Partner Features: At this year’s Mobile World Congress, there was a lot of reflection on the progress that’s been made in the five years since 5G was first introduced.
Spectral efficiency is key for operators to keep up with the unrelenting growth in data traffic. The release of new spectrum (typically “mid-band” around 3.5 GHz) has created headroom for the initial deployment of 5G new radios, but the propagation characteristics of these higher frequencies compared to the core 2G, 3G and 4G 800-2100 MHz bands require additional sites to achieve contiguous, ubiquitous coverage, increasing deployment challenges and costs. As with every new technology transition before, deploying new networks requires significant effort and investment in upgrading and adding network equipment.
Carriers are also eager to simplify network operations by phaseing out 2G and 3G and reallocating spectrum to more efficient 4G and 5G technologies. However, shutting down 2G and 3G risks creating interoperability issues for both inbound roamers and outbound travellers, and disrupting vital basic services.
Global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising cost of living due to the war in Ukraine have exacerbated the challenges. The end of the era of low interest rates has also negatively impacted ROI.
For many, the consumer value proposition of 5G remains unclear. 4G remains sufficient, even for the most avid video streaming smartphone users. Compelling consumer 5G use cases that would require upgrading to a 5G device have yet to emerge. Gaming and extended reality (XR) have been proposed as 5G’s “killer apps,” but the necessary hardware, content and software are not yet available at mass-market prices.
Standalone Step Up
5G is the first major revolution in mobile technology in decades, and it offers a range of tangible benefits, especially for the enterprise. From enhanced mobile broadband with faster data speeds and increased capacity to improved security through network authentication and encryption, 5G has exciting and valuable attributes for the enterprise. However, the true potential of 5G will only be realized with the global deployment of 5G standalone.
5G standalone opens up even more monetization opportunities. Network slicing allows operators to allocate resources to meet the specific needs of different customers and use cases. Ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) can support mission-critical applications that require near-instantaneous response times, or be combined with edge computing to enable ultra-fast processing and analysis of data closer to the source. URLLC is also key to realizing the road safety, congestion relief, and sustainability benefits that come from connected vehicles interacting with each other and with smart street furniture.
5G Standalone, based on a cloud-native core network, also aligns closely with the global movement towards “software-ization”, digital transformation, adoption of cloud services and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) software development methodologies. The boundaries between digital and real will disappear, creating new value.
Partnerships that bring together different skills and insights will be key to maximizing the benefits of 5G in industries such as healthcare, automotive, manufacturing and smart cities.
One new market has already emerged: standalone private networks deployed to serve large industrial facilities such as campuses, ports, airports, factories, quarries, mines, etc. The business case for such deployments is improved if authorized users can move seamlessly in and out of the private network.
Towards application-driven networking
The combination of the GSMA’s Open Gateway and the Linux Foundation’s CAMERA initiative will provide application developers with access to 5G network APIs to create new services. APIs providing robust authentication will support fraud prevention, connectivity, payments and more, creating new value for many businesses and their customers. With 5G Advanced expected to be ratified as a 3GPP Rel18 standard later this year, even more APIs will become available, accelerating this digital transformation. APIs will enable on-demand network slicing and the delivery of a variety of URLLC use cases.
Dozens of carriers have already opened up their network APIs to seize this opportunity, and a McKinsey forecast released just before Mobile World Congress predicts that the network API market could reach $10 billion to $30 billion by 2030, with connectivity and edge computing revenues potentially adding an additional $100 billion to $300 billion over the same period.
Satellite Roaming
Recent standards adaptations from 3GPP mean satellite “non-terrestrial networks” (NTNs) can leverage 5G to deliver IoT and emergency calling services in remote rural and maritime locations where it would be technically or economically impossible with traditional networks. Enabling devices to roam and interoperate on NTNs is key to unlocking huge potential benefits for industries around the world.
Seamless roaming between traditional and new networks, terrestrial and non-terrestrial, domestic and international is crucial in today’s hyper-connected world where frictionless and borderless connectivity has become a necessity.
At BICS, we believe that maintaining comprehensive interoperability between all operators and networks and accelerating the rollout of 5G SA roaming around the world can play a key role in realizing the full potential of 5G.
5G roaming expands
Signs of progress are clear. BICS, the carrier responsible for 50% of global data roaming traffic, predicts a 156% year-over-year increase in 5G non-standalone roaming traffic for consumer and IoT devices in 2023. The number of 5G roaming subscribers increased from 68 million in 2022 to 176 million in 2023. A 277% increase in IoT device roaming suggests growing interest in the potential of IoT among businesses, while a 37% increase in roaming traffic for consumer devices across all mobile technologies signals a recovery in tourism traffic post-pandemic.
BICS is working with carriers and other partners to ensure roaming continues to create business opportunities for the industry, leveraging global cloud technology to eliminate intercontinental data transfers by directing visiting users’ traffic to local breakout points, improving the quality of low-latency 5G roaming between Asia and Europe.
5G standalone roaming will also be demonstrated between Asia and the Gulf countries through the BICS service hub, enabling operators to offer network slicing and real-time critical communications to 5G roamers, opening the door for innovation and coverage expansion of roaming agreements.
Several solutions are also being developed to facilitate seamless roaming and interconnection of different types of private networks.
To be useful to businesses and consumers, 5G must be scalable and secure, and successful 5G roaming connections will usher in the next generation of universal communications for customers and entire industries.
Kenneth Hardat, Head of Communications Strategy, BICS
