2020.12.04 – Open Broadband News

Keeping connected with a network transformation toolkit

Prior to 5G, the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) focused entirely on mobile networks. With 5G, 3GPP has laid out specifications for a new and more cost-efficient 5^th generation network core whereby all aspects of the control and user plane can run on either virtualized or cloud-native software. Embodied in this work was a desire to embrace access from networks not specified by 3GPP.

Operators hesitate to operate two separate and distinct network cores: one for mobile users and one for fixed access. Instead, operators can opt to use the 5G core (5GC) as the common core, where the control plane and user plane can span across mobile and fixed networks (including fixed wireless access). The evolution of network infrastructure combined with the architectural features of the 5GC results in a near “turn-key” evolution to virtualization.

Read the full feature in 5G Technology World from David Allan, Work Area Director for Wireless-Wireline Convergence and Greg Dalle, 5G Project Stream Lead at Broadband Forum, here to find out how the toolkit lets integrated operators run their mobile and fixed-line operations on a common 5G core.

Alexa, Alexa, on the wall, what does 2021 have in store?

With connectivity needed more than ever during the pandemic, you would be forgiven for thinking that this time of crisis could have been a major opportunity for telecoms companies. This year’s annual forecast from research firm Analysys Mason suggests that the industry will see a $43 billion fall this year when compared to 2019’s figures, representing a 2.7 percent drop overall.

While many operators have been agile in responding to the crisis and have switched up their business models as a result, 2021 is nonetheless set to be a gloomy financial year for the industry at large, according to Total Telecom. Around a third of the revenue lost in 2020 will be recouped in 2021, but this will not be enough to reduce the ongoing pressure on operators.

“A lot of operators will be pleased to start reporting growth from April,” said Stephen Sale, Director for Consumer Services at Analysys Mason. “But we are expecting pretty gloomy times in 2021.”

Let it grow, let it grow, can’t hold 5G back anymore!

5G is becoming a reality in Latin America, as the service has been launched in Brazil and Uruguay, and spectrum auctions are on the way in Chile, Brazil and potentially Colombia and Dominican Republic by 2021. The latest GSMA report, ‘The Mobile Economy Latin America 2020’, forecasts 62 million 5G connections across the region by 2025, representing a near 10 percent adoption rate. In that same year, 4G will account for 67 percent of connections.

Key 5G capabilities, including higher speeds and ultra-low latency, can enable innovative solutions for enterprises seeking ways to boost productivity post-pandemic. These productivity gains will increase the positive impact mobile technologies and services already have on the region’s economy. In 2019, the mobile ecosystem generated a contribution of $421 billion of economic value and around 1.4 million jobs.

Talking turkey, streaming it too – US broadband usage rises during holiday

With Zoom removing usage limits across its platform for the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, cable broadband usage on Thanksgiving Day registered a 45 percent jump, according to OpenVault, a provider of technology solutions and data insights for the broadband industry.

An analysis of data collected by OpenVault’s network management and monitoring tools shows that average broadband consumption per subscriber was 15.59 GB on Thanksgiving Day 2020.

Peak traffic occurred between the hours of 9am and 2pm CT, when usage paced 29 percent ahead of average consumption during the same time period across the previous eight Thursdays.

Africa-n do it! Big broadband boost for Botswana

Liquid Telecom is expanding fiber access through Botswana’s Lobatse border to Gaborone, an undertaking that, it says, will dramatically increase connectivity and network capacity in the country.

The pan-African telecoms group has announced that it is activating 82km of fiber in a cross-border network into Botswana. This implementation, says the company, gives more people in Botswana access to Liquid Telecom’s footprint of over 73,000km of pan-African fiber, and increased access to the global digital economy.

This expansion connects the Lobatse border to Gaborone with the aim of creating efficient mobility and connectivity in Botswana, providing millions of citizens and thousands of businesses access to Liquid Telecom’s One Africa broadband network.