WCA November 2017

Telecom news

cost-effective, and environmentally responsible. (“Space-based and Upper-Atmosphere Communications Key to Sustainable Development,” 18 th September) More than half the world’s population remains unable to connect regularly to the Internet. The Broadband Commission asserts that new space-based and upper-atmosphere technologies – including high throughput satellites (HTS), massive non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) constellations, and high- altitude platform stations (HAPS) systems – can help address this deficit by bringing reliable broadband connectivity across the globe. The working group presented its recommendations in the three categories spectrum, regulation and technology, which together it sees as helping move the technologies toward their full potential for connecting the world’s four billion unconnected people and realizing the UN goals. The working group’s Mr Pearce said: “Space-based connectivity can have a profound effect across various aspects of society, ranging from industry, health and education to sustainability, e-government and facilitating the development of smart cities and societies.” Elsewhere in telecom . . . Ø In what it hopes will be a spur to operators to further improve their mobile coverage, the French regulator Arcep is publishing new maps that deliver a four-tiered evaluation. Tested in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region during the first half of the year, these more detailed snapshots are now available for the whole of metropolitan France. Arcep now requires mobile operators to publish maps that distinguish among those areas with very good coverage, good coverage, limited coverage, and no coverage for mobile calling and SMS services. The stated aim is to inject “a heavy dose of transparency” into competition among operators, so that consumer choice be based not solely on price but also on network performance.

Juniper Research is forecasting 1.4 billion 5G connections by 2025, an increase from just one million in 2019, the projected first year of commercial launch. This would represent an average annual growth of 232 per cent for the fifth generation ultra-speed connection. The UK-based researcher also expects that China, the USA and Japan will have the highest number of 5G connections by 2025. Together, the three countries will command 55 per cent of all 5G connections by that date. Additionally, it found that the USA alone – with the highest number of 5G connections for fixed wireless broadband and automotive services – will account for over 30 per cent of global 5G Internet of Things (IOT) connections by 2025. Earlier, Juniper said that 5G operator-billed service revenue will reach $269 billion by 2025, rising from $851 million in 2019. It expects 5G revenue to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 161 per cent over the first seven years of 5G services globally. Reporting on the new research, Advanced Television Ltd (London) included Juniper ’s warning that, to successfully compete with fibre broadband, 5G fixed wireless broadband would need to meet expectations in real-world scenarios. Ø Juniper Research author Sam Barker said that operators and vendors must test their networks in a real-world environment at scale, ensuring speeds competitive with fibre services. He wrote: “Networks that can deliver the highest speeds and greatest reliability will command the highest ARPCs [average revenues generated per customer], hastening operators’ return on 5G investment.” Operators were urged to develop new business models to minimise network operating costs, including software-based solutions, to manage the diverse requirements of individual 5G IOT connections. Ø Referencing the Juniper Research report, Communications Week (Nigeria) pointed out that, while major global telecoms operators aim to launch fifth-generation mobile networks in 2019 and 2020, so far there has been little indication of when the technology will launch commercially on the African continent. Vendors and operators, fascinated by 5G, are cautioned to ready themselves to fulfil real-world expectations

Large claims are made for satellite and high altitude systems in expanding broadband coverage in developing countries Following the adoption by the United Nations, in September 2015, of 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development com- mitted itself to showcasing and documenting the power of information communication technology (ICT) and broadband-based technologies. Recently, its working group on technologies in space and the upper

atmosphere published the report “Identifying the Potential of New Communications Technologies for Sustainable Development.” The working group, chaired by CEO Rupert Pearce of the British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat, found that – as well as driving solutions essential to meeting the UN’s 17 SDGs – satellite and high altitude systems offer significant advantages for expanding broadband coverage in developing countries. In addition to promising broad coverage, versatility and reliability, deployment of these systems was reported to be relatively quick,

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Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2017

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