Nigeria: Road to 2020 5G Commercial Launch - EU Unveils Vision

analysis

By Emeka AginamBarcelona — Ericsson has called for industry collaboration to achieve success in the launch of 5G network in 2020, as the journey to the new technology has begun with service providers bracing up for the challenges ahead.
While discussion on commercial launch of the new technology dominated discussion at the just concluded 2015 Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, the European Commission and Europe's tech industry had presented their vision for 5G.
It would be recalled that the 5G vision has been written by members of the 5G Infrastructure Association, the industry part of the 5G PPP.
The 5G PPP was launched in December 2013 and is an agreement between the European Commission and industry.
The 2015 MWC event had more than 40 conferences and attracted Inspiring speakers from consumer brands, mobile organisations, mobile operators, among others.
Accordingly, participants in the global IT ecosystem discussed how best to deploy the technology after consolidating operator requirements intended to support the standardization and availability of 5G for 2020 and beyond.
A global vision and standards for 5G, it was learnt will be discussed and decided together with international partners in late 2015and 2016.
With this early input, the EU stands a good chance that key elements of its vision will form part of global standards.
"Europe has the industrial base, the know-how and excellent research teams to deliver the future 5G digital infrastructure. I am determined to favour one single global standard for 5G. This will enhance economies of scale and scope, and deliver the digital society and economy of tomorrow" Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner, has said.
Already, the EU Commissioner together with companies including, Ericsson, Nokia, Orange, Thales Alenia Space and other partners in the 5G Public Private Partnership, PPP at the 2020 MWC presented Europe's vision of the 5G technologies and infrastructure which, by 2020, will cope with the massive growth in the use of communication and wireless technologies by humans and machines.
Europe's vision for 5G
5G, according to EU and its partnwers should not only be an evolution of mobile broadband networks but should allow completely new network and service capabilities.
According to EU, 5G infrastructure should be flexible and rapidly adapt to a broad range of requirements. It should be designed to be a sustainable and scalable technology.
Key technological components:
5G networks, EU vision indicated should encompass optical, cellular and satellite solutions. It will heavily rely on emerging technologies such as Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) and Fog Computing (FC). Spectrum considerations:
5G access networks, according to the vision will require hundreds of MHz up to several GHz to be provided at a very high overall system capacity. Higher carrier frequencies above 6 GHz need to be considered. Maintaining a stable and predictable regulatory and spectrum management environment is critical for long term investments.
Timeline: Many European operators predict 5G commercial availability in 2020-2025.
Ericsson calls for colaboration
Ahead of the 2020 5G comercial launch, Strategic Marketing Manager Networked Society Evangelist of Ericsson, Erik Kruse has called for global industry collaboration to achieve success.

Kruse who spoke to Technology Journalists in an interview at the just concluded MWC 2015 said that Ericsson is already demonstrating fundamental 5G functionality that would be critical to enabling widespread adoption for both consumer and machine-type communications (MTC).
He assured that the company had gained valuable insights on critical technology innovation that will lead to networked society. Kruse said that creating an intelligent system is a critical step towards connected society.
Ericsson assures on 5G kick off
"We are ready for 5G journey. The journey will be successful. The whole ecosystem is getting ready for 5G. Ericsson has the state of the technology equipment to deploy 5G by 2020 commercial launch. But industry collaboration is needed", he said.
He explained that 5G would impact the entire mobile network and associated eco-system, from devices to radio access, IP core and into the cloud.
With optimism, he said that 5G technologies would impact the entire mobile network and associated eco-system, from devices to radio access, IP core and into the cloud.
For Arun Bansal, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Unit Radio, Ericsson, the company's 5G radio test bed is where innovation meets implementation.
It certainly is a reflection of our commitment to 5G technology leadership but it's also where we test and expand the limits of how mobility will transform society, he added.
Start '5G for Sweden' research program
Meanwhile, leading the way in the 5G deployment, Ericsson at the MWC also announced the start of the '5G for Sweden' research program.

With the new development, Ericsson will work together with major industrial actors and key universities and research institutes to take the lead in the digital revolution.
Driven by Ericsson, the program aims to strengthen the competiveness among industries by effectively and efficiently developing and integrating ICT solutions in products and services based on 5G standards.
The program will initiate research that can be applied across industries and to create new projects at universities and research institutes, as well as several industry pilots of possible 5G solutions.
Meanwhile, following on impressive speed test results, where the Ericsson 5G radio test bed topped 5 Gbps throughput, two new technology milestones including 5G-LTE Dual Connectivity and 5G Multipoint Connectivity have been demonstrated, and were featured at MWC 2015.
Signs MoU with South Korean KT
Taking the lead in 5G launch, Ericsson during the event signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KT, South Korea's leading telecoms provider, for collaboration on technologies related to next-generation networks, during MWC 2015 in Barcelona, Spain.
In the MoU, Ericsson and KT agree to explore collaboration in the fields of research and development in 5G wireless communication and relevant business.
The two companies selected collaboration items to lead the 5G evolution, including: standardization, spectrum strategy, network architecture and deployment scenarios, and massive connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Ericsson's latest 5G radio test bed innovations focus on the interactions between mobile devices and the radio access network, both indoors and outside, and include, 5G-LTE Dual Connectivity: The 5G mobile device moves between LTE and 5G radio access coverage areas, establishing simultaneous connections with both networks before seamlessly handing over.
Telstra teams up with Ericsson on 5G
Telstra is teaming up with Ericsson to lay down the foundations of its 5G strategy, although the telco's immediate focus remains on boosting the capacity and functionality of its 4G network.
With Telstra aiming to launch its 5G services by 2020, the telco's group managing director networks, Mike Wright, said that the work needed to start now.
The partnership with Ericsson is expected to see teams from both companies start work on lab and field based testing and start adapting the evolving 5G industry standards to make them fit for purpose.
At the just concluded MWC 2015, Ericsson showcased world-leading technology, service capabilities, and innovations.