Verizon Updates its “5G” Plans; Announces ThingSpace Platform for IoT Developers
Verizon “5G” (totally proprietary for both fixed and mobile access):
Verizon will launch its mobile “5G” service roughly six months after the introduction of its fixed “5G” offering, which the telecom has set for several cities later this year, CEO Lowell McAdam told the Seattle Times. Separately, Verizon named Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred public cloud provider and will transfer its production databases and business apps to AWS.
Verizon’s fixed “5G” services are intended to compete with broadband wired internet services by sending high frequency signals from a nearby cell site to receivers either outside or inside users’ homes or offices. Fiber optics is used for backhaul from the cell site to the ISP’s point of presence.
Verizon has been partnering with Samsung and others to test “5G” in homes, or “fixed 5G,” in several U.S. cities. It plans to launch the service to customers in four cities, including Sacramento and Los Angeles California, before the end of this year.
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NOTE: Again, this is not really 5G but instead is Verizon’s proprietary spec for broadband fixed wireless which is NOT being considered by ITU-R for IMT2020. The specification was conducted within Verizon’s 5G Technology Forum (V5GTF), a group that includes Cisco, Ericsson, Intel, LG, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung. V5GTF will be used for Verizon’s 28GHz and 39GHz fixed wireless access trials and deployments.
From the ITU-T Focus Group report on IMT 2020 Deliverables:
The use cases expected in IMT-2020 are categorized into three representative services: enhanced mobile broadband service, ultra-reliable and low-latency communications, and massive machine type communications. The other services are placed in-between those three service characteristics.
- Enhanced mobile broadband services are to allow users to experience high-speed and high-quality multimedia services, e.g., virtual reality, augmented reality, 4K/8K Ultra-High Definition video, and even hologram services, at any time and any place.
- Ultra-reliable and low-latency communications are to enable delay sensitive and mission critical services such as tactile Internet which requires less than a millisecond end-to-end delay, remote control of medical and industrial robots, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications.
- The massive machine type communications is to support connections and communications among massive amounts of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
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“We bought 36 million miles of fiber so we can have big pipes feeding the cells. We will have hundreds of megahertz of bandwidth to deliver the whole suite of services of 5G,” McAdam said.
“We’ll have 1,000 cell sites up and operating on the global standard,” McAdam said on CNBC cable network.
Separately, Samsung acknowledged that the FCC certified the company’s indoor 5G home router (for fixed broadband access), following a VentureBeat report about the action. Samsung confirmed the router is designed for Verizon’s 28 GHz fixed wireless deployment.
For comparison, AT&T said in February that Atlanta, Dallas and Waco, Tex. would be the first of 12 cities to receive its “5G” mobile service, while Sprint is bringing its 5G services to Kansas City, Phoenix and New York City (the millennium capital of the world).
Mobile 5G is designed for portable devices like smartphones, tablets, and virtual reality/game players. That market — giving customers access to ultrafast speeds even on the go — is where T-Mobile has been investing its resources. T-Mobile CEO John Legere has criticized Verizon and other competitors in the past for focusing on the fixed service rather than mobile.
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ThingSpace Platform for IoT Developers:
On the eve of IoT World in Santa Clara, CA. Verizon has launched ThingSpace Ready for IoT developers looking to accelerate the creation, test time and speed to bring innovative IoT ideas and ultimately, products to market. ThingSpace Ready is a new program that is part of Verizon’s successful ThingSpace platform, which has more than 20 million connected devices on the platform. Designed to simplify the IoT on-ramp for businesses and OEMs, ThingSpace Ready will provide the most cost-effective and time-efficient design and implementation experience possible – all while connected to Verizon’s award-winning network. The program provides developers more affordable cellular modules and new, lower priced IoT SIM and hardware design house partnerships.
ThingSpace Ready builds on Verizon’s leading platform and connectivity services for IoT – in 2017 Verizon was first to market with its nationwide commercial 4G LTE CATM1 network spanning 2.57 million square miles, the first nationwide low-power, wide-area LTE network designed specifically for IoT. As of April 2018, ThingSpace supports connectivity in over 200 countries & territories via global agreements. Now, through carefully curated module, SIM, and design house partnerships, a ThingSpace SDK integrated on modules and incentives when devices are activated on Verizon’s leading network, device development has never been simpler.
“We’ve been a leader in the industry around IoT platform and connectivity services with the successful launch of ThingSpace in 2015, and the first nationwide CATM1 network for IoT in 2017. Now, we’re building on those tools with key partnerships and services to help make it easier and more affordable than ever to develop and launch cellular-enabled IoT solutions in the marketplace” said Steve Szabo, head of global IoT products and solutions at Verizon. “We’ve created a one-stop-shop for IoT and are providing access like never before,” he added.
This new program is the latest advancement in Verizon’s growing IoT toolkit. Verizon’s ThingSpace press release is here.
Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley: Lots of Progress in Many Areas
Introduction:
Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley was held May 7-9, 2018 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. In addition to highlighting the many new technologies deployed, practicalities such as financing, procurement, stakeholder engagement and program management were also discussed. For example, projects become a much easier sell if an agency can find alternative funding methods. Panelists outlined five of those methods: Monetizing infrastructure, Revenue sharing, Monetizing data, Fees and fare collection, Cost savings.
This article presents just a few highlights of this outstanding conference which should be a must attend for city officials everywhere.
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Summary of Selected Sessions:
May 7th Workshop: Industry Exchange: Smart City Technology and Planning Standards; Moderator: Zack Huhn – Founder, Venture Smarter
Standards and guidance documents play a critical role in describing good practice and clearly set out what needs to be done to comply with specified outcomes. They help in the planning, design, manufacturing, procurement and management processes to ensure goods and services supplied are fit for purpose. This workshop discussed the emerging IEEE standard on developing a technology and process framework for planning a smart city.
IEEE PROJECT 2784 – Guide for the Technology and Process Framework for Planning a Smart City
This guide will provide a framework that outlines technologies and the processes for planning the evolution of a smart city. Smart Cities and related solutions require technology standards and a cohesive process planning framework for the use of the internet of things to ensure interoperable, agile, and scalable solutions that are able to be implemented and maintained in a sustainable manner. This framework provides a methodology for municipalities and technology integrators to use as a tool to plan for innovative and technology solutions for smart cities.
Approval Date: 28-Sep-2017 PAR Expiration Date: 31-Dec-2021 Status: PAR for a New IEEE Standard 1.1 Project Number: P2784 1.2 Type of Document: Guide
“We have been working to create agile, secure, interoperable and financially sustainable technology standards and planning guidelines for municipal leaders to support the vision of building smart cities and connected communities – regardless of socioeconomic or geographical barriers.” — ZACK HUHN
–>Much more in a forthcoming article about this IEEE Smart Cities Standards Project.
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May 8th Panel Session- Transportation Investments: the Building Blocks for Tomorrow’s City
Transportation officials addressed the progress city, regional and state agencies are making towards planning for the future of mobility through investments in transportation infrastructure. With objectives such as increasing transportation options, enhancing the quality of life and improving sustainability, practitioners will address how planning, coordination with other departments to bring a range of services, creative financing and public-private partnerships that modern mobility possible.
Moderator
Jason Goldman – Vice President, ITSA
Speakers
Roger Millar – Secretary, Washington State Department of Transportation
Stefano Landi – Global Sales, Business Development & Partnerships, Verizon
Dan McElhinney – District 4 Chief Deputy District Director, CalTrans
Some characteristics and attributes of smart cities are: intelligent lighting and energy, smart traffic management, traffic data collection, driver aware parking, public safety, and intersection control through safety analytics.
Verizon is partnering with cities to provide connectivity solutions including small cells, fiber backhaul, 4G/5G/WiFi, and NB-IoT.
CALTRANS District 4 (SF Bay Area) is trying to control traffic congestion by ramp metering which is key element of the state’s Transportation Management System (TMS). They are also working on Smart Corridors like Contra Costa I-80.
CALTRANS/CHP goal is to clear major highway accidents withing <=90 minutes of occurrence. That objective was achieved in 75% of such incidents in Fiscal Year 2015/2016 (the latest year for which figures were available).
Somewhat surprisingly, CALTRANS is putting in a lot more fiber optic communications near roads and highways- mainly because of its reliability and future proof bandwidth capacity.
A vision of the CALTRANS Intelligent Transportation System is depicted in the following figure:
Image courtesy of CALTRANS
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Future Ready — Growing an Innovation Ecosystem in your Community — Learn from Experienced Practitioners:
Through governance, regulation and investment, the public sector can create an environment in which innovation occurs. Cities, counties, states and other units offer access to technology and data, set policies that support startups through simplified regulations and licensing, and host incubators and accelerators. In this session, you will hear from practitioners from the San Diego region, the state of California and an Australian NGO about their efforts to create a climate of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Moderator
Emma Hendry – CEO, Hendry
Speakers
Marty Turock – Strategic Projects Consultant, Clean Tech San Diego
Erik Stokes – Manager, Energy Deployment and Market Facilitation Office California Energy Commission
Johanna Pittman – Program Director, CityConnect
It seems like the city of San Diego has made tremendous progress in intelligent clean tech and micro-grids, which may have replaced the “smart grid” so many experts were talking about several years ago.
Meanwhile, the California Energy Commission established BlueTechValley as part of a major $60 million initiative Commission launched about 18 months ago to really try to create a state-wide ecosystem to support clean energy entrepreneurship across the state.
“As part of this initiative, we created four regional innovation clusters to manage a network of incubator-type services that can encourage clean tech entrepreneurs in the region and really try to help make what can be a very tough road towards commercialization a little bit easier,” Erik Stokes said.
“BlueTechValley and their partners were selected to be the Central Valley cluster. A big reason for that was their strength and expertise in the food and agricultural sector,” he explained. One of the focus areas of the incubator is to find areas in farming to save costs and minimize greenhouse gases. “We really want to focus on those technologies that can help both reduce water use, as well as energy use,” Stokes added.
In a private chat, Erike opined that a lot of the “smart grid” platform vendors had migrated their offerings to data analytics for energy consumption and prediction of future usage trends.
Future Ready Cities — The Robust Mobile Network and Why You Need it Now:
Cities depend on mobile networks for day-to-day operations and delivery of citizen services, and this dependence is growing rapidly. In this session, mobile operators and local government officials will address the critical role of IoT applications for not only transportation, public safety and sustainability, but also for stimulating entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth.
Speakers
David Witkowski – Executive Director of Civic Technologies, Joint Venture Silicon Valley
Peter Murray – Executive Director, Dense Networks
Rebecca Hunter – External Affairs, Corporate Development & Strategy, Crown Castle
Geoff Arnold – CTO, Verizon Smart Communities
Dolan Beckel – Smart City Lead, City of San Jose
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Closing Quotes:
“We need to be talking about smart regions, not smart cities” -Joy Bonaguro, Chief Data Officer, City of San Francisco.
“Most cities measure performance and miss the boat on measuring effectiveness. You can quantify subjective well-being and should” – Shanna Draheim, Michigan Municipal League Policy Director.
“The idea that we have to disrupt to move forward has poisoned our thinking. We should not discount incremental steps toward a solution. We should ask ourselves – what are the small changes we can make that over time lead to significant outcomes?” – Deb Socia, Executive Director of Next Century Cities – a public interest initiative helping cities that want fast, affordable, reliable broadband.
“The first-ever Smart Cities Readiness Hub at Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley paired cities that are starting their efforts with those who have already blazed a trail — and all gained useful insights.” – Smart Cities Council. Watch the video here.
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About Smart Cities Council:
The Smart Cities Council, envisions a world where digital technology and intelligent design are harnessed to create smart, sustainable cities with high-quality living and high-quality jobs. A leader in smart cities education, the Council is comprised of more than 120 partners and advisors who have generated US$2.7 trillion in annual revenue and contributed to more than 11,000 smart cities projects.
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Addendum: Smart Cities Market:
Global Smart Cities industry was valued at approximately $343 billion in 2016 and is anticipated to grow at a rate of more than 24.4% from 2017-2025 according to Research for Markets. The increasing demands for integrated security, safety systems improving public safety and the rising demand for system integrators are the key drivers for this market. Recent technological advancements in smart cities can also be included as a key driver.
Some of the important manufacturers involved in the Smart Cities market are Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ericsson, General Electronics, Delphi, IBM Co., CISCO Systems Inc., Schneider Electric SE, and Accenture Plc. Those companies are investing in smart grid technologies. A major part of this is going into upgrading the outdated energy infrastructure with new and advanced infrastructure. Acquisitions and effective mergers are some of the strategies adopted by the key manufacturers.
NTT DoCoMo achieves 28GHz wireless data transmission in ultrahigh mobility environment
NTT DoCoMo says it has achieved what is believed to be the world’s first successful 28 GHz wireless data transmission between a 5G base station and a 5G mobile station in 5G field trials using a car moving at 305 KMH or about 189 MPH. The trials were conducted last month at the Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI) using 700 megahertz of spectrum. They also included live wireless relay of 4K high-frame rate video via uplink from a 5G mobile station moving at 200 km/h, according to DoCoMo.
The speeds in the field trials are designed to be similar to speeds of high-speed railways, so it’s understandable the operator wants to make sure it works, including handoffs, at these kinds of speeds.
Working with NEC and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), DoCoMo said the trials also achieved what are believed to be the world’s first successful 1.1 Gbps ultrahigh-speed data transmission via downlink to a 5G mobile station moving at 293 km/h. It also conducted a fast handover during communication between 5G base stations and a 5G mobile station moving at 290 KMH.
DoCoMo noted that the “world’s first” achievements are according to DoCoMo research as of April 23, 2018. Japan’s largest wireless network operator and its partners used beamforming and beam tracking to address propagation challenges in the 28 GHz band. The 5G base stations used massive-element antenna (96 elements, up to two beams), and the mobile station had massive-element antenna (64 elements, up to two beams). Sony Business Solutions provided a 4K camera for high-frame rate video, and DoCoMo’s own Dandelion racing manager provided a trial car and operated the car on the test course.
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DoCoMo’s 5G R&D objectives and “Phantom Cell” architecture:
NTT DOCOMO’s 5G related research and development will enable a wide range of capabilities such as super high data rate communications of over 10Gbps, lower latency, and simultaneous connection of a large number of terminals in order to support the future spread of M2M communications and internet of things (IoT), etc.
DOCOMO is advocating the concept of Phantom Cell architecture, which consists of a combination of a small cell using a higher frequency band and broader bandwidth and a macro cell using a conventional lower frequency band. For 5G, DOCOMO is making research and development efforts with a focus on the development of technologies that enable efficient transmission in higher frequency bands such as the beamforming technology leveraging a large array of antenna elements (Massive MIMO) as well as technologies for efficient transmission in lower frequency bands.
Toward the goal of 5G service rollout, various mobile communication technologies and schemes need to be tested, including low-latency transmission methods that meet the needs of M2M and other various applications. To this end, DOCOMO is conducting experimental trials in collaboration with world-leading vendors to confirm the feasibility of a wide range of mobile communication technologies, centering on the concepts that DOCOMO advocates.
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DoCoMo is preparing to show off its 5G technology for the Olympics in 2020. Intel revealed earlier this year that it is collaborating with DoCoMo to develop 5G applications, like 360-degree 8K-video streams for highly immersive watching of the games.
Sports viewing: Choosing any of video streams from numerous small cameras in the venue, you can enjoy vivid, powerful images from the players’ viewpoints over an omni-directional three dimensional screen.
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Earlier this year, DoCoMo completed a trial with Huawei and Tobu Railway at Tokyo Skytree Town, the commercial center in the Sumida District of Tokyo that is the home of the iconic 634-meter high television broadcasting tower and landmark. The trial focused on delivering consistent 5G system performance for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) applications within the complex, and was used to research radio propagation characteristics and other technical conditions for the 28 GHz band and other candidate spectrum within congested environments.
References:
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2018/0509_00.html
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/corporate/technology/rd/tech/5g/
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/corporate/technology/rd/tech/5g/5g_trial/index.html
Apple asks FCC for “light touch” as it explores 95GHz to 3,000GHz wireless options
Executive Summary:
Apple has written to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking the agency to leave certain frequencies unlicensed or shared as it tests 95 GHz to 3,000 GHz wireless technology. A major part of this “5G” testing is working on millimeter wave radio spectrum, which was traditionally reserved for larger devices, such as radars, satellites and airport security scanners. One year ago, we wrote that Apple would be testing millimeter wave technology in controlled facilities in Cupertino and Milpitas, California. This is a follow up to that blog post
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NOTE that millimeter wave spectrum has yet to be added to the IMT 2020 permitted frequencies. Here’s the current status and future direction for IMT 2020 and “5G” spectrum:
The World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) paved the way for the future development of IMT on higher frequency bands by identifying several frequencies for study within the 24.25-86 GHz range for possible identification for IMT under Agenda Item 1.13 of WRC-19 (see below).
The 24.25-27.5 and 37-43.5 GHz bands are prioritized within the ongoing ITU-R work in preparation for WRC-19 agenda item 1.13. All geographical regions and countries are recommended to support the identification of these two bands for IMT during WRC-19 and should aim to harmonise technical conditions for use of these frequencies in 5G.
The frequency band of 27.5-29.5 GHz, though not included in the WRC-19 Agenda Item 1.13, is being considered for “5G” in the USA, South Korea and Japan, according to Huawei.
The first solid list of IMT 2020 frequencies will be set at the WRC-19 – World Radio Conference meeting- 28 October to 22 November 2019 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
To date, the most definitive document approved by ITU-R for IMT 2020 has been: Minimum requirements related to technical performance for IMT-2020 radio interface(s)
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Backgrounder:
Until recently, consumer products did not use millimeter wave radio spectrum, which the FCC allocated to large devices such as satellites, radars, and airport security scanners. Over time, however, technology companies found that the millimeter wave spectrum could be used to radically improve mobile devices’ data speeds.
Starting this year, “5G” fixed broadband access products (which have nothing to do with the forthcoming IMT 2020 standard for real “5G”) will begin to use radios operating in the 24GHz to 29GHz range, radically increasing data bandwidth over short distances. Non-cellular wireless technologies such as next-generation Wi-Fi or Bluetooth could conceivably occupy other frequencies.
Details:
In a recent letter to the FCC, Apple requested the agency to leave substantial portions of the ultra-high-frequency radio spectrum unlicensed or shared — a so called “light touch” to “5G” regulation. That suggests the iPhone king is already considering potential applications of 95GHz to 3,000GHz wireless technology,
The Apple-FCC letter is focused on even higher-frequency spectrum. Specifically, the company says that the commission needs to avoid making the mistakes of prematurely or narrowly licensing radio frequencies above 95GHz, as researchers are already looking at 120GHz to 260GHz and 275GHz to 450GHz ranges for “high-speed, short range” purposes. The concern is that the FCC will sell licenses to small stripes of spectrum now, then have to claw them back later once technology companies determine their best uses — a situation that just played out with 5G millimeter wave licenses, with billions of dollars in consequences.
“Apple supports the Commission’s proposal for experimental licensing in the bands above 95 GHz and believes that adopting this flexible model will help to spur innovation in the band,” the company said in a May 2 letter, signed by Mark Neumann, a senior engineer at Apple.
“As the band is still largely greenfield, this is a rare opportunity to allow for freedom of exploration that does not exist in other bands and advantage should be taken,” Apple continued.
Apple told the FCC it favored a “light regulatory touch” that would leave a greater share of the spectrum unlicensed, and open for anyone to use. Apple’s comments were in response to the FCC’s request seeking comments on how to regulate the high-bandwidth wireless spectrum, often referred to as “super high” spectrum. Apple believes that the current approach to regulation is too far in favor of established, licensed technologies, instead of emerging uses that a company like Apple might be interested in.
Apple offered the FCC two key suggestions to prepare for next-generation wireless technologies. First, it says the FCC should “increase the fraction of the spectrum that it opens to unlicensed spectrum” (including licensed-unlicensed spectrum sharing), rather than heavily preferring licensed technologies, as is the case today. Second, it suggests that the FCC increase the size of unlicensed bands beyond the “too narrow” 1GHz to 7GHz currently proposed, permitting more space for upcoming devices to aggregate spectrum for massive bandwidth. “Very wide bandwidth operations” would call for “20 gigahertz or more to function optimally,” Apple notes, and could have benefits for “environmental protection, human safety, and manufacturing.”
What is this spectrum good for?
Currently, the frequencies that Apple is commenting on are unused — or “greenfield,” as Apple puts it. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t many different scientists and industry researchers who are starting to come up with ideas for those frequencies. The big advantage to millimeter wave is that it can achieve very high data rates, with much more bandwidth than current cellular networks.
“As Apple says in its filing no one really knows what’s going to happen with that very high spectrum. But since something will someday it’s time to create a mechanism to use it. Maybe not Apple’s preferred unlicensed mechanism,” wireless consultant Steve Crowley told Business Insider in an email. “Regulation takes time, the standardization process takes time, product development takes time. It doesn’t hurt to take the first step.”
The FCC took that first step earlier this year, by filing a notice inviting comment on its proposed rules, which is what Apple responded to. “Now, I realize that some are skeptical that this spectrum can be used productively,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a statement earlier this year. “But the skeptics have been proven wrong before,” Pai added.
The more spectrum that remains unlicensed, the more likely it is that Apple can experiment in those radio frequencies and build them into its future products. The spectrum used by cellular networks is licensed, for example, but Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum, which enabled Apple to use it in innovative ways, such as for wireless speakers and network syncing.
The FCC also makes money by auctioning licenses to specific bands of spectrum. And if FCC declares that a new slice of spectrum is unlicensed, that means Apple can access it for free. The question remains what it could be used for. One possibility is to use those frequencies for infrastructure to enable “5G” or for fixed broadband access.
“I’d expect first uses of bands 95 GHz and above to be used for 5G small cell backhaul — interconnecting the millimeter wave cells connecting handsets, and fixed users, below 95 GHz,” Crowley told Business Insider. “Currently, bands under study (by whom?) include the so-called W-band (92-114 GHz) and D-band (130-175 GHz),” Crowley added.
Apple’s interest in millimeter wave:
Apple devices currently use Intel and Qualcomm modem chip sets to connect to cellular networks. The referenced FCC filing is only the latest sign that Apple is currently experimenting with millimeter wave technologies, which are expected to be a big part of “5G” networks, even if not used for mobile broadband access (see opinions above and below).
Apple has been testing millimeter wave technology in Cupertino, California since last May on the 28 GHz and 39 GHz, bands that are lower than the ultra-high spectrum Apple commented on. Earlier this year, Apple applied to make both of its Cupertino, CA headquarters into “innovation zones” which would enable it to run tests more easily without regulatory headaches and applications.
Apple devices access spectrum in numerous licensed and unlicensed frequency bands. For example, iPhones use spectrum ranging from 13 megahertz (contactless payments via Apple Pay) to 5 gigahertz (802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO) and support more than 18 different LTE bands,” according to the Apple application, which was also signed by Neumann, the senior Apple engineer.
Last month, Apple pulled a job listing off of its site for a “mmWave IC design engineer,” which suggested it planned to build chips to work on 5G networks. Currently, Apple buys its modems from Qualcomm and Intel.
Experts have said that millimeter wave “might wind up being a kind of middle mile technology, connecting small cells which in turn connect to our phones or big ticket items like buses and home modem.” Also, “This could be could be part of a wider system that Apple are working on in order to be able to serve more different devices perhaps expanding their own router system with millimeter wave.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that Apple wants to own all of its core technologies— and that likely includes the modem chips that connect Apple devices to networks like those operated by Verizon and AT&T. But even if that’s not part of Apple’s plans, the company clearly wants to understand these extremely high frequencies well.
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Opinion of Venture Beat:
It’s unlikely that Apple will actually use spectrum in the 95GHz to 3,000GHz range for consumer products anytime soon, but the fact that it’s even considering the future of next-generation and next-next-generation wireless right now is quite interesting — a hint that its planning horizon is closer to a decade or two than a year or two ahead of current trends.
Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon announces that 19 manufacturers and 18 carriers will be using Snapdragon X50 modems to roll out 5G devices to customers in 2019. Image Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat
Reference:
Alan’s comment:
To its credit, Apple is one of very few technology companies to have made no public commitments regarding impending 5G technology. Perhaps they will wait till all the hype, spin and nonsense fades into the background.
GM and Toyota back DSRC to link connected cars to “smart” traffic lights; Ford, BMW, other auto makers favor “5G”
by Chester Dawson
Excitement around “5G” is eclipsing the prospects for a competing technology that General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are backing, potentially giving rivals a leg-up in the race to debut vehicles with state-of-the-art internet connectivity.
The U.S. government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Wi-Fi-based technology known as DSRC (dedicated short-range communications)[1], that allows cars to link to “smart” traffic lights designed to smooth congestion and provide warnings about accidents or poor weather conditions ahead.
Note 1. DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) is a two-way short- to- medium-range wireless communications capability that permits very high data transmission critical in communications-based active safety applications.
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GM and Toyota strongly support DSRC technology. But Ford Motor Co., BMW AG and other auto makers are pressing the Trump administration to allow them to leapfrog that system by fast-tracking fifth-generation cellular broadband in automobiles. “5G” will transmits data at up to 10 times the speed of current broadband and improves reliability by potentially shrinking a self-driving car’s ability to stop to one inch, from one yard with today’s network.
The showdown between the Wi-Fi-based and 4G or 5G cellular-based standards for connected cars echoes winner-take-all format wars in other industries, and is a sign of how software is emerging as a new battleground for auto makers. The stakes are high as U.S. motor-vehicle deaths have risen in recent years. Car makers say vehicle-to-vehicle communication will ease congestion and improve safety.
Speeding up adoption of new technology is a priority for an industry that has lagged behind mobile-phone makers when it comes to connecting devices to the internet. The global market for connected cars is forecast to grow nearly threefold by 2022 with more than 125 million new internet-connected cars shipped over that five-year period, according to Counterpoint Research.
Current broadband, known as 4G, has enabled Wi-Fi hot spots and streaming, allowing passengers to surf the internet or watch videos in cars. The next wave of cellular technology will usher in new entertainment and safety features, enabling cars to access cameras on other vehicles that could alert them to accidents, obstacles and driving conditions.
Ultimately, drivers might even be able to order a Starbucks drink from their dashboard or take a nap while artificial intelligence operates the vehicle. Companies like BMW say faster data transmission through next-generation broadband is critical to accelerating this push.
“We are on a broader scale pushing the telecommunication companies to roll out 5G as quickly as they can,” said BMW management board member Peter Schwarzenbauer.
GM and Toyota, meanwhile, have models already equipped with DSRC, and are urging the Trump administration to support a 2016 proposal that would require auto makers to start phasing it into new cars as of 2021. The Transportation Department has yet to make a final ruling on that Obama-era proposal, even as auto makers are already well into the design phase of 2021 model year vehicles.
“Getting the rest of the industry to follow has been tough sledding,” said Steve Schwinke, director of GM’s advanced development and connected services.
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One issue with the technology backed by GM and Toyota is cost. Telecom companies plan to pay for upgraded cell towers and roadside antennas for 5G to service their existing networks. To fully deploy DSRC, billions of dollars in government-funded infrastructure is required, according to a U.S. Transportation Department estimate.
That short-range technology also would add about $300 to the price of a vehicle for dedicated equipment, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates. Most new vehicles come installed with cellular modems, so there would be little additional cost to drivers for 5G.
GM and Toyota alone account for about one-third of the new cars sold in the U.S., and roughly 20% of the vehicles sold world-wide. Toyota has delivered more than 100,000 cars equipped with DRSC in Japan and will offer it on most of its lineup in the U.S. by the mid-2020s in addition to cellular modems.
GM and Toyota see their Wi-Fi-based technology as a bridge to 5G, which has yet to be fully tested in vehicles and may take years to be fully deployed.
Critics say the government shouldn’t force car makers to use older Wi-Fi-based technology some say is out of sync with fast-evolving cellular broadband. Last month, Audi and Ford demonstrated cellular-based safety technology called C-V2X in what they said was the world’s first application of it using vehicles from different manufacturers.
“You will have, for the first time, cars speaking together and it’s important for them to speak the same language,” said Christoph Voigt, head of R&D connectivity for Audi. As chairman of 5GAA, a trade group supporting automotive 5G, Mr. Voigt petitioned federal regulators to avoid “directly or indirectly pick[ing] technology winners and losers” because he is confident 5G will become the de facto standard on its own merits.
Even as Volkswagen AG is aligning its premium Audi brand with 5G in the U.S. and China, it is hedging its bets by deploying a version of DSRC on VW branded vehicles in Europe starting next year. A representative for VW said the German auto maker currently has no plans to introduce that technology to its lineup in the U.S. market.
The Trump administration, pointing to the expected proliferation of 5G, this year blocked the takeover of U.S. chip maker Qualcomm Inc. by Singapore-based Broadcom Ltd. on national-security grounds. Qualcomm is negotiating chip supply contracts with at least half a dozen auto makers for coming models.
Industry experts say 5G smartphones will debut next year and the first cars with 5G modems will appear as soon as 2020. That is about twice as fast as the transition for current 4G technology, which was introduced for smartphones in 2011 but didn’t show up in cars until GMintegrated it into its latest version of OnStar remote communications in 2014.
“There is going to be 5G in every single next-generation car design,” said Nakul Duggal, the head of Qualcomm’s automotive business.
Write to Chester Dawson at [email protected]
References:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/auto-makers-at-odds-over-talking-car-standards-1525608000
https://www.its.dot.gov/factsheets/pdf/JPO-034_DSRC.pdf
https://www.its.dot.gov/factsheets/dsrc_factsheet.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedicated_short-range_communications
IHS Markit: $3.5 Billion to be spent on Carrier Wi-Fi equipment between 2018 and 2022
by Richard Webb, IHS Markit
The carrier Wi-Fi equipment market continued to grow in 2017, driven by ongoing broadband demand and a strong role within 5G era. Revenue reached $626 million for the full-year 2017, increasing 1.3 percent from the prior year.
By 2022, the market is forecast to hit $725 million — a cumulative size of over $3.5 billion from 2018 to 2022 — based on two strong segments: standalone Wi-Fi access points (predominantly deployed by fixed-line operators and wireless ISPs) and dual mode Wi-Fi/cellular access points (deployed by mobile operators).
“The arrival of the 5G era will gradually transform network architectures, but the requirements for network density mean that Wi-Fi will continue to play a strong support role for mobile broadband end-users and for newer applications such as the Internet of Things and smart city,” said Richard Webb, director of research and analysis for service provider technology at IHS Markit. “We expect an uptick in carrier Wi-Fi investments through 2020, aligned with 5G network development.”
All regions are seeing strong demand for carrier Wi-Fi, demonstrating evidence of proliferation in developing countries in addition to developed markets where mobile data growth is well documented. However, the scale of requests for proposals (RFPs) from mobile operators in Asia Pacific — in particular China and Indonesia currently, with India likely to add to the groundswell closer to 2022 — means the region will be the strongest driver of growth, although all regions see continuous growth through this period.
More carrier Wi-Fi market highlights
- Dual mode 3G/Wi-Fi equipment revenue totaled just $17 million in 2017, a decline of 66.4 percent from the prior year
- Meanwhile, subscriber identity module (SIM)–based Wi-Fi access points are experiencing solid adoption growth (+21.6 percent in 2017 from 2016), driven by the desire to have closer integration between Wi-Fi and the mobile network
- Network functions virtualization (NFV) has strong potential benefits for fixed and mobile operators alike, such as opex and capex efficiencies, service flexibility and creation, reduced power usage and new service environments, including data analytics and location-based services
Carrier WiFi Equipment Market Tracker – H2 2017
This report tracks Wi-Fi equipment deployed by operators in public spaces for wireless internet access. It provides worldwide and regional market size, vendor market share, forecasts through 2022, analysis and trends for Wi-Fi hotspot controllers and carrier Wi-Fi access points.
Reference:
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In a separate report, Markets & Markets forecasts the Wi-Fi Market to be worth $15.60 Billion by 2022:
The rapid adoption of Wi-Fi technology is expected to make North America the largest region in market.
North America consists of developed economies, the US and Canada. In this region, Wi-Fi solutions and services are gaining traction within the businesses. The region’s strong financial position also enables it to invest heavily in the Wi-Fi technology. These advantages have provided North American organizations a competitive edge in the market. Moreover, the region has the presence of several major Wi-Fi vendors. Therefore, there is strong competition among the players. The number of enterprises adopting Wi-Fi solutions and services is quite high in North America as compared to the other regions.
The major vendors offering Wi-Fi solutions and services across the globe include Cisco (US), Aruba (US), Ruckus Wireless (US), Juniper Networks (US), Ericsson (Sweden), Panasonic (Japan), Huawei (China), Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (France), Netgear (US), Aerohive Networks (US), and Riverbed Technology (US). These vendors have adopted various organic and inorganic growth strategies, such as new product launches, partnerships, and collaborations, to enhance their position in the Wi-Fi market.
T-Mobile, Sprint Combo Bypasses Dish; With spectrum plus linear and OTT subscribers, satellite provider was seen as a logical partner
By Michael Farrell of Multichannel News
The announced merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers in the nation, answers many of the scale questions that have dogged the two companies over the past several years. But in creating a carrier with about 100 million customers and valued at a combined $146 billion, the deal bypasses what many had considered to be T-Mobile’s more perfect match: Dish Network.
With a large swath of wireless spectrum, 11 million satellite TV subscribers and 2.2 million customers for its over-the-top video service Sling TV, Dish was seen by many to be a logical target for T-Mobile. Combining the No. 3 wireless carrier, which has obvious video aspirations through its January purchase of Layer3 TV, with Dish would in many minds have created a strong competitor in the ongoing wireless-OTT-traditional video wars.
Investors apparently believed so too. Shares in Dish fell 3% ($1.19 each) to $33.55 per share on April 30, the first trading day after T-Mobile and Sprint announced their deal. The stock has continued to slip in subsequent trading, closing at $33.09 on May 3.
Video Plans ‘Ratchet Up’
On a conference call to discuss first-quarter results shortly after the Sprint deal was announced, T-Mobile chief financial officer Braxton Carter said the transaction “ratchets up” the wireless provider’s video plans by allowing the combined company to provide customers with an IPTV service via wireline and wireless broadband.
“So T-Mobile’s in the position as a new T-Mobile to be able to offer a quad play, if that’s what the market wants,” Carter said on the call.
The combined company will be controlled by T-Mobile management: CEO John Legere will continue that role in the new entity, as will T-Mobile chief operating officer Mike Sievert. T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom will own 42% of the combined company, with Sprint parent Softbank owning 27% and the remaining 31% held by the public. The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.
This is the two companies’ third time on the merger dance floor together. They scrapped talks in 2014 over regulatory concerns and in 2017 over control issues. While the two have managed to work out their control issues, some analysts are skeptical that the current deal will sail easily through the regulatory process.
BTIG telecom analyst Walt Piecyk gave the merger a less than 40% chance of passing regulatory muster, primarily because he didn’t believe the deal, which will reduce the number of wireless competitors to three from four, will pass the antitrust smell test.
“It doesn’t look like a competitive market right now, and that’s what the regulator may focus on,” Piecyk told CNBC.
Columbia Law professor Tim Wu wrote an op-ed piece for The New York Times urging regulators to block the deal, adding that having four separate competitors has been most beneficial to wireless customers, leading to free unlimited data plans and lower prices. Transforming the wireless business into a “triopoly” like the airline business will only serve to raise prices and lower service.
“Competition has actually worked the way economists say it is supposed to, forcing firms to improve quality or face elimination,” Wu wrote in the Times. “But it takes competitors to compete, which is where blocking mergers comes in.”
Pivotal Research Group CEO and senior media & communications analyst Jeff Wlodarczak has said in research notes over the past year that pairing Dish and T-Mobile would “immediately vault the most disruptive U.S. wireless player into the leading U.S. spectrum position,” and at worst would force rival wireless company Verizon Communications to pay more for the satellite asset. For now, though, it looks like Dish will remain on its own. Other scenarios see the satellite company being acquired either by another wireless service provider, like Verizon, or even by the new T-Mobile. The latter scenario wouldn’t take place for at least another year. Dish has struggled over the past several quarters as the satellite business has dwindled. In the fourth quarter the company lost more than 100,000 satellite-TV subscribers and added 160,000 Sling TV customers.
Dish Misses Out on Buildout Relief
For Dish, a purchase by a wireless carrier would mean relief from its obligation to build its own wireless network. As a result of its success in bidding on spectrum in several of the government’s wireless auctions, Dish faces a March 2020 deadline to build out wireless service in 70% of the market territories it won.
Dish chair Charlie Ergen has said the company will spend about $1 billion on that initial phase, which will be more geared toward IoT services.
For T-Mobile, a Dish purchase would give it an instant video base through the satellite-TV offering, programming contracts with cable networks and the largest OTT service in the country, Sling TV.
But not all analysts believe that a T-Mobile-Dish deal is more palpable. In a research note in November, after T-Mobile and Sprint ended merger talks, MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett wrote that he never saw any synergies in combining those companies, other than as a source of additional spectrum.
The argument that the dissolution of the merger was bad news for Dish is equally compelling in that, if Dish does build its wireless network, it would become the fifth player in an already-crowded market, he added.
“However bad one might have imagined the ROI (Return on Investment) for network building, it has to be worse if the industry is more fragmented than expected,” Moffett wrote in November.
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Dish’s Spectrum Yet to be Deployed:
Dish has quietly worked to cobble together a significant amount of spectrum via spectrum auctions and secondary-market transactions. The company’s first spectrum purchase was made through EchoStar’s relatively minor purchase of E Block licenses for $700 million in the FCC’s 700 MHz spectrum auction in 2008. But Dish in 2011 spent $2.77 billion to acquire 40 MHz of S-band satellite spectrum from bankrupt TerreStar and DBSD North America. Then, in 2014, Dish was the only bidder in the FCC’s H Block spectrum auction, essentially walking away uncontested with 10 MHz for around $1.6 billion. In 2015, Dish spent roughly $8 billion on AWS-3 spectrum licenses, and then just two years later it committed a whopping $6.2 billion to buy 486 licenses in the FCC’s 600 MHz incentive auction.
Dish recently outlined plans to build a NB-IoT network using its spectrum to provide connectivity to a wide range of devices other than traditional tablets and smartphones. Some analysts remain skeptical, though, believing that Dish plans to either sell or lease its spectrum, or partner with an existing service provider to join the wireless market.
Dish has to comply with Federal Communications Commission requirements that a network using the spectrum it owns be deployed by 2020, Josh Yatskowitz, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said last November.
Cloud services to reach $374 billion in 2022; Integration of AI & ML into enterprise business apps to drive growth
by IHS Markit analysts Clifford Grossner, PhD and Devan Adams
Executive Summary:
To grow market share, many cloud service providers (CSPs) are introducing specialized compute instances, which target data-intensive workloads and ease the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into enterprise business applications as a strategy to capture market share. This type of activity is expanding the high-growth cloud-as-a-service (CaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) segments. The off-premises cloud service market is expected to reach $374 billion in 2022, at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7 percent.
Innovative service offerings by CSPs are multiplying, including the introduction of blockchain technology in PaaS service offers. They are also introducing new services focused on enterprise verticals, including the following: healthcare, to aid diagnosis; energy, for oil and gas exploration; financial services, for transaction monitoring; and supply chain efficiencies in retail and government, for smart city infrastructure. These services package expert domain knowledge acquired by CSPs and make it available to enterprises.
“Amazon made a smart move when it integrated Alexa into Amazon Web Services business applications — and by launching several machine learning services, further expanding its breadth of intelligent solutions,” said Clifford Grossner, Ph.D., senior research director and advisor, cloud and data center research practice, IHS Markit. “Google and Cisco also upped their AI and ML game, targeting hybrid cloud deployments with a collaboration aimed at running these tasks, both on-premises and from Google Cloud.”
As certain market segments mature, consolidation continues for two reasons: buying competitors for access to their client base and expanding service portfolios. Some recent notable mergers and acquisitions include the following: Equinix announced its intention to buy Infomart Dallas, GTT Communications is planning to acquire Interoute, INAP acquired SingleHop, Google agreed to acquire Xively and Microsoft agreed to acquire Avere Systems.
The types of partnerships CSPs are striking evolved from partnerships with enterprise software vendors, as a way to gain a foothold in on-premises data centers, to establishing relationships between providers for cross selling. Some recent noteworthy partnerships include the following: SAP and Microsoft announced a partnership to integrate SAP’s S/4HANA ERP suite with MS Azure; China Unicom plans to expand its reach across various industry verticals, by partnering with YonYou; British Telecom partnered with IBM, to extend its BT Cloud Connect Direct multi-cloud platform; and Salesforce also partnered with IBM, to enhanced its go-to-market strategy.
Highlights:
- The CaaS category is expected to grow 56 percent in 2018, with a five-year CAGR of 29 percent; PaaS will grow 55 percent, with a five-year CAGR of 31 percent.
- North America, the birthplace of off-premises cloud services, will remain the lead market through 2022, delivering approximately 53 percent of all global off-premises cloud service revenue.
- IBM continued to lead the market for software-as-a-service (SaaS) in 2017, with 18 percent of revenue; Amazon led infrastructure-of-a-service (IaaS), with 41 percent of revenue; Microsoft topped the list for PaaS, with 26 percent of revenue; Microsoft’s lead in CaaS continued, with 21 percent revenue; and Equinix led the physical facility market, with 15 percent of revenue.
Research Synopsis:
The biannual IHS Markit Cloud Services for IT Infrastructure and Applications market research report tracks public or private network delivered services offered by a third party (cloud service provider or telco); cloud brokering is not tracked. The research service provides worldwide and regional market size, cloud service provider (CSP) market share, forecasts through 2022, analysis and trends. CSPs tracked include Amazon, Alibaba, Baidu, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, Oracle, SAP, China Telecom, Equinix, Digital Realty, Deutsche Telekom Tencent, China Unicom and others.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Talks Up 5G Implying T-Mobile/Sprint Merger Would Accelerate 5G Deployments in U.S.
The Trump administration is placing a high priority on building 5G mobile networks, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC in a discussion of T-Mobile’s proposed merger with Sprint. According to a CNBC provided transcript of the interview, Ross said:
“You never know who is really ahead or behind (in 5G) until it is truly perfected. Nobody has 5G totally perfected yet. I think the pitch that Sprint and T-Mobile are making is an interesting one that their merger would propel Verizon and AT&T into more active pursuit of 5G. Whoever pursues it, whoever does it, we’re very much in support of 5G. We need it. We need it for defense purposes. We need it for commercial purposes. We (the U.S.) really need to be the player in 5G.”
A video of the interview can be watched here.
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said in February it planned new auctions of high-band spectrum starting later this year to speed the launch of next-generation 5G networks. Carriers have spent billions of dollars acquiring spectrum and are beginning to develop and test 5G networks, which are expected to be at least 100 times faster than current 4G networks and cut latency, or delays, to less than one-thousandth of a second from one-hundredth of a second in 4G, the FCC has said.
Policymakers and mobile phone companies have said the next generation of wireless signals needs to be much faster and far more responsive to allow advanced technologies like virtual surgery or controlling machines remotely. T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere met with two FCC commissioners in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the merits of the deal.
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Sprint is beginning to train its employees on what to say regarding the merger.
A memo has leaked out, courtesy of XDA-Developers, that shows the talking points that Sprint wants its customers to focus on. According to the document, Sprint employees are supposed to say that the company is very excited that the two companies have agreed to merge. And add that “this is terrific news for customers.” As well as assuring customers that the new T-Mobile will have “a faster, more reliable network at lower prices and with better value.” Which is basically what Sprint and T-Mobile said on Sunday and on Monday during their press tour with different news sites and TV networks.
Columnist Alexander Maxham wrote: “It is definitely important for Sprint to begin training its employees on what to say to customers regarding this merger, as there are bound to be a ton of questions regarding the merger in the coming weeks and months. T-Mobile is likely also training its employees on what to say about the merger – and many of the talking points are likely very similar if not exactly the same. Though T-Mobile’s memo has not leaked just yet. The two companies believe that merging together, they’ll be able to provide the best 5G network in the US, and also be able to better compete with AT&T and Verizon, both of which are more than twice the size of T-Mobile, and almost three times the size of Sprint.”
T-Mobile Sprint Merger Focus is on 5G and China Competition
T-Mobile USA and Sprint announced they would merge on Sunday. The combined company will be named T-Mobile, which says it “will be a force for positive change in the U.S. wireless, video, and broadband industries. The combination of spectrum holdings, resulting network scale, and expected run rate cost synergies of $6+ billion, representing a net present value (NPV) of $43+ billion will supercharge T-Mobile’s Un-carrier strategy to disrupt the marketplace and lay the foundation for U.S. companies and innovators to lead in the 5G era.”
T-Mobile said in that same referenced press release:
The New T-Mobile will have the network capacity to rapidly create a nationwide 5G network with the breadth and depth needed to enable U.S. firms and entrepreneurs to continue to lead the world in the coming 5G era, as U.S. companies did in 4G. The new company will be able to light up a broad and deep 5G network faster than either company could separately. T-Mobile deployed nationwide LTE twice as fast as Verizon and three times faster than AT&T, and the combined company is positioned to do the same in 5G with deep spectrum assets and network capacity.
The combined company will have lower costs, greater economies of scale, and the resources to provide U.S. consumers and businesses with lower prices, better quality, unmatched value, and greater competition. The New T-Mobile will employ more people than both companies separately and create thousands of new American jobs.
While T-Mobile (AKA “the un-carrier”) has been growing quickly, Sprint has been recovering from its worst days. It’s still growing slowly and bleeding cash, with 54.6 million users across its various brands. “This deal is probably more necessary for Sprint than T-Mobile,” said Amy Yong, a research analyst at Macquarie Capital.
“All the stars have aligned,” Marcelo Claure, Sprint’s chief executive, said in an interview. He added that the deal “allows this company to offer the best product at better prices, lower prices.”
Putting together the country’s third- and fourth-largest mobile service providers would be one of the most significant consolidations in the U.S. wireless market in years. A combined T-Mobile and Sprint, with almost 100 million retail subscribers as of Dec. 31st, would put it ahead of AT&T, with 93.6 million, and not far behind Verizon’s 116.3 million. (Or, as the colorful Mr. Legere put it, the transaction would help it better compete against the companies that he has previously referred to as “dumb and dumber.”)
Behind the Merger — Funding the 5G Infrastructure Build-Out:
A huge part of T-Mobile and Sprint’s push is emphasizing the future of 5G. Proponents say the superfast wireless standard (in late 2020 IMT 2020 standard by ITU-R WP5D is scheduled for its first release) would not only make downloading movies faster, but underpin huge advances in autonomous vehicles, internet-connected devices and more.
Wireless network operators are preparing to spend billions of dollars to expand their pre-standard “5G” infrastructure. Sprint and T-Mobile would have much more difficulty than competitors in funding that “5G” build-out. Sprint has about $32 billion in debt on its books, while T-Mobile generates a small fraction of the cash that Verizon and AT&T do.
Again, quoting from T-Mobile’s press release:
Neither company standing alone can create a nationwide 5G network with the breadth and depth required to fuel the next wave of mobile Internet innovation in the U.S. and answer competitive challenges from abroad.
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Traditional wireless telecoms (like AT&T and Verizon) now find themselves competing against newer contenders looking to chip away at their wireless market share. Comcast and Charter Communications are cable companies/MSOs each with a large installed base of broadband cable Internet customers that have begun offering wireless service plans to their subscribers, mostly as MVNOs.
As pre-standard 5G is first being positioned for fixed wireless broadband access, the unified T-Mobile and Sprint would ostensibly compete against cable providers like Comcast and Charter in addition to wireless mega telcoms AT&T and Verizon. While the IMT 2020 forthcoming ITU-R standard doesn’t implicitly acknowledge “5G fixed broadband access” there is some justification for the combined company to compete with MSOs/Cablecos, AT&T (U-Verse and AT&T Fiber) and Verizon (FiOS).
In addition to varying coverage maps, the two wireless carriers have wide swaths of spectrum that only sometimes overlap (Sprint has the 800MHz and 2.5GHz bands, while T-Mobile has 600MHz and 700MHz). You could see more comprehensive coverage from the merged entity (the new T-Mobile). Moreover, there’s no question that gigabit bandwidth and low latency make that a more of a viable option for fixed broadband internet access. The first “5G” deployments are focused on replacing broadband, not upgrading the smartphone, other mobile gadgets or IoT devices.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere took it further saying, “Global tech leadership in the next decade is at stake. And only the new T-Mobile will have the network and spectrum capacity to quickly create a broad and deep 5G network in the first few years of the 5G innovation cycle, the years that will determine if American firms lead or follow in the 5G digital economy.”
The China Factor:
The hidden agenda here from T-Mobile and Sprint is that failure to keep up in 5G would give China and Chinese firms a huge competitive technology edge. The Trump administration has called 5G a “national priority” and hinted at building a nationwide 5G network, primarily to compete against China (that rumor was later denied).
In March, the Trump administration blocked a hostile bid by Singapore-based Broadcom for San Diego-based Qualcomm, citing national security concerns. Some analysts questioned whether the predominantly foreign ownership of the combined company — including SoftBank, which has business ties to Chinese companies like Huawei — posed possible national security risks.
“They kept pointing to China on the call, but that is just a nice way to grease the skids,” said Will Townsend, an analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy, a research firm based in Texas, referring to a T-Mobile conference call with reporters and analysts on Sunday.
The focus on China does raise tricky questions for Sprint’s controlling shareholder, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, which buys telecom equipment from Chinese manufacturers. Still, most experts agree that the deal would produce a healthier company, one with more financial resources to pursue 5G. And where the rivalry in advanced industries between the United States and China is concerned, the prize is significant.
Many pundits (but not this author) say that 5G will impact a huge set of future economic and technological opportunities — from self-driving cars to smart cities and factories to virtual and augmented reality requiring huge amounts of bandwidth and/or low latency.
“It’s hard to argue that 5G is not key to the next five to 10 years,” said Chris Lane, a telecom analyst in Hong Kong with Sanford C. Bernstein. “Strategically, if you’re the U.S. and you’re trying to plan industrial policy, this deal makes sense.”
Mobile carriers in China have already announced bold plans to roll out 5G networks, and it is unlikely that the creation of a new American wireless giant would affect them. China Mobile, which has nearly 900 million wireless customers, is aiming to begin large-scale 5G trials in several Chinese cities this year.
Other Chinese companies are still vulnerable to American pressure, though. In particular, the United States government has placed restrictions on one giant Chinese supplier of the equipment that will make those new networks possible, and is investigating another.
For years, Huawei and ZTE have been unable to sell to large American wireless operators over security concerns. But the Department of Commerce recently went further, blocking ZTE from using American-made components for seven years, saying the company had failed to reprimand employees who violated American sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
ZTE now faces the prospect of being unable to manufacture network gear during the years in which wireless providers in China and elsewhere will most likely be building 5G networks. Huawei, meanwhile, faces an ongoing inquiry related to violations of American trade controls.
Serious disruption to either company’s business could mean a boon for their main rivals in telecommunications equipment, Nokia of Finland and Ericsson of Sweden.
It could also put SoftBank in an awkward position.
“SoftBank has been working with ZTE in Japan, but now they have to try to find other partners,” said Tsutsumu Ishikawa, an independent expert in Tokyo who covers the mobile industry.
As T-Mobile and Sprint seek Washington’s blessing for their union, the Trump administration might even require that SoftBank drop Huawei and ZTE as suppliers, said Mr. Lane of Bernstein. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s founder, has also cultivated personal ties with President Trump.
“If the administration for whatever reason doesn’t want Chinese suppliers of network equipment in Japan, either — and it’s possible — then I’m sure Masa would be willing to compromise,” Mr. Lane said, using Mr. Son’s nickname. “I think he’s quite pragmatic.”
“A lot of people are genuinely struggling to figure out, ‘What is the business case for 5G?’” said Ramakrishna Maruvada, a telecom analyst in Singapore with Daiwa Capital Markets. “Most operators do not think faster consumer broadband is a good enough reason to be pursuing a huge leap in technology.” [This author absolutely agrees. However, low latency is probably more important than bandwidth for many “5G” applications like real time control of IoT devices/equipment, autonomous vehicle to vehicle communications, and virtual reality/augmented reality.]