KDDI Japan's IoT march continues with over 10 Million Connections

Pictures source: Financial Results for the Q3 of the Fiscal Year Ending March 2020 - Jan 2020 (link)

In a recent press release, KDDI announced (in Japanese) that it has now exceeded 10 million IoT connections that it has been providing since 2001. Initially it was all M2M but since then IoT has been introduced and the number of IoT connections, in comparison to M2M is increasing.  KDDI Group as a whole will provide a one-stop system for providing IoT, including devices (sensing), network infrastructure, cloud, and data analysis that are essential for promoting IoT. Utilizing the knowledge of the IoT field that has been cultivated to date, the KDDI DIGITAL GATE business development base in the 5G / IoT era is promoting digital transformation for corporate customers in Japan and overseas.



The IoT provided by KDDI is being introduced into smart meters, connected cars equipped with communication functions in vehicles, home security, etc., making it possible to visualize signs of failure of factory equipment and waste of production costs, as well as at construction sites. Efforts are being made to protect workers from changes in temperature and sudden changes in weather, as well as in primary industries such as agriculture and fisheries. For example, the know-how related to fisheries, which relied on experience and intuition, is being used to create and accumulate data using the IoT to establish aquaculture technology, which is used for regional revitalization.

Going forward, KDDI hopes to use the services combining 5G and AI to further utilize existing fields, and further expand the IoT not only in Japan but also overseas through the IoT Global Infrastructure. KDDI IoT Portal is available here.

KDDI opened its first IoT/5G lab, called KDDI DIGITAL GATE, in central Tokyo in September 2018. This lab, which was supported by KDDI’s specialist partners, such as SORACOM, iret, ARISE Analytics and Scrum Inc., was used to co-create new businesses with customers and drive innovation.

KDDI completed nationwide coverage of LTE-M in June 2018. The IoT being developed by KDDI is being introduced into smart meters, connected cars equipped with communication functions in vehicles, home security, etc., making it possible to visualize signs of failure of factory equipment and waste of production costs, as well as at construction sites. Efforts are being made to protect workers from changes in temperature and sudden changes in weather, as well as in primary industries such as agriculture and fisheries.

For example the Toyooka City Smart Agriculture Project, uses LTE-M-connected sensors to monitor water levels in paddy fields.

The low power wide area (LPWA) provided by LTE-M connectivity was also being used to support climbers tackling Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain. KDDI uses LTE-M to track the number of climbers at the starting point for an ascent (the trails can get crowded), as well as temperatures and humidity levels during the climbing season from 10th July 2018 to 10th Sep 2018.

Moreover, KDDI has also used LPWA technologies to develop a system for detecting landslides in mountainous areas, and a solution for monitoring the occupancy of toilets and for controlling the amount of water used to flush a latrine. Over time, the operator expects LTE-M to be used in a wide range of IoT applications, including highly mobile solutions for the logistics and consumer wearable sectors.

Another example of their innovative work is an aqua-culture technology project that has revived the local production of mackerel.  Equipment that can measure water temperature, oxygen concentration and salt concentration on an hourly basis hour have been installed in the fishing port of Takara, Obama City. The results are transmitted to the server via KDDI's mobile line, and the situation can be grasped remotely using a tablet terminal, so informing fisherman of vital information for a good catch.



In the future KDDI intend to use their services combining 5G and AI to further utilize existing fields, and further expand the IoT not only in Japan but also overseas through the IoT Global Infrastructure.

KDDI will promote “fusion of communication and life design” and contribute to the business of corporate customers as a “company that contributes to sustainable growth of society” and create new experience value.

Related Posts:

• 3G4G: An Introduction to IoT: Connectivity and Use Cases
• 3G4G: M2M vs MTC vs IoT
• Operator Watch Blog: KDDI's M2M / IoT History, Solutions, Cloud Data Market & Ecosystem

China's Synchronized 5G Launch

As reported by Mobile World Live:

China’s three major mobile operators officially launched 5G services in parts of 50 cities, claiming the largest rollout in the world just six months after the government issued licences.

The three operations deployed about 86,000 5G base stations and expect to have more than 130,000 by year-end. Market leader China Mobile aims to install 50,000 sites by end-December, while China Unicom and China Telecom each target about 40,000.

China Unicom claimed ubiquitous 5G coverage in 14 cities and 28,000 base stations.

All three operators announced similar packages with different speed tiers. Users without a 5G device can still subscribe to the 5G plans to take advantage of the larger data allowances.

China Mobile, for example, offers five plans with two speed tiers: speed limits of 500Mb/s and 1Gb/s. Monthly prices range from CYN128 ($18.10) for 30GB (low tier) to CNY598 for 300GB (high tier).

It’s giving 30 per cent discounts to existing customers, who have subscribed for three to five years. The company said it already registered 10 million customers to 5G packages.

China Unicom, the third largest operator in the country, claimed ubiquitous coverage in 14 cities, with plans to have service in 40 cities by the end of the year.

Chen Zhaoxiong, vice minister of Industry and Information Technology (centre), kicked off the launch with representatives from the three operators at PT Expo China in Beijing today (31 October).

They’re also offering a solid 1000 yuan ($142) discount on the #Samsung Note 10+ 5G. It is one of the only high end 5G phones on the market. Could be a chance for Samsung to regain some share in a market it has pretty much lost. pic.twitter.com/gCx6nI2DCL

— Arjun Kharpal (@ArjunKharpal) October 31, 2019

Arjun Kharpal, China Technology Correspondent at CNBC pointed out in the tweet above that China Telecom has changed its app logo to “Hello 5G”.

China Mobile is selling 5G at a 30% discount to 4G – and that's just one of the reasons that #5G in China could expand far more quickly than in the US and elsewhere. https://t.co/ZRYCF1n7zM? pic.twitter.com/2A1fbBM3T3

— Mike Dano (@mikeddano) October 31, 2019

Mike Dano from Light Reading points out in his tweet that China mobile is selling 5G 30% cheaper as compared to 4G, which will simulate demand for 5G networks.

Picture Source: Dean Bubley on Twitter

The picture above shows summary of 5G Spectrum that has been allocated to the operators. Both China Telecom and China Unicom has 100MHz in the 3.5MHz band (C-band), while market leader China Mobile has 160MHz of spectrum in the 2.6GHz and another 100 MHz in 4.8GHz band. China Broadcasting Network (CBN), which was established in 2014 by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) to consolidate the country’s fragmented cable-TV industry also has 100 MHz in 3.3GHz band.

Related News:

• CNBC: Race for 5G heats up: China’s next-generation networks go online for as low as $18
• Light Reading: Chinese Operators Start Selling 5G at a Big Discount
• Reuters: China's state telecoms to launch 5G services on Friday
• SCMP: China’s 5G mobile service debuts to lack of applause from customers
• Mobile World Live: China releases 5G spectrum to state-run operators

Related Posts:

• Current IMT Spectrum Allocation in China
• Tutorial on 5G Spectrum
• Non millimeter Wave (mmWave) 5G

Jio Makes Another Set of Extremely Bold Announcements

Reliance Jio certainly knows how to stay in news, not just because of clever marketing but because of its extremely bold initiatives that is starting to make not just their competitors nervous but other industries like the cinemas, ISPs, cable companies, etc.

In the latest annual general meeting (AGM - video embedded below), their Chairman and Managing Director, Mukesh Ambani made some very interesting announcements. The complete statement is available here but here are the main points (from the report - note the CAPS is as shown in the report, not emphasized by me but the bold is by me):

• JIO's customer base has crossed 340 million users and they are signing up more than 10 million new customers EACH MONTH.
• The core and aggregation layers of our converged network have been 5G ready since day one
• Jio is now Ready to kickstart FOUR more engines of CONNECTIVITY REVENUE for Jio.

• INTERNET OF THINGS or IoT all over India.
• JIO has developed an innovative service on its pan-India 4G network called Narrowband Internet-of-Things or NBIoT, for short.
• Within another 2 years, it is estimated that there will be more than 2 Billion Connected IOT devices in India
• Jio aims to connect at least 1 BILLION of these on JIO's IoT platform
• This translates into a ₹20,000 CRORE PER YEAR revenue opportunity for JIO.
• Jio's IoT platform will be commercially available starting 1st January, 2020.
• HOME BROADBAND.
• Jio Fiber, currently in preview phase with 500,000 users but will launch commercially on September 5.
• The trial homes on average are consuming more than 100 GBs per month and this usage is increasing with each passing day.
• Jio has drawn up a plan to reach 20 million residences and 15 million business establishments in these 1,600 towns
• The company will offer plans from ₹700 ($10) to ₹10,000 ($140) with speeds up to 1Gbps.
• You get a landline phone connection, at no additional cost.
• And you get a DIGITALSET-TOP-BOX that opens up unparalleled digital experiences within your home
• ULTRAHIGH DEFINITION ENTERTAINMENT
• VIRTUAL REALITY content
• MULTI-PARTY VIDEO CONFERENCING
• VOICE-ENABLED VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS
• INTERACTIVE GAMING
• HOME SECURITY
• and many other SMART-HOME SOLUTIONS
• JIO SET-TOP-BOX to accept the broadcast cable TV signals from our LCO (Local Cable Operators) partners.
• BROADBAND for SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES.
• JIOFIBER enables a powerful combination of FIXED-LINE CONNECTIVITY and CLOUD APPLICATIONS leapfrogging them from NO TECHNOLOGY to having a complete line-up of cutting-edge, plug-and-play technology enabled tools.
• (Large) ENTERPRISE BROADBAND.
• Today cloud-based solutions provide out-of-the-box capabilities which are easier, faster and cheaper to adopt. JIOFIBER and JIO's cloud solutions level the playing field for Indian enterprises enabling them to accelerate their digital transformation and compete globally using the very same technologies that are used by global majors.
• JIOFIBER plan STARTS WITH 100 Mbps speed and we have plans all the way up to 1 Gbps or 1000 Mbps, plans will be priced between ₹700 to ₹10,000 per month to suit every budget and every need.
• Landline voice calls from home to any Indian operator - mobile or fixed - will be absolutely free forever.
• Bundled landline service will let them call any network in the country for free.
• Unlimited free calls to the US and Canada for ₹500 ($7) per month.
• JIOFIBER plans will come BUNDLED with subscriptions to most leading premium OTT applications.
• Premium JIOFIBER customers will be able to watch movies in their living rooms the same day these movies are released in theatres! This is called JIO FIRST-DAY-FIRST-SHOW. Jio plans to launch this service in the middle of 2020.
• A special mobility service for our JioFiber users called JIO POSTPAID PLUS, to deliver a platinum-grade service and product experience.
• India's first priority SIM-setup service at home, where your connection will be moved to Jio by visiting your home.
• Seamless Data and Voice Connectivity across all your devices, both at home and outside.
• Unprecedented Family plans – one data plan for better control on GBs and sharing within your family.
• International roaming at a fraction of a cost with superior service experience
• Phone upgrades at preferential rates
• All your home solutions on your phone.

• JIOFIBER customers who opt for our annual plans which we call JIO-FOREVER plans, will get an HD OR 4K LED TELEVISION and a 4K SET-TOP-BOX ABSOLUTELY FREE. We are calling this the JIOFIBER WELCOME OFFER.
• JIO is already a software company.
• JIO has over 6000 software engineers and we are continuing to attract technology talent from across India and the world.
• JIO is also investing in a growing ecosystem of technology startups.
• Blockchain technology all over India: Using Blockchain, we also have an opportunity to invent a brand-new model for data privacy where Indian data especially customer data is owned and controlled through technology by the Indian people and not by corporates, especially global corporations. Data is wealth and Indian wealth must remain in India
• Over the next 12 months, JIO will install across India one of the largest blockchain networks in the world with tens of thousands of nodes operational on day one.
• Edge computing and Virtual and Mixed Reality content: Delivering immersive content to hundreds of millions of users requires a well-integrated solution spanning connectivity, data storage and real-time computing. And we need to deploy such solutions at the edge of the network or in other words, closer to where our users are.
• JIO is setting up a pan-India Edge Computing and Content Distribution network again starting with tens of thousands of nodes.
• This means that your favourite content and applications will be even nearer to you. So even faster downloads and faster response times.
• CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE across India: To leapfrog the world, it is a national imperative to develop a nation-wide cloud computing infrastructure that is both cutting-edge and affordable. Jio and Microsoft have entered into a globally unique long-term alliance to accelerate the digital transformation of our country. 
• As part of this alliance, while Jio sets up a network of large world-class datacenters across India, Microsoft will bring its Azure cloud platform into Jio's datacenters. 
• When we put these two pieces together, we now have the capability to develop truly India-native solutions including Speech Recognition and Natural language understanding for all major Indian languages and dialects.

As a result of the announcements, Reliance shares went up 12% in biggest intraday rise in decade; Airtel and Vodafone shares dipped. Some cinemas have been unnerved by Reliance Jio offer, leading multiplex companies hit back saying that they will not screen films that are released on OTT simultaneously.

A fact that was announced during the demo was that the amount of fiber already laid by Jio can circle the earth 11 times.

Here is the complete AGM video



Related Posts:

• Reliance Jio Announces Progress, Amid Decreasing ARPU
• The Rise of Reliance Jio Continues as it Acquires Over 250 Million Subscribers

Grameenphone Bangladesh Continues to Expand it's 2G & 3G Network

Grameenphone's annual report had some interesting details about the network footprint expansion, especially the 2G and 3G network. Here are the details:

Bangladesh Mobile Sector At A Glance

Bangladesh has made significant progress in growing its economy and improving the lives of its people in the last few years. The country is now working to reach upper-middle-income country status by 2021- the year that marks the 50th anniversary of its independence. It has been able to maintain a sustained economic growth rate of 7.86% in the last fiscal year.

Backed by this impressive economic growth, the Telecom sector of the country has made remarkable progress throughout 2018. At the end of 2018, there were 88 million unique mobile subscribers in Bangladesh, making it the fifth largest mobile market in Asia Pacific and ninth largest in the world. With subscribers owning on average 1.8 SIM cards, there were a total of 159 million connections in 2018, representing connection penetration of 94.5%. The Data market has also seen significant growth of around 15% and the total mobile internet connections stood at 87 million. With 45.3% unique mobile internet subscriber, there is still potential for further growth in data services. 2018 was an eventful year for the Telecom Industry in Bangladesh. A lot of initiatives have been taken and implemented by the Government and from the Industry side as well. The Government was very keen to introduce 4G service in Bangladesh and 4G licences were offered in the beginning of 2018. All the Mobile operators launched 4G services in the 1st Quarter of 2018. At the end of the year, the 4G subscriber base reached 5.5 million, with 3G and 2G subscriber base at 61 million and 89 million respectively. 


The Government released more spectrum through the auction process in the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz band and the long expected Technology Neutrality was sold to operators across the spectrum band upon payment of a one-time fee. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was another agenda of Government that has been implemented in the 4th quarter. The country has sent its own satellite into orbit. A test trial of 5G network was also run in 2018.

Grameenphone

Grameenphone recorded a healthy growth of its subscriber base and correspondingly of reported usage. The Company acquired 7.4 million new subscribers, an 11.3% YoY growth. Adding 5.9 million internet subscribers to its network, Grameenphone closed the year with 37.1 million internet subscribers, which is 19.0% higher than that of the previous year. 51.0% of our total subscribers are using internet services on the fastest internet network in the country.

One of the most important foundations upon which we deliver services to our customers is our network. In 2018, Grameenphone made significant investment in new 4G technology, spectrum acquisition and network capacity building. The Company invested BDT 34.0 billion to rollout more than five thousand 4G LTE sites, to expand 2G and 3G coverage, to effect capacity enhancement, as well as to build higher IT readiness. In total the Company has invested BDT 347.4 billion in Bangladesh since inception. 

As one of the largest contributors, Grameenphone contributed BDT 84.2 billion to the national exchequer in 2018 which represents about 63.4% of Grameenphone’s total revenue for the year. By the end of 2018, the total contribution to the state by Grameenphone since inception reached BDT 669.5 billion.

With continued network modernisation, we reached over 5,000 4G sites at the end of the year, covering 54.6% of our sub-base under 4G. 20% of our daily traffic is now carried over the 4G network. In the quarter we rolled out 429 new 4G, 497 new 3G and 404 new 2G sites. At the end of the year we reached 14,521 2G sites and 14,687 3G sites.

In 2018, we launched our high-speed 4G LTE network. Data consumption has almost doubled since 2017 and 20%+ of our data volume is now being carried on the 4G network. 7 million unique users latched onto 4G LTE, which has an average speed of ~10 Mbps.

Grameenphone acquired new spectrum, a 4G licence and Tech neutrality on existing spectra. It was the first to launch 10MHz LTE immediately after licence was awarded by the regulator. By the end of 2018, Grameenphone rolled out ~ 5,009 LTE sites all across the country which has led the rapid growth in data consumption.

In 2018, Grameenphone reached the 72 million subscribers milestone, a true testament of the trust the people of Bangladesh have in the Company. Grameenphone was the first operator to launch a 4G network in 2018. This is a result of Grameenphone’s determination to serve its customers in the best possible way, ushering in new avenues for empowering societies by building and strengthening the country’s communication and connectivity with the rest of the world. Despite the fiercely competitive market, Grameenphone continued to contribute to its iconic status in the Bangladesh communications industry.

Overall, the year was marked by significant changes in the industry. Among these, Grameenphone closed 2018 with 3.4% year-on-year revenue growth over 2017. Strong drive in all segments of the business recorded consolidated revenue of BDT 132.8 billion for 2018. In the same timeframe, Grameenphone earned a yearly average Daily Subscription & Traffic Revenue of BDT 336.9 million, which is 7.0% up from that of 2017. The Company ended the year with 72.7 million subscribers, which represents a 11.3% sub base growth from last year.


In the framework of significant investment in new 4G LTE technology, spectrum acquisition and network capacity enhancement, data revenue continued its strong pace during the year to record 21.0% YoY growth. Rapid rollout of 4G data networks, fast proliferating mobile applications along with affordable smartphones in the market enabled internet to enter the customers’ everyday lives in newer ways. With more than five thousand LTE sites, Grameenphone received the recognition of the fastest internet network in the country by Ookla, the global leader in internet testing and ended the year with 37.1 million internet subscribers. 2018 also resonates Grameenphone’s passion for driving its vision towards inclusive empowerment of communities by leading the growth of technological services that are relevant and affordable to communities.

During the recent world cup, Grameenphone subscribers were able to watch Bangladesh matches on their phone. Here is an advert promoting it. We will soon find out what impact this made on the subscriber growth.



Related Posts:

• Bangladesh: 4G Race

Reliance Jio Announces Progress, Amid Decreasing ARPU

Back in October we wrote about Jio reaching 250 million subscribers, now it has announced over 300 million subscribers up to March 2019. In fact their Q4 financial results summarises the results nicely, as can be seen in the picture below.

In summary:

• Total subscriber base stands at 306.7 million
• ARPU ₹126.2 (roughly US $1.8)
• Average data consumption 10.9 GB/ user/ month.
• Wireless Data Consumption across network was 956 crore GB (9560 Petabytes) during the quarter 
• Average Voice 823 minutes of VOLTE voice/ user/ month
• Jio network carried ~71% of 4G data traffic in India during CY18

One of the strategies that Jio has adopted is to bring connectivity to even the most remote locations. In a way they are forced to do this as they do not have legacy networks and rely on VoLTE for voice. VoLTE only works reliably with a proper 4G coverage.

In addition to providing voice & data, Jio is bringing unique Apps for not just keeping customers updated and in-control of their package, service and spending but also entertainment which is a must have nowadays for any service to succeed. Smart feature phones using KaiOS is letting them bring new users who are too reluctant to transition to smartphones.

OpenSignal report on India Mobile Network Experience, April 2019 pointed out that:

The story of Jio's network expansion is remarkable. Jio has been a fully-fledged 4G operator for less than three years, but has completely disrupted the market with its rapid network rollout and unlimited data plans. In our first report on the India market two years ago, Jio scored an outstanding 91.5% 4G Availability. Six months later the operator had passed the 95% mark, and its score has been steadily growing ever since.

To put this in context, Jio's winning 4G Availability score of 97.5% is the highest we have ever recorded at country level in any of our reports. In the U.S., two operators have scored over 90%, while in Taiwan four are over this mark — but none in either market have yet passed 95%. Even in the Netherlands, arguably Europe's most advanced mobile market, all the operators have 4G Availability scores over 90%, but only one has passed 95% — and only just, reaching 95.2% — while Japan has two operators over this benchmark. In a country with the sheer geographical size and population base of India, where the landscape ranges from huge cities to high mountains and vast agricultural plains, Jio's achievement of reaching 97.5% 4G Availability in such a short time is truly astonishing.

Jio has themselves committed to achieve all-IP 4G LTE network population coverage of 99% shortly. We will wait and see when this will happen but in the meantime, Reliance Jio has plenty to celebrate.

Current IMT Spectrum Allocation in China

A nice slide summarising IMT spectrum allocation in China can be seen below.

Presentation Source


According to Mobile World Live back in December,

China’s government allocated 5G spectrum in the mid-band frequency range to the three state-owned mobile operators, preparing the way for large-scale network testing in 2019 and the launch of commercial 5G services in 2020, China Daily reported.

Both China Telecom and China Unicom received 100MHz in the 3.5MHz band (also known as the C-band), while market leader China Mobile obtained 260MHz of spectrum in the 2.6GHz and 4.8GHz bands, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed.

China Unicom connects a remote village Duogai in Qinghai Province for #CaseForChange

The Qinghai Province of China is vast and daily life is defined by struggles like extreme isolation, widespread poverty and harsh climate. In the remote village Duogai, winters can last up to 8 months, and many young children at the local boarding school only see their parents twice a year.
Getting an area so inaccessible onto the digital map seems like an impossible task. In 2017, China Unicom rose to the challenge and, despite the countless problems caused by the punishing weather, successfully installed 17.5km of optical cable and constructed multiple base stations.

Xuemei Sun bravely accepts #CaseForChange’s mission to visit the school in Duogai and learn how life has changed for the teachers and students there and experiences first hand just how severe Qinghai’s climate can be. Video below.



More details here.

Vietnam on route to 5G

Vietnam is a fascinating country. Not just because of the stunning sights, sizzling beaches and sumptuous food for which the Rough Guides refer to it as magical, but also because of the mobile users.

According to Appota Group's Vietnam mobile app report:

Vietnam has a significant amount of young and middle-class consumer, along with high digital media consumption, as well as mobile gaming habit. Any enterprises who wish to tap into Vietnam should develop mobile-friendly websites, videos, pictures, apps, etc.  

• 72% of the Vietnamese people own Smartphone. 
• 68% of the Vietnamese come online via smartphone more often than computer 
• 25% of the Vietnamese are frequent mobile internet users, engage in all online mobile-related activities. 
• Many Vietnamese people own more than two Internet-connected devices, as the national average is 1.7%. 
• 69% of The Vietnamese watch video and listening to music on their phone every day. 

The Vietnamese are willing to try new apps, but at the same time, they have the highest uninstall rate among APAC markets.

• The Vietnamese people install five new apps every month on average resulting in a difficult challenge for publishers to retain user. 
• Three apps are uninstalled every month on average by Vietnamese people.

There are 4 major GSM network operators in Vietnam: Viettel, Vinaphone, Mobifone and Vietnamobile.

Coverage and speeds are quite good for SE Asian standards: 2G/GSM is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G on 2100 MHz. Viettel and Vinaphone introduced DC-HSPA in 2014, 4G/LTE is just being launched on 1800 and 2600 MHz (bands 3 and 7) after Viettel, Vinaphone, Mobifone and Gmobile received licenses in 2016, Vietnamobile in 2017. The three state-owned operators aim to increase 4G/LTE coverage to 95% each in 2019.

These four operators are tipped to receive licences to test 5G in January 2019. According to Nguyen Manh Hung, the country’s minister of Information and Communications:

“Vietnam should be among the first nations to launch 5G services in order to move up in global telecom rankings.” 

The country is pursuing a unique model of competition involving different state-owned operators to grow telecommunication networks.

Viettel is owned by the Ministry of Defence and thus the Vietnamese army. It's the market leader in Vietnam with about 40% (66 million subscribers) of all customers on its network.

It has the best coverage in remote places even on 3G. 4G/LTE was officially launched in April 2017 on 1800 MHz (B3) over 25,000 base stations in almost 95% of the country giving it the best 4G/LTE coverage in the country for now.

As prices don't differ so much between the 3 major operators, Viettel is usually the first choice when venturing into to rural areas.

Vittel plans to launch ultrafast 5G networks in 2021, a move expected to promote self-driving car systems and other cutting-edge services that depend on nearly instantaneous data communication. They have been working on 5G plans since 2015, and set up a research group for 5G technology and have mastered the software, core technology for 5G equipment, hardware design for high-frequency transmission and others. They intend to start making investments in infrastructure early next year and introduce the service first in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Viettel already has the biggest telecom infrastructure, so the deployment will be quick.

For 5G, providers are ready with networks. The question is whether users are willing to use 5G and about the readiness of end-user equipment. When the market and end-user equipment are available, 5G deployment is very easy.

Vinaphone is the second operator in Vietnam. It's owned by the government through the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT). It has a market share of 30% and is the local partner of Vodafone. It gives a good coverage and speed throughout the country. 4G/LTE has been started on Phu Quoc island in 2016 and is now rolled out nationwide.


Vinaphone has installed more than 21,000 4G base transceiver stations (BTS) nationwide. This number will reach over 30,000 by 2019 to cover 4G VinaPhone service to 95% of Vietnamese population.

According to chairman Tran Manh Hung, Vinaphone are seeking permission from the Ministry of Information and Communications to beta test 5G. He said the test would help them master the technology and prepare to produce 5G equipment, adding Vinaphone is ready to provide 5G services as soon as it gets the ministry green light. Vinaphone has also partnered with Nokia on 5G development. 

Mobifone is the 3rd provider in the country with a 18% market share. It's in the process of privatisation. Speeds and coverage may be good in the centers and around the coast, but can be patchy.


Mobifone's 4G started in 2016 in Hanoi, Da Nang and HCMC on 1800 and 2600 MHz (B3,7) and is open for prepaid without surcharge.Earlier this year signed they an agreement with Samsung Electronics for engineering and commercial cooperation on 4G and 5G networks.

Vietnamobile is the smallest of the 4 providers and the only one that is privately owned. It gives out the best prices in Vietnam and has a market share of around 10%.


In 2011 they started with 3G services in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hanoi, but since then 3G coverage has been expanded to Ba Ria-Vung Tau, An Giang, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Dong Thap, Long An, Dong Nai, Thai Nguyen and Binh Duong. In 2017 it covers 90% of the population in all 63 cities and provinces by 3G, but overage is still lower as on the state-owned providers. 4G/LTE is going to start and is already advertised in 2018 started as they were awarded a licence to provide 4G/LTE services in 2017.

Vietnam’s telecom market was estimated at more than $16 billion in 2016, with the three state-owned providers, Viettel, MobiFone, and Vinaphone, accounting for 95 percent of the market.


While MobiFone and Vinaphone are on the list of state-owned companies slated for privatization by 2020, Viettel will remain in government hands.

Vietnam has a unique model of competition; state-owned enterprises have driven a high level of mobile access including in rural areas. The launch of LTE networks and then 5G technology will drive up even more demand for higher-speed broadband.

The following report from Appota makes an interesting reading

Vietnam Mobile Report 2017 from Appota Group

India: BSNL - WiFi Today, 5G in 2020

India is speeding ahead in a digital super-highway. The draft National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) 2018 states following 2022 Goals:

a. Provide Universal broadband coverage at 50 Mbps to every citizen
b. Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats of India by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022
c. Enable 100 Mbps broadband on demand to all key development institutions; including all educational institutions
d. Enable fixed line broadband access to 50% of households
e. Achieve ‘unique mobile subscriber density’ of 55 by 2020 and 65 by 2022
f. Enable deployment of public Wi-Fi Hotspots; to reach 5 million by 2020 and 10 million by 2022
g. Ensure connectivity to all uncovered areas

Digital India is already transforming the lives of 1.3 billion people. There is growth in e-governance, there is some progress towards cashless society, smart cities are growing and 'Made in India' smartphones are growing. 

With a view to narrow the digital infrastructure gap with the developed economies, the government is looking at establishing a ‘National Broadband Mission – Rashtriya Broadband Abhiyan’ to secure universal broadband access. The Draft NDCP 2018 has the following clauses:

(a) Implementation of the following broadband initiatives, to be funded through USOF and Public Private Partnerships:  i. BharatNet – Providing 1 Gbps to Gram Panchayats upgradeable to 10 Gbps  ii. GramNet – Connecting all key rural development institutions with 10 Mbps upgradeable to 100 Mbps  iii. NagarNet – Establishing 1 Million public Wi-Fi Hotspots in urban areas  iv. JanWiFi – Establishing 2 Million Wi-Fi Hotspots in rural areas 

(b) Implementing a ‘Fibre First Initiative’ to take fibre to the home, to enterprises and to key development institutions in Tier I, II and III towns and to rural clusters:  i. According Telecom Optic Fibre cables the status of Public utility  ii. Promoting collaboration models involving state, local bodies and private sector as necessary for provision of shared duct infrastructure in municipalities, rural areas and national highways  iii. Facilitating Fibre-to-the-tower programme to enable fiberisation of at least 60% base stations thereby accelerating migration to 4G/5G  iv. Leveraging existing assets of the broadcasting and power sector to improve connectivity, affordability and sustainability  v. Incentivising and promoting fibre connectivity for all new developmental construction  vi. By making requirement for telecom installations and the associated cabling and in-building solutions mandatory in in all commercial, residential and office spaces by amending National Building Code of India (NBC), through Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 

(d) Facilitate the establishment of Mobile Tower Infrastructure by:  i. Extending incentives and exemptions for the construction of telecom towers  ii. According accelerated Rights of Way permissions for telecom towers in government premises  iii. Promoting deployment of solar and green energy for telecom towers 

(e) Improve international connectivity and reduce the cost of international bandwidth by facilitating setting up of International Cable Landing Stations by rationalising access charges and removing regulatory hurdles  i. Encourage sharing of active infrastructure by enhancing the scope of Infrastructure Providers (IP) and promoting deployment of common sharable, passive as well as active, infrastructure;

There are other clauses related to spectrum that we would not discuss here

State owned Indian telecom corporation Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) announced in March of this year that they had deployed 18,000 hotspots around the country and planned to deploy a total of 1,00,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across India by the end of 2018.

On that day BSNL, in partnership with QuadGen,  launched free wi-fi services at Udwada village, Valsad district in Gujarat. The village has been adopted by Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Smriti Irani under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.

Speaking on the occasion, Irani - who is also Minister for Textiles - said,

"With the launch of wi-fi service today in Udwada village, population of 6,000 in the village, as well as its surrounding areas will be benefited. People in Udwada and surrounding areas will be able to use unlimited internet data and Udwada village has become digital village". 

The hotspots cover nearly 90 per cent of the village and will service multiple concurrent users at any point of time.

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha hoped this service as part of the Digital India programme will fuel the availability of affordable data and voice services in the country. He asserted:

"The Digital India movement has ensured that the country has the cheapest data and voice services in the world. Today, India uses more data than the US and China, combined." 

More recently  BSNL has entered into a deal with Japan’s Softbank and NTT Communications to rollout 5G and internet of things (IoT) technology in India.

“We have signed an agreement with Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and IoT products and services in India. Under the agreement, we will look at solution specially for the smart cities,”

Stated BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava in an interview.

He said most of the BSNL competitors are still looking at monetising their 4G services and hence leading companies have started looking at the State-run firm for 5G services roll out. According to Mr Shrivastava:

“We have benefited by lead taken by our minister (Manoj Sinha). He has held various meetings at global level on 5G. We capitalised on those opportunities and signed agreement for the next generation technology. 3G was launched in India after seven years the technology was available in other foreign markets and 4G services after four years’ lag but 5G will be launched in India in 2020 as soon the standards are freezed by ITU."

Telecom minister Mr. Sinha has said that 5G service launch in India will happen at par with other leading nations.

Mr Shrivastava insists BSNL is working to finalise test cases where 5G can be used in India:

“We are in advance stages of starting 5G field trials. Government is in agreement to provide us 5G spectrum for trials. We expect to start field trials very soon,”

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended the auction of about 8,644 MHz of telecom frequencies at an estimated base price of ₹ 4.9 lakh crore. The government is yet to finalise details of allocation of spectrum for 5G services.

Under the agreement with Softbank, BSNL will look at collaborating with the Japanese firm for its satellite constellation which will have around 900 satellites to provide high speed internet services across the globe.

BSNL has signed an agreement with Nokia and Cisco as well for developing 5G ecosystem.

BSNL has also and Swedish telecommunication gear maker Ericsson have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) over 5G and Internet of Things. The two will create a joint roadmap for the development of 5G and IoT in India, a joint statement to the media said. This new partnership with see BSNL and Ericsson develop “5G use cases, knowledge sharing on 5G technology concepts, industry and innovation trends including 3GPP standardisation progress.”

Meanwhile a week ago Nokia announced that it will supply, install, commission and maintain the Smart Telecom Poles across India in all of BSNL's telecom circles.

Under the contract, Nokia will also integrate the poles with smart LED lighting systems, CCTV cameras, digital billboards and environmental sensors that provide strong revenue generation potential for the operator.

The smart pole has been designed for emerging markets and built in India based on Nokia's global services expertise. With its Smart Telecom Pole and services expertise, Nokia will help BSNL provide access to mobile connectivity and smart solutions for citizens while ensuring the poles meet the aesthetic and spatial needs in modern cities. Nokia will optimize the telecom infrastructure to provide a shared, secure and scalable platform that ensures the best use of urban resources and prepares BSNL for the needs of new technologies such as IoT and 5G. The pole can be adapted to diverse geographical environments and climate conditions. It also houses a custom-designed power backup solution to provide continuity of services during power outages.

No doubt with these ambitious deals and plans BSNL is very much competing with Reliance Jio and not taking the roll out of Jio GigaFiber lightly and is doing its bit to maintain its market share in the fiber to the home (FTTH) segment.

BSNL Broadband has apparently once more revised its FTTH broadband plans to now offer more data and faster broadband speeds. BSNL Broadband is offering up to 100Mbps speeds till 750GB, and up to 2 Mbps speed beyond that limit at Rs 1277 monthly and Rs 14,047 annual charges. This facility is available for all users in all circles. 

Jio GigaFiber is offering 100Mbps speeds as well but for free for a period of three months at a onetime security deposit fee of Rs 4500.

BSNL Broadband too is taking no charges for activation and installation, but users are required to pay onetime security deposit fee of Rs 500 and ONT along with ADSL WiFi Modem charges come at Rs 200 rental per month and security deposit charges (refundable) of Rs 1500.

BSNL Broadband also recently announced an exciting offer for the Chennai circle. BSNL Broadband plans priced at Rs. 999, Rs. 1,299, Rs. 1,699, Rs. 1,999, Rs. 2,999, and Rs. 4,999, have reportedly been revised and upgraded to offer more benefits with speeds of up to 100Mbps and high speed data limits of up to 3.5TB, refreshed on a monthly basis, according to a report on NDTV.

However, what may give Jio GigaFiber the edge is the fact that they are offering a ‘connected home’, which means that Jio GigaFiber router will be able to connect with the Jio DTH and Reliance Jio enabled smartphones, thus converting a house into a smart home. Reliance Jio is also expected to offer all this at prices as low as Rs 500 per month.

Ultra HD entertainment, multi-party video conferencing, virtual reality gaming, shopping and smart home solutions at an affordable price is what is being offered by Jio GigaFiber. So, how existing broadband players adapt to this challenge can be seen after the commercial rollout of Jio GigaFiber.

Related posts:

• BSNL bringing 'Smart Telecom Poles' to India with help of Nokia
• India: 5G Roadmap Update (April 2018)

The Rise of Reliance Jio Continues as it Acquires Over 250 Million Subscribers

Reliance Jio announced last week that it has crossed 250,000,000 subscribers. The following are some of the highlights from the announcement (emphasis mine):

• Jio has accelerated its pace of subscriber additions further with net addition during the quarter of 37.0 million (as against 28.7 million in the previous quarter), highest in any quarter since the launch of commercial services
• Gross adds at 41.7 million and churn of 4.7 million implying the lowest industry churn rate at 0.66% per month
• Customer engagement continued to grow with average data consumption per user per month of 11.0 GB and average voice consumption of 761 minutes per user per month
• Video consumption drove most of the usage, increasing to 410 crore hours per month on the network; average video consumption of 17.5 hours per subscriber per month
• Further deepening of all-IP 4G LTE network in existing areas along with coverage expansion to 99% of population is on track to be completed in FY19
• Only network to deploy tri-band (800MHz/ 1800MHz/ 2300MHz) pan-India 4G
• World’s largest mobile data consumption network which is 5G ready
• World’s largest VOLTE network, with voice traffic growing consistently
• JioTV is the best rated live and catch-up TV app; JioCinema is the most popular video-ondemand app; JioMusic and Saavn together is music powerhouse with over 40 million songs; JioMags and JioNews are other highly popular customer offerings
• Strengthened the KaiOS app-store for JioPhone users with customised versions of popular social media applications like YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook
• Reliance Retail Ltd launched the ‘Monsoon Hungama’ offer for JioPhone with upfront security deposit of only ₹ 501 for a new JioPhone during the quarter. The offer works in conjunction with return of an old feature phone. Also, JioPhone 2, which offers a larger screen and full QWERTY keyboard for a price of ₹ 2,999 has been offered through limited period flash sales. Most used social media applications like YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp are now available for Jio Phone users

I blogged about Jio phone 2 earlier here. JioPhone (1) and JioPhone2 are both feature phones based on KaiOS. In fact I tweeted back in May that Jio has become a leader in feature phones.

In just 10 months, Reliance Jio’s become the world leader in feature phones https://t.co/bNP0X5qiO2 via @qzindia #4G #FeaturePhones pic.twitter.com/SBkmWo4m0X

— Zahid Ghadialy (@zahidtg) May 31, 2018

According to Telecomtalk, it is widely expected that my March 2020, Reliance Jio will have over 400 million subscribers and over 150 million JioPhone users.

Finally, Communications Today has some interesting charts from Bloomberg. I am going to use one chart below to show how data prices have plummeted in India which is responsible for major uptake of data services.

Related Posts:

• Reliance Jio getting ready for LTE-Broadcast (eMBMS) rollout
• India: Disruption and Competition
• Disruptive Reliance Jio on the road to 4G leadership
• The changing and challenging telecom landscape of India