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A double take on 5G

5G NR (also known as Standalone 5G) will deliver three generic network services: mMTC, URLLC and eMBB. They are typical telecom-insider terms, says freelance technology writer, Bob Emmerson.

Deployments will start with enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB). It’s the service that operators need because the market — the consumer market — wants high-definition video, augmented and virtual reality, and real-time gaming. There are numerous business applications that eMBB will enhance, but the big numbers are in the consumer sector.

A lot to like about 5G NSA

The other version, which is known as 5G NSA (Non-Standalone), uses the LTE radio access and core network (EPC) that are employed in 4G networks. It enables operators to provide 5G services having more bandwidth, throughput, capacity as well as better connection reliability. Moreover these services can be delivered in shorter times and at lesser cost. There’s a lot to like about 5G NSA, but it’s under-hyped, unlike 5G SA.

LTE can employ 40 different frequency bands and they include the same Band 43 spectrum (3.6 to 3.8 GHz) as 5G. For example, the Port of Rotterdam, which is one of the largest and most important in the world, employs an automated LTE solution that employs this 5G spectrum deployment.

Given the hype that surrounds 5G SA it is easy to overlook the importance of this LTE / 5G combination. It’s important because the French and German regulators have promoted this spectrum being employed for local 5G services in order to enable businesses to build networks that can be used for local, private LTE services. It reflects concerns that the initial focus of operators will be on 5G Standalone consumer services and radio upgrades rather than the core and transport improvements needed for industrial IoT solutions.

Private LTE networks

Private LTE networks are a means to an end, the end being the performance that the business community needs for their on-going digital transformation process. The IoT is a key component of that process. It comprises a set of computing and communications technologies that allow smart connected products and solutions to deliver tangible benefits such as an increase in operational efficiency, improved product and service performance plus enhanced operational agility and security.

Private LTE networks, which operate on the company’s premises, leverage those benefits. Network slicing enables connectivity services to be customised to match performance parameters to application requirements and networks can be expanded into an IoT ecosystem of customers, partners and suppliers. They can run low data rate applications like LTE-M and NB-IoT, as well as the very high data rate needed for on-line security cameras and being private allows businesses to manage a mission-critical resource, i.e. their connectivity infrastructure.

Voice as well as data

Private LTE networks are a relatively recent development but private Wi-Fi networks have been around for a couple of decades. Wi-Fi has become the preferred wireless communications medium for both voice and data traffic in office environments; however, Wi-Fi networks are no longer viable for business-critical data applications. This does not mean that LTE will replace Wi-Fi; they complement each other.

Less obvious is the logic of bringing enterprise PBXs into private LTE networks. Druid Software, an Irish company that is a private network pioneer, designs and implements its solutions on the company’s Raemis platform using 5G NSA spectrum. The platform can harness 4G, 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi spectrum and an integrated REST API facilitates integration to other enterprise systems, including PBXs. All cellular communications that take place outside the office are routed back via the enterprise private data / voice network.

Conclusions

5G NSA and SA are not an either/or option. MNOs that begin with NSA can gradually add or migrate to SA over time and start to deliver the hype. In the meantime 5G NSA is enabling an evolutionary blending of LTE and 5G resources that in turn looks set to accelerate the deployment of private cellular networks. This is a topic that Beecham Research is evaluating and a report will follow.

The author is freelance technology writer, Bob Emmerson