Radio access networks have many descriptors that confuse the non-specialists. This includes open, virtual, cloud, centralized, distributed and cooperative RAN. Confusion is understandable because there are many inter-related aspects. Here, I outline the fundamentals elements that define RAN types and clarify the nomenclature.
Architecture, implementation and deployment are the three elements that define the RAN type.
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Network sharing is one of those topics that makes economic sense, but often falters when it comes to adoption and implementation. Recently, I was asked about the prospects for network sharing given 5G capital investment requirements at a time of economic crisis. This is, of course, related to active sharing models where operators share the radio access network and spectrum. From financial perspective, service providers should be inclined to adopt some form of network sharing to reduce cost and improve their financial performance. Regulators who approve network sharing agreements are eager to encourage 5G adoption and reduce barriers to deployments. But in practice, it’s not that straight forward.
Network sharing has multiple complex dimensions: what is logical may not be practical. We have been in the same situation during the 2008 financial crisis when LTE was about 1 year from commercial deployments. This is roughly analogous to the situation today when we are still in the early phase of 5G deployments. I believe the 2008 financial crisis did help bring about active network sharing in particular, but it was limited to a few markets. Rather, the dynamics in each market plays the dominant role in determining the type and prospects for network sharing.
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Integrated AI-based technology enables networks to adapt autonomously which helps operators optimize their service delivery to consumers and enterprises. As communication networks increase in complexity, operators seek to simplify operation and maintenance activities and reduce operating costs. Network automation could help operators achieve this objective. Automation is not a new concept: it has been around under different names for over 10 years. It is integral to digital transformation that’s reshaping industries by increasing productivity and efficiency. Yet, network automation has seen limited application for different reasons. One of the reasons is that the process of automation was sufficiently disruptive to operators’ processes without a clear value proposition. This may have been the case when networks were simple, but today’s networks are an order of magnitude more complex than their predecessors. For this reason, I had a close look at automation when applied to power consumption which is a major challenge facing operators as they upgrade to 5G.
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Over the past weeks we closely followed the impact of economic lockdowns on the ICT infrastructure to identify weaknesses and areas for future investments. Our analysis is multi-dimensional given the complexity of the ICT infrastructure which combines different types of access and backbone networks. This heterogenous infrastructure varies widely by geography. Our assessment led us to identify areas for future investments and evolve regulatory policies in both developed and developing economies. However, we also uncovered areas that we need to be particularly careful about. One of those areas is balancing competition against investments in infrastructure and the role of regulators. We review a few key observations on traffic trends which drives infrastructure architecture and investments.
Continue readingWritten in collaboration with Martyn Roetter*
Countries across the world have been releasing new spectrum for 5G deployments in millimeter-wave spectrum bands (mmWave), while others are planning to do so soon. Although a few governments have awarded mmWave spectrum via administrative processes at little or no cost to operators (Japan, Hong Kong), in most cases the procedure for licensing has involved auctions of 24 GHz, 26 GHz, 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz or 47 GHz. The prices per MHz per PoP of mmWave auctions have been close to the reserve prices set by regulators, with two important exceptions – Thailand and the U.S.
One factor limiting high prices for these high-band auctions is the large multi-GHz amounts of bandwidth they offer. All of the typical number of up to four mobile operators in a national market can acquire 1 GHz or more of 5G-mmWave spectrum without having to compete among themselves for the same frequencies. In addition to the large blocks of bandwidth on offer, these bands’ short propagation ranges require very closely spaced base stations, or network densification, which also influences operators’ valuations of this spectrum given its higher costs of deployment. These two structural factors explain why the prices paid for mmWave spectrum are much lower than for the 3.5 GHz and other mid and lower bands.
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Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) has emerged as one of the hot 5G discussion topics [see here on T-Mobile and Verizon]. This feature which allows simultaneous operation of LTE and 5G technologies has become a bellwether of product maturity and 5G leadership for equipment and silicon vendors and for service providers. But how important is DSS and is it worth all the attention?
DSS allows LTE and 5G to share the same frequency spectrum. The base station dynamically assigns resources to handsets operating on LTE or 5G technology. DSS allows operators to turn on 5G without expanding into new spectrum which makes it useful for spectrum constrained service providers. It is also attractive for service providers who want to claim 5G status quickly by leveraging their existing infrastructure and frequency spectrum.
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Spectrum pricing is a function of supply and demand. Over the course of recent 5G spectrum auctions, regulators demonstrated, yet again, their influence on the outcome. Italy and Taiwan are two examples which set a record valuation for the 3.5 GHz auction. This year, we will see one of the largest auctions ever: the CBRS auction scheduled to start in June [Note 1]. There are a few characteristics that make this auction unique. However, for spectrum valuation, uniqueness ads an undesired element of uncertainty. Here, I outline some factors that impact the CBRS spectrum valuation.
The basic building blocks of 5G were introduced in Release 15 which is now in commercial deployments. In addition, the 5G roadmap has defined two more releases. Release 16 brings in new features in addition to improvements to features introduced in Release 15. Last December, 3GPP identified Release 17 work items. Below, is a summary roadmap in easy to understand terms.
The satellite and cellular wireless industries have long progressed along parallel tracks that rarely intersected [see here]. However, this could change in the next few years [see here]. Both satellite and cellular technologies are evolving to improve performance and reduce cost through technological innovations and new business models. In our recent paper, we analyzed the cost model of remote enterprise private wireless networks with satellite backhaul. We also addressed recent developments in both the satcom and cellcom networks where satellite communications is seen as another access technology of a hierarchical cellular network. Here, I like to provide an additional perspective because cost is only one part of the equation: what matters most to the enterprise is the return on investment. Putting such deployments into context helps to appropriately frame the RoI.
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Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Edge Computing World where I participated in providing a workshop on the economics of the edge. Over the course of two and a half days of discussions common themes become evident. Here, I share a few observations on the edge computing value proposition and recent market developments that indicate what could be coming in the next few years.
To start, I am amazed at market predictions related to the edge opportunity: they range from hundreds of billions to a few trillions of dollars of economic opportunity. Considering the context where industry still needs to define what edge computing is, I wonder the value of such predictions!?
The vast nature of edge computing is what makes it interesting. It brings various parts of the technology ecosystem together: application developers, cloud players, enterprises, device vendors and connectivity providers to name a few. This ecosystem variety manifests itself in the large number of edge computing open source projects leading to a confusing array of overlapping activities.
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In my previous article, I wrote about developments in virtual RAN, and indicated that the actual focus on the service providers is on core network migration strategies. The RAN receives high attention because it consumes more of the MNO capex and opex than the core network. This makes it a primary target for cost reduction. However, the core network strategy is where MNOs are placing their current emphasis because they understand the impact the core network architecture has on their business proposition and future viability.
In this article, together with my Xona business partner Dr. Riad Hartani, I address the evolution of the mobile core network and related complexities encountered in core migration projects we undertook with different service providers. The mobile core network in its broad definition includes the packet core, the services network, the mobile edge and the operating systems.
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Over the past week, I had the opportunity to get a full status update on Radio Access Network (RAN) transformation at the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Summit in Amsterdam. I also had the opportunity to speak with a few service providers on the evolution of the telco network. Understanding the pain points and motivation of the carriers is critical to assess future market developments. What I found was that while virtual RAN is the major activity of the TIP ecosystem, the priority of the service providers is to firm up the core network evolution strategy. In this post, I summarize developments in RAN virtualization. I will follow up in a second post on the critical aspects related to the core network.
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“Where is the edge?” is one of the most popular questions I heard at telco industry events. The answer often comes as “the edge is where it needs to be.” Some understand this to mean wide distribution of computing hardware that will make the telco edge cloud. Here, I will argue why wide distribution of computing is unlikely to happen in telco networks. The reasons are many – I will not go through them. Instead, I will address one factor only. To position the context, this applies to the off-premise or data center edge computing services for consumers and enterprises. See my previous article addressing the on-premise edge computing opportunity.
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As 5G rolls out, edge computing is the hope of service providers to finally provide differentiated services. Service provides have two paths to monetize the edge: a consumer services path and an enterprise services path. The former plays to the strengths of the mobile service providers. The latter, enterprise path, is as an incremental opportunity that 5G could provide.
There are two deployment models to provide edge computing services to enterprises. The first is on-premise services where edge computing is located at the enterprise. The second is off-premise services where edge computing is located at an edge data center. How will service providers go about monetizing the edge and which of these options they will pursue remains to be seen. Here, I will focus on the service provider opportunity for the on-premise enterprise segment leaving the off-premise and consumer segments to a future post.
Is OpenRAN (Open Radio Access Networks) the path to saving costs in radio access networks? Vodafone seems to think it is as it trials the technology in its networks in the UK and Africa. Among Vodafone’s goals are: 1. Improve supply chain resilience; and 2. Connect rural communities using standardized, lower cost network equipment. This is good news for OpenRAN ecosystem companies such as Mavenir, Parallel Wireless and others. But I think Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei are not panicking as Vodafone drives to empower other vendors. This is because there are a few serious obstacles in the path of OpenRAN to commercial deployments.
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