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There has been a definite acceleration in the business success of the service providers from 2021 till now. At the recent Huawei MBBF 2022, Peng Song, President – ICT Strategy and Marketing at Huawei, elaborated on the key success factors of 5G in his speech on 5G Business Success is Accelerating.
“G.U.I.D.E. is a strategy for operators who strive for success. It aims for efficient Gbps experience to 5G networks, cross-generational experience, automatic Operation & Maintenance(O&M), on-demand customization, and green network,” says Peng Song in his speech.
Huawei introduced the G.U.I.D.E. model some time back which stands for Gigaverse Initiative, Ultra-automation Speed-up, Intelligent Computing & Network as a Service, Differentiated Experience On-demand, and ESG More Bits Less Watts. It is designed to build ubiquitous gigabit connectivity, accelerate automation, and provide intelligent computing and networks as a service, offering differentiated experiences and enabling sustainability with green ICT.
The second factor is 5G user migration for large-scale business development. 5G can help the service providers boost Data of Usage (DOU) to ensure better profits. Further, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) also gives service providers more growth avenues. The services can further boost this growth by exploring new use cases in 5G to consumer, 5G to Home and 5G to Business scenarios.
Boosting 5G toC monetization
With the accelerated development of 5G toC in the past year, leading operators have finetuned their strategy to monetize their 5G investments. While the telcos have been using data as the primary way to monetize Mobile Broadband (MBB) since 4G, 5G offers new opportunities to monetize their investments.
Peng Song elaborated on the new ways in which telcos can improve revenues. “In today’s era of live streaming, charging by uplink speed is also a significant strategy. For instance, German operators offer special tariffs to ensure a seamless live-streaming experience. On the other hand, a Chinese operator has tariffs to monetize low latency sought after by gamers,” says Peng Song.
Peng Song, President – ICT Strategy and Marketing at Huawei
Further, the 5G ecosystem allows the service providers to monetize new content and applications. Nearly 45% of 5G operators include OTT content in their 5G packages to improve their attractiveness.
The service providers can further boost revenue by feature content bundling. Peng Song shared the example of South Korean operators who are going into 5G XR content production. Typically service providers are focusing on XR and metaverse for better monetization of 5G networks. However, there are other ways as 5G is transforming traditional services.
“5G has transformed traditional voice, SMS, and RBT into 5G call, 5G message, and 5G VRBT. These services are quickly monetized thanks to the exceptional experience they provide to their massive user base. When we look at video, traditional formats have also transformed into higher definition, spatial, interactive formats that fascinate consumers. New business models such as freeview streaming have been released in multiple markets,” elaborated Peng Song in his speech.
Seizing 5G to Home Opportunity
Another crucial market for 5G services is 5G to the home, which is growing at breakneck speed. The number of 5G FWA users will reach 7 million by 2022 and 65 million by 2026, with a CAGR higher than 65%.
“Compared with 4G FWA, 5G FWA differentiates into two scenarios. One is Premium Home, which provides concurrent gaming and high-quality video. In addition, operators monetize multiple network capabilities including downlink, uplink, and latency,” says Peng Song.
Growing the revenue from enterprise segment
In the 5G to business segment, the private network revenue of the telcos continues to grow. The 5G private network revenue of the Chinese operators will exceed CNY9 billion or USD1.3 billion.
“Apart from widespread deployment inside China, 5GtoB has grown quickly overseas. There are over 100 mobile private networks deployed by operators out of China, and this number has doubled compared with last year,” says Peng Song. Today, 5G private networks are widely launched in over 10 vertical industries, and the virtual private networks with slicing technologies can bring down the time to market are particularly apt for energy, logistics and smart city applications.
As a technology, 5G is growing at a much faster rate than 4G. Since 5G was commercially launched three years ago, 5G to consumer users have grown seven times faster than 4G. 5G has covered more population, and there are more 5G devices compared to 4G in the same period. Similarly, 5G FWA subscribers will reach seven million with a CAGR as high as 65%, and 5G toB subscribers will also continue to grow exponentially. All this represents new opportunities for the service providers.
Venezuela’s telecoms sector has not been flush with positive developments of late – the country’s economy has been in a downward spiral for well over five years now, and this has caused a staggering decline in a sector that had seen average to strong growth up until around 2015.
As observed by BuddeComm analyst Henry Lancaster, Venezuela’s fixed-line teledensity was relatively high for the region up until this point, but has fallen dramatically to a low of around 17.3% in 2021. The country’s broader economic woes have left millions unable to afford even basics such as food, water and gasoline. In this context, even communications become a luxury, leading many customers to cancel fixed line and mobile services. Lancaster notes that mobile subscriptions fell by an estimated 2.4% year-on-year in 2020, and growth is not expected to return until 2023.
As reported by CFR.org, Venezuela’s economic woes have been ongoing since around 2014. At that time, a barrel of oil was priced at around US$100 – but by early 2016, this had dropped to US$30. Oil sales account for 99% of Venezuela’s export earnings and approximately a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product, but investment in oil production has been flagging for years – and the pandemic saw output sink to its lowest level since 1945. Although it has recovered slightly since, predictions vary on whether Venezuela’s economy will continue its downward trajectory in 2022.
Obtaining accurate information about Venezuela’s telecoms sector over the past two years has been extremely challenging, as noted by Omdia’s Sonia Agnese. The Latin America-focused analyst told us: “it is difficult even to understand…the real status of the market, since the regulator Conatel has not published telecommunication statistics since 2020.” However, many of the factors that are hindering the sector’s development have been present since long before the pandemic.
The most obvious of these is the price cap on operator services, which have impacted operator revenue – and therefore investment. In an interview with BNAmericas earlier this year, Pedro Marín, president of local operators association Casetel, said that tariffs were 25 to 30 times lower than in other markets in the region – and had been for several years. While some increases have been authorised, he said that these were not enough to operators to even cover costs, let alone plan for further investment.
Marin noted that Venezuela’s government – headed by President Nicolas Maduro – has relaxed price caps in the broadband sector and there are hopes that the mobile sector could be next. He claimed that change was afoot, with signs that the government was abandoning political dogma in favour of pragmatism as it realised the need for growth. However, Marin cautioned that demand for internet still vastly outstrips supply; while Conatel has not released official statistics for two years, unofficial figures indicate that over 40% of Venezuelans have no internet access.
Lancaster’s analysis loosely corroborates this; he notes that state incumbent DSL provider CANTV has very low revenue and virtually no competition, giving it very little incentive to invest. Meanwhile, private companies have nowhere near the funds required to boost their internet coverage. Infrastructure issues are a major factor here; Lancaster describes the Venezuela’s fixed networks as being in a “decrepit” state, with international sanctions making it difficult for providers to import any new equipment from foreign vendors. Indeed, Marin stated that there had been no significant investment in 11-15 years.
The mood of desperation in Venezuela is such that despite the decrepitude of its fixed infrastructure, theft of equipment is so widespread that it is often economically unviable for companies to address the issue. Operators largely do not have the funds to replace stolen batteries and cables, so affected sites are typically left out of commission, no longer able to service their coverage area. This impacts revenue from the sector and makes it virtually impossible for operators to form investment strategies to improve their networks.
Such strategies will be contingent on stability, and it is evident that Venezuela is still a long way from this, says Agnese. “Investing in fixed and wireless networks involves large sunk costs and long payback periods; therefore, prospective investors seek certainty and clarity over the legal and regulatory landscape…The Venezuela political and economic situation is still very delicate, and it would take a long time to have the market conditions required for private investment to return to the country. Venezuela is in the 188th position in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business Ranking’ out of 190, which shows the magnitude of changes required to attract international investments again.”
If there is a glimmer of hope, it is from a highly improbable source – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has seen Europe scramble to find alternative sources of crude oil as it seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian imports. While the US imposed oil sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, news agency Reuters reported in May 2022 that the US State Department had authorised Italy’s Eni and Spain’s Repsol to resume imports from Venezuela, in a move that will help the Latin American country take steps towards relieving its vast debt burden.
However, there is a long way to go to rectify the damage – and the country’s economy will need to stabilise before further investment can take place. Agnese concludes: “It is true that Venezuela has been showing more positive economic signs in the last months, mainly due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict that indirectly impacted positively in Venezuela’s economy… [However] these recent changes are not enough to plan a telecommunication investment.”
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Some equity funding, two technology deployments, and one network build: … [visit site to read more]
The UK’s national parks are some of the most celebrated locations in the country, attracting millions of visitors every year to bask in their natural glory. But despite their popularity, many of these regions are lacking in crucial connectivity, particularly in some of their most mountainous areas, where deploying infrastructure is a challenge. This lack of connectivity represents a significant challenge for emergency services, with visitors often unable to contact help when lost or injured in the parks.
The scale of this problem should not be underestimated. Recent research from VMO2 indicates that 73% of British people have walked or hiked in a national park in 2022, with 31% saying they feared being unable to contact anyone if they got lost. The study also suggested that the number of Brits visiting these parks could soon increase, with 36% of respondents saying they would consider visiting a national park due to its inexpensive nature during the cost-of-living crisis.
Now, VMO2 is joining forces with the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre to test the latter’s ‘Dragon’ Unmanned Aircraft System as a potential flying base station, able to deliver 4G and 5G to visitors and emergency services.
The Dragon drone will not only be a relatively cheap and environmentally friendly way to provide connectivity to visitors but will also help provide emergency services with more precise location data for visitors in need of rescue, as well as picture sharing and video call capabilities. In some cases, this will allow lost visitors to be guided back to safety without the need to send out rescue personnel.
“Mountain Rescue is a volunteer service and there is only so much resource we have available to us. With more and more people visiting Snowdonia each year, a drone with mobile connectivity would be a powerful tool for the search and rescue teams to understand and assess a situation immediately, saving crucial time in life-threatening situations,” explained Paul Terry a Police Sergeant in the North Wales Police Drone Unit and Mountain Rescue volunteer.
“This project is a further example of how 5G technologies can provide real societal benefits for people around the UK, wherever they are. This trial could transform how emergency services operate and react to life-threatening situations, and make people feel safer while enjoying national parks,” explained Kirsty Bright, Director of Network Innovation and Transformation at VMO2. “We’ve already run our first successful test flights at the Llanbedr airport with the Snowdonia Aerospace team and look forward to demonstrating how it can support mountain rescue teams across Snowdonia.”
This drone project is currently funded by the Innovate UK Future Flight Challenge and a Department for Transport Drone Technology Research and Innovation Grant. In addition to VMO2 and Snowdonia Aerospace, the project also includes SwiftFlight Avionics, Wavemobile, and the Welsh Government.
VMO2 has been testing drones in an emergency services context for a while now, last year partnering with Swiss company Fotokite to trial 5G-connected tethered drones. These drones do not need a specialist operator and can fly 45 metres above an emergency site, providing emergency responders with live video feed of the surrounding area.
What role will 5G play in enabling drones for emergency services and beyond? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s live Total Telecom Congress
Also in the news:
How smart city technology is transforming Sunderland
Vodafone announces flurry of Open RAN partnerships
Saudi Public Investment Firm seeks majority stake in STC towerco
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Leading IT infrastructure and services company NTT has announced the opening of its latest data centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Johannesburg 1 Data Centre is described as being part of NTT’s expansion into the African continent. It has a capacity of 12MW covering 6,000 square metres of IT space once fully built out. The technical infrastructure is supported by N+1 uninterruptible power supply systems (UPS), N+1 generator backup, and highly redundant cooling systems. This will provide clients with dedicated sustainable infrastructure, operational control and the design flexibility required to support their high-performance needs.
The facility will cater to hyperscalers and enterprises, providing them with an opportunity to use NTT’s full ICT stack of services, including managed hybrid cloud, network management, collaboration, security and application monitoring.
The new facility uses a closed-loop chilled water system with air-cooled chillers, meaning that the water running through the cooling systems isn’t evaporated. This reduces the threat of potential drought water restrictions and allows the data centre to achieve good levels of power usage effectiveness (PUE) and water usage effectiveness (WUE).
NTT points out that Africa is experiencing a digital boom, with a population expected to double by 2050. Estimates show that 615 million users in sub-Saharan Africa will subscribe to mobile services by 2025, a 24% increase from 2020. This growth and reliance on technology is, says NTT, fuelling digital transformation initiatives and demand for high-performing data centre space.
NTT is planning to accelerate its data centre footprint in Johannesburg and other African cities to support this growth over the next several years.
NTT’s recent data centre openings in developing markets include Jakarta and Navi Mumbai, with further expansions planned in Ho Chi Minh City and Cyberjaya. The data centres will align with NTT’s commitment to achieve net-zero emissions across its data centre operations by 2030 and the complete value chain by 2040.
NTT is focused on ensuring its portfolio is powered by renewable energy by 2030 and that it applies energy efficiency measures where required.
In this age of 5G and gigabit fibre, the dynamics of the telecoms industry are rapidly evolving. New technologies are offering new opportunities, enabling use cases and business models that were unthinkable just a few short years ago. From the rise of private networks, allowing telcos to offer bespoke solutions to enterprises and industries, to the emerging field of extended reality, there are no shortage of new revenue streams for telcos to maximise.
But as the opportunities for telcos increase, so too does their competition. Hyperscalers, cloud players, software specialists, hardware vendors – all of these and more are moving circumvent the telcos, increasingly offering their own solutions directly to enterprise customers.
So, how can telcos differentiate themselves and bring customers more meaningful, personalised services? Ultimately, how can they go beyond simple connectivity to better engage their partners and customers?
On the morning of Day 2 of Total Telecom Congress, the opening keynote panel session will discuss these fascinating topics, exploring the lessons from the industry’s successes so far and what must be done to ensure success in the future.
“The session will be incredibly valuable to attendees because it’s about what we need to do now in practice to be successful in 2023 and beyond. And it is not just ‘more of the same’”, explained Andrew Collinson, Executive Director & Chief Research Officer of STL Partners and moderator of the upcoming session.
“This is a critical time for the industry. Customers face urgent challenges in the global economy, in security and sustainability. Telecoms can take key roles beyond connectivity in addressing these challenges, and others too – but it is a choice. My view is that if they don’t choose to do more, they will become increasingly marginalised as the industry becomes increasingly modular and cloudified, and other players will do more of the things that customers value. And the world will be a worse place for it, too.
I am excited about finding out from the presenters (and attendees) what key steps we need to take now – and what lessons they’ve learned that helped them succeed.”
(Left to Right) Andrew Collinson, STL Partners; Henri Korpi, Elisa; Willem Brinkert, RegioHELP, Shaima Alhamed, BNET Bahrain Network; Antonio Ivankovic, GO Plc
Panellists
Willem Brinkert, Co-Founder, RegioHELP
Henri Korpi, EVP International Digital Services, Elisa
Shaima Alhamed, Chief Commercial Officer, BNET Bahrain Network
Antonio Ivankovic, Chief Commercial Officer, GO Plc
Total Telecom Congress will take place in the Business Design Centre, London, on the 1st–2nd November. Check out the agenda and book your place today.
