WCA November 2013

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38 Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2013
To Huawei, 5G is not a
technology but an entire
system and key to the
‘Internet of Things’
“Ever-ambitious Huawei Technologies
Co Ltd has set out its 5G vision: a
tenfold increase in speed to 10Gbit/s,
a thousandfold increase in the
required spectrum, and the end to the
FDD/TDD tyranny.”
Robert Clark, of Light Reading , was
reporting on the recent assertion
by Tong Wen, who leads Huawei’s
5G technology development efforts,
that the Chinese telecom equipment
provider has 200 researchers working
on 5G, which he described as “one of
[our] priority projects. It will really open
up the ‘Internet of Things’ frontier for
massive connectivity.”
Ambitious, indeed. Mr Tong believes
that the Internet of Things will drive
the number of wireless connections
worldwide to around 100 billion by the
time 5G is mature in 2020, and that
this could increase another tenfold by
2030. (‘Huawei Sets Out Its 5G Stall,’
22 nd July).
According to the Huawei fellow, the
vendor sees 5G as an extension of
4G, 3G and Wi-Fi – not as replacing
them. Over the next decade Huawei
expects to address a number of
issues, such as immersive connectivity,
“with everything connecting into the
network,” according to Mr Tong.
Mr Clark noted that Huawei has
been working on 5G since 2009,
partnering with 20 or so educational
institutions worldwide, including
Harvard, Cambridge, and the
Hong Kong University of Science &
Technology. Huawei describes itself
as advanced in prototyping a device,
having completed a demo at 50Gbit/s
throughput.
The introduction of 5G could also
advance the introduction of wireless
technology standard consolidation.
Mr Tong speculated that full
duplex (simultaneous bidirectional
communication on the same
frequency) would replace the discrete
frequency division and time division
modes that have fragmented 3G and
4G development efforts.
✆ But Mr Clark pointed out that
such capabilities impose exacting
demands.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barros said 11th September
that an overhaul of the fragmented telecom market of the Eurozone
“is essential for Europe’s strategic interests and economic progress.” To
that end, the European Union seeks to abolish cellphone roaming charges
across the 28-nation zone.
The proposed legislation would mean that, as of July 2014, customers
will no longer have to pay for incoming calls when travelling in other EU
countries, and it would end all roaming charges two years later. It also seeks
to cap prices of EU-international fixed-line calls at the level of domestic
long-distance calls.
The plan, which must be approved by the European Parliament and the
governments of the EU member states, is aimed at harmonising the bloc’s
fragmented telecom market, cutting red tape, and encouraging investment in
new high-speed networks to boost growth.
Europe currently has hundreds of mobile and fixed telephony operators
across a patchwork of 28 countries. More tellingly, it lags parts of the
US, Asia and Africa in rolling out new mobile technologies such as
fourth-generation (4G) service. “Lagos has 4G mobile,” the Commission
noted. “But Brussels does not.”
Neelie Kroes, the EU commissioner in charge of the legislation, said the goal
is for people to incur the same phone costs regardless of where they happen
to be in Europe. She asserted: “EU consumers should not pay more for
calling abroad or when they travel abroad in the EU.”
Ms Kroes discounted concerns that network operators could try to recoup
their roaming losses by hiking their domestic calling prices. The sector’s
fierce competition will keep prices low, she said, even as the new legislation
gives consumers a wider choice of phone and Internet providers — including
those from countries outside the Eurozone.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, declared that
Europe ‘[cannot] afford to miss such a low-hanging fruit to power charge
the digital economy of the 21st Century.’ The EC claims that a single telecom
market could add about one per cent (more than $132 billion) to the gross
domestic product (GDP) of the region.
✆ The EC’s plans for the development of a single telecom market for Europe
drew a negative response from the GSM Association (GSMA), whose
membership of mobile operators and related companies support the
existing protocols for 2G (second-generation) cellular networks. While
acknowledging the commitment and dedication of Commissioner Kroes
and her team in developing their proposals against a very tight timeline,
the GSMA asserted that the focus of the EC should more properly
be on measures that address the region’s growth, employment and
competitiveness challenges.
The GSMA report ‘Mobile Economy Europe 2013’ highlights the huge
gains possible for Europe’s economy as mobile technology increasingly
transforms such sectors as health, education, transport and energy.
To maximise the potential of these developments, the association calls for
a forward-looking policy and regulatory framework to boost investment,
create new jobs, and drive innovation in the telecom industry.
Anne Bouverot, the GSMA director general, said: “Reform will set the
context for investment and innovation in Europe’s digital economy for the
next ten years.”
A plan by the European Union to abolish mobile
phone roaming charges envisions a single,
streamlined telecom sector