5G services, in the second half of 2019.
The Narendra Modi-led NDA government is banking on the newer technology with the telecom department setting up a high-level 5G Forum to oversee 5G roadmap and rollout of services in tandem with matured markets worldwide.
The company feels that the newer technology would be unique in terms of creating and enabling mission-critical applications in various vertical domains such as transport, healthcare, finance, and security.
https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/commercial-5g-pilots-in-2021-cisco/67254020
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Cisco Systems has emerged as a leader in India’s network equipment market with a clear lead over rivals such as Nokia and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in the Ethernet, router and wireless local area network (WLAN) segments in the third quarter of 2018, according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) market research report.
“Cisco continues to dominate the Ethernet Switch market with a 65.7% share in Q3 2018, followed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Huawei,” IDC said, adding that Cisco accounted three-fourth of the router market in the same quarter.
With 65.7% market share, Cisco took a huge lead over Hewlett Packard Enterprise (6.7%), Huawei (3.3%) and Nokia (2.8%) in the Ethernet Switch market in the quarter.
According to IDC’s latest Asia/Pacific Quarterly Ethernet Switch Tracker, the Q3 2018 Ethernet Switch market in India stood at USD 160.3 million (by vendor revenue) with an excellent YoY growth of 34.4%.
ADC and Layer 3 categories predominantly drove the overall growth with high double-digit individual YoY rise, while Layer 2 also saw a YoY growth, though only marginal. The India government’s push towards digitalization through upgrade of public infrastructure and multiple smart city initiatives; telecom infrastructure modernization drives and banking sector’s continual investment in network infrastructure to improve customer experience, is expected to drive growth in the coming quarters. The router market in India reached $214.9 million with an exceptional year-on-year growth of 140.4%.
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The San Jose, CA based company also dominated the router segment with 75% share, while Nokia (11.2%), Huawei (7%) and Juniper (5.5%) trailed behind in Q3 2018.
Cisco has retained the top spot in the WLAN market with a 24.8% market share in Q3 2018, followed by TP-Link (17.3%) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (15.3%).
“The Ethernet switch, router, and WLAN market are expected to grow in single digits in terms of compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2017-2022,” IDC said in a statement.
“Software-defined networking solutions are expected to gain prominence as the enterprise infrastructure evolves from human-dependent systems to self-servicing, fully automated and seamlessly integrated systems,” Ranganath Sadasiva, Director— Enterprise at IDC India said.
The market research firm, however, believes that government and enterprise digitalization initiatives would be expected to drive growth across product categories.
“Mobile workforce, anytime anywhere access to enterprise networks, security across multiple channels and shift towards cloud-based application workload are key drivers for investment in network infrastructure,” Dileep Nadimpalli, Research Manager— Storage at IDC India said.
https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prAP44587818
Thailand to start 5G trial in January 2019; KT deploys 5G-based barista robot in Korea
- Thailand 5G Trials
a] AIS has become the first mobile phone network operator in Thailand to commence 5G technology testing in Thailand, including making it available for trial at “5G the First LIVE in Thailand by AIS” in collaboration with global partners Nokia, Huawei and ZTE Corporation.
“AIS is all about developing and providing the best digital infrastructure for Thailand,” explains Weerawat Kiattipongthaworn, Chief Corporate Officer.
“As operator of the biggest spectrum, 120 MHz, our educational initiatives, research & development, and new technologies create value and benefits for everyone.”
“5G is going to create new recreational and business opportunities and considerably enhance socio-economic potential.”
The first “5G the First Live in Thailand by AIS” event showcased five 5G-enabled innovative features:
• 5G Super Speed showcasing the performance of the 5G network including total throughput and latency.
• 5G Ultra Low Latency demonstrating the latency of 5G using three robots to find a balancing point that controls the position of a ball position in the middle of a board. The time difference to achieve balance between 4G and 5G technology will be clear.
• 5G for Industry 4.0 demonstrating the role robots will play in Industry 4.0. The collaborative work of machines from various production lines requires wireless connection with low latency and high reliability. This speeds up production lines and makes them more flexible and efficient. Meanwhile, ABB’s Yumi Dual-Arm Collaborative Robot will demonstrate how connectivity through a 5G network can enhance production efficiency.
• 5G Virtual Reality immersive video via 5G network enabling VR headsets so people can see what a 360° virtual reality experience is really like. Clear VR viewing requires the very high bandwidth that only 5G can provide, especially for live streaming.
• 5G FIFA Virtual Reality will test 5G speed against virtual soccer penalty kicks.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1580894/ais-leads-the-way-with-5g-in-thailand
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b] Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society (DE) Ministry plans to begin the trial for the 5G testbed in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in January 2019, according to the Bangkok Post which cites DE Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj. This move will prepare the country for 5G adoption by 2020. Initially focusing on transport, healthcare and tourism, the 5G trial will feature the recently announced alliance of private firms and state agencies, including Ericsson, Huawei Technologies, Qualcomm, Intel, Nokia, major telecom operators, the Thai Federation of ICT Technology Association, and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).The NBTC was asked to provide spectrum ranges for the 5G testbed in the EEC, particularly 3,500MHz and 26-28GHz. The alliance’s representatives are members of the working committee on the 5G testbed set up on Oct 31.
The DE Ministry said it’s looking for potential 5G developers to cooperate in the 5G alliance’s trial.
The 5G testbed’s lab in Sri Racha district is just 1.5 kilometres from Thailand’s first digital innovation park in Chon Buri province. The 5G sites and lab will be at the science faculty, Kasetsart University Sriracha Campus. The DE Ministry’s project runs in parallel with the NBTC’s 5G test centre in Bangkok under a partnership with Chulalongkorn University.
2. KT deploys 5G-based barista robot at Gangnam cafe – new use case for 5G?
South Korean network operator KT (Korea Telecom) has applied 5G network technology to a barista robot at an unmanned cafe near Gangnam Station in southern Seoul, The Korea Times reports, citing a company statement. At the ‘Beat’ café operated by local coffee franchise dal.komm, a robot barista takes orders and serves customers drinks and coffee. KT installed a 5G mobile hotspot in the coffee shop so that the robot can receive 5G signals from base stations.
“The 5G network in the cafe is used to send the status of the robot and high-quality CCTV to the control tower 24 hours a day”, said a KT representative. “With the CCTV equipped inside the robot, the robot also recognizes visitors to the coffee shop and sends video footage of the inside of the shop to the manager”, the KT representative added.
“The 5G barista cafe is the world’s first 5G robot cafe to offer real 5G service”, said Park Hyun-jin, head of KT’s 5G business division. KT will also provide the robot with voice recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. With these features, customers will be able to make voice orders and receive more customized service through the AI technology, KT added.
https://www.telecompaper.com/news/kt-deploys-5g-based-barista-robot-at-gangnam-cafe–1274554
The 5G testbed lab in Sri Racha district is just 1.5 kilometres from Thailand’s first digital innovation park in Chon Buri province. The 5G sites and lab will be at the science faculty, Kasetsart University Sriracha Campus.
Telia, TalTech, Ericsson launch pilot 5G network in Tallinn, Estonia
Nordic network operator Telia, in cooperation with Ericsson and Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), has launched a pilot 5G network in Tallinn. Estonia’s first 5G pilot network is located throught the TalTech university campus. Companies and startups have been invited to use the 5G network to develop future services and new business models.
The network will provide mobile data for the whole TalTech campus, which enables the development of innovative new services and solutions, Telia said.
Kirke Saar, CTO at Telia Estonia, says this marks the launch of the fifth-generation mobile technology in Estonia.
“We hope to see new and exciting future services and business models built upon 5G. Thus, different stakeholders are welcome to test the possibilities of the new technology at the TalTech University. It is the perfect place for this, combining technical knowledge, smart people and cooperation experiences with very different partners. Additionally, 5G technology supports our newly opened NB-IoT network which now has its first commercial user,“ Kirke Saar said.
The Rector of TalTech –Jaak Aaviksoo sees 5G a brave step into the unknown.
“It´ll open limitless opportunities for communication in a virtual world. TalTech, Telia and Ericsson take this step together because we believe in the creativity of both scientists and students in using this platform and generating new ideas. 5G means a thousand steps into the future for the whole Estonia.”
Andrus Durejko, Head of Ericsson Estonia, said:
“The launch of a 5G network in Estonia using commercial and standardized radio and core products serves as an important step toward launching early commercial 5G services in the country. Building a 5G network in one of Estonia’s most creative environments, TalTech campus, demonstrates Ericsson’s and Telia Company’s joint commitment to drive innovation and the continued digitalization of Estonia.”
4K live-stream milestone
Today at the network inauguation, the newly opened 5G network performed its first official task: 5G base stations installed on the university campus transmitted 4K live stream from the Tallinn Old Town Christmas market, recently voted the best in Europe.
“As far as we know, up until now, 4K has never been transmitted live in Estonia or its neighboring countries, and our 5G network did an excellent job on transmitting the stream,“ Kirke Saar said.
Telia’s CTO also said that Telia is planning and working on opening 5G for residential customers next year.
TalTech has built a self-driving car named Iseauto, which will become one of the first cooperation projects within the 5G pilot’s scope. The next milestone will come in 2019, when the project partners will showcase Iseauto driving around and communicating with the surrounding infrastructure with the help of 5G.
https://www.teliacompany.com/en/news/news-articles/2018/estonias-first-5g-network-goes-live/
Editor’s Note:
Earlier this month, Telia Company, Ericsson and KTH Royal Institute of Technology launched a 5G network on the KTH campus in Stockholm that will serve as an innovation and research platform for the academia and partner companies.
- Ericsson, Telia Company and KTH Royal Institute of Technology launched a 5G network on the KTH campus in Stockholm
- First 5G network on air in Sweden based on standardized and commercial radio and core products
- Testbed for innovation and research open for industry partners and academia