Experts Urge More Harmonization and Single Standard for Mobile Communications
The future success of the wireless industry depends on having a single standard worldwide for mobile communications, Adrian Scrase, former chief technology officer at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, said Tuesday during an RCR Wireless industrial 5G forum. Multiple standards are “just not tenable if we’re to have economic success,” said Scarse, now a consultant for the Global Mobile Suppliers Association.
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It took the wireless industry more than 30 years to get to a single standard, Scrase said. “It wasn’t easy,” he said: “Having got there, industry really recognizes the value of having a single global unified standard.”
3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 18 is finished, and the focus is “clearly on Release 19 and beyond,” Scarse said. The next release “will continue to evolve the 5G portfolio of capabilities and functionalities” and “it will also pave the way for the next generation to come.” Release 18 launches 5G-advanced, which “really marks the mid-generation point.”
Eiman Mohyeldin, Nokia head-spectrum standardization, suggested worldwide harmonization of spectrum for private networks will likely take years. Harmonization would mean uniform architecture, compatible devices and cost savings, she added.
In Europe, the focus is on 3.8-4.2 GHz for private networks; European regulators are expected to make a final decision this month, Mohyeldin said. European countries have a lot of cross-border coordination, she said. “Let’s hope that this is going to be approved and finalized.” Mohyeldin said it can be a “complex challenge” for regulators to balance spectrum allocations between private and carrier networks. Both are playing “a very huge role in enabling digital connectivity.”
Coverage remains an issue, Scarse said. After 40 years of deployment in the U.K., “we still don’t have 100% coverage, which is not something we should be particularly proud of,” he said. While there was initial skepticism about fixed wireless access, it has helped with deployment in difficult to reach areas, he noted. “It’s early days” and we’ll see further growth in FWA deployment.
Scarse sees potential for reduced capability (RedCap) technology (see 2303270060) to spur the growth of the IoT. The forecast was that there would be millions of IoT devices deployed per square kilometer in developed areas, he said. “That really hasn’t happened.” Instead, the push is to develop a “lower-cost, lower-performance IoT capability,” he said: “RedCap will be hugely successful because it has a particular focus on economies.”
Appledore Research projects that businesses will spend $232 billion annually by 2027 on their networks, said Shanthi Ravindran, principal analyst at the firm. Traditional communications providers will get only part of that spend, she predicted. “Industry really needs the capabilities of 5G in terms of latency, in terms of their own distribution across many locations, precise manufacturing requirements” and other requirements.
Miami International Airport decided to launch a private wireless network to accommodate “massive growth,” said Johnathan Lewis, director-innovation at the airport. The airport expects 58 million passengers this year across its 3,300 acres, he said. “We wanted to become a smarter airport,” he said. “We wanted to look at how to be more efficient” and “start making some data-driven decisions on how to improve our employee and customer experiences.”
The airport wanted to install cameras around its parameters but not lay the fiber that would have been needed for a wired system, Lewis said. A private wireless network allowed the airport to install the cameras in half the time at half the cost, he said.
Cargill is looking at what it can do with private 5G networks, as an alternative to Wi-Fi, starting at one of its plants in Europe, said Robert Greiner, global manufacturing network manager. The multinational food giant also planned a project in the U.S., but it was temporarily shelved because of budget constraints, he said.
Cargill is finding that 5G antennas are more expensive than Wi-Fi antennas, but significantly fewer are needed, and the prices are coming down, Greiner said. Installation costs are similar per unit, which means savings from 5G. “Once you rotate outdoors, that, to me, is where 5G shines.” You can get signal power levels, which Wi-Fi can’t match, he said. The only alternative is a carrier network, but Cargill views public networks as not offering the security the company needs, he said.