Iceland getting ready for the year of 5G

Iceland has one of the smallest yet most progressive telecom markets in Europe. There is effective competition in the mobile and broadband markets, with a number of players having emerged to challenge the dominance of the two leading players the two main players Siminn and Vodafone, which have interests in numerous sectors.

 The new entrant Nova has become the leading player in the mobile market and has quickly expanded its presence in the fixed-line segment.

2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz and 3G on 900 and mostly 2100 MHz. 4G/LTE has started on all three providers on 800 (B20) and on 1800 MHz (B3) in the Reykjavik area. It's available on all providers for prepaid without a surcharge.

The island has a very good coverage on 2G and 3G given its topography and low population. Síminn is the market leader with the best coverage, followed by Vodafone (still good) and Nova in 3rd place (mainly in the southwest).

So Síminn is the costliest, but best for going to remote areas, Vodafone is cheaper and still sufficient if you stick mainly to populated areas and Nova the cheapest and good when you stay mostly in the population center around Reykjavik.

Síminn (aka Landssíminn) is the old state telco which still has the best coverage and speeds throughout the country and is market leader in Iceland at slightly higher rates. LTE coverage is at 98% of population in 2017 on band 3 /1800 MHz only.

As part of its 5G preparations, Síminn will modernise and expand its radio network and continue to deploy the 5G-ready Ericsson Radio System.

Ericsson and Siminn will also conduct 5G trials enabled by Ericsson 5G New Radio and Ericsson Spectrum Sharing. Síminn is eyeing the introduction of new IoT services on its 4G network – including Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and Cat-M1. The agreement aims to accelerate the growth of Iceland’s IoT ecosystem across diverse use cases. NB-IoT enables low data rate applications in extremely challenging radio conditions, for example, connecting utility meters and sensors.

In addition to the radio network, Síminn has also chosen Ericsson to modernise its core network including Ericsson Cloud Packet Core portfolio upgrades to support the transition from 4G to 5G.

The deal includes geo-redundant Ericsson Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure operated on Ericsson’s Blade Server Platform with Ericsson virtual User Data Consolidation, and Ericsson Fast VoLTE.

Ericsson Fast VoLTE enables HD voice services with simultaneous LTE-speed surfing – paving the way for more advanced communication services.

Vodafone is the biggest competitor of Síminn in Iceland. Its coverage is still good, even at some place better than Síminn, and it gives out a voice & data SIM and a data-only SIM for a better start-up price and cheaper rates. 4G/LTE is available on 1800 Mhz (band 3) and 800 Mhz (band 20):

Nova is the smallest provider and still reasonable, if you stick mainly the population center around Reykjavik, where it offers 4G/LTE too. It's very popular amongst exchange students flocking the country, because it gives out 1000 minutes of free calls and 500 free SMS per month amongst Nova customers. 4G/LTE is given out where available on LTE bands 3 (1800 MHz) and 20 (800 MHz).

Nova was the first mobile operator to launch both 3G and 4G on Iceland. They now follow their tradition by also being the first to fully test 5G locally. Huawei has been chosen to be the partner and supplier of equipment needed and the trials are expected to last several months. Nova expect 5G to be widely adopted in Iceland in 2020.

For the test Huawei have installed 5G base stations and routers placed at Nova’s facilities. Now, careful tests will commence for aspects such as quality of transmission and network security. Huawei now have over 30 commercial 5G contracts with telecommunications companies worldwide, mainly from Europe including Finland, Spain and UK.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed state that Nova and Huawei intend to strengthen and expand their strategic partnership. Both parties intend to extend cooperation on 5G technology to realize the best telecommunications network in Iceland in terms of radio coverage, stability and bandwidth which ensure the reliable service quality and the enhanced experience for Nova customers.

Serbia is Gearing up for 5G

Serbia has three main mobile operators.

MTS (Mobile Telephony of Serbia - not related to MTS Russia) is a consumer brand of state-owned Telekom Srbija under which it offers and provides all of its services to both private and corporate users. At present they have 2129 LTE base stations and are the market leader in Serbia with 45.5% of all mobile SIM cards as of 2018.

MTS have carried out 5G tests in cooperation with Ericsson:

Telenor, formerly called Mobtel Srbija, was sold by the Norwegian operator in 2018 to the Czech PPF Group. It's the 2nd provider in the country with a 31% market share in 2018 and a good coverage.

4G/LTE has started in the two largest cities Belgrade and Niš and has spread to 41 cities in 2016 and currently is available for prepaid trough 1955 LTE base stations country-wide.

On the 22nd June 2019 Telenor launched the first 5G base station in Serbia in Science
Technology Park Belgrade, creating a 5G test environment that can be used by domestic and
foreign companies, startups and students of technical faculties to develop technological solutions
for the future.



Vip Mobile, owned by Telekom Austria, is the smallest provider in the country by customers. Nevertheless, it gives a good coverage. In 2016 Vip opened its 4G/LTE network which is the most widespread in the country right now to prepaid users trough 1912 LTE base stations. Netherthess they are the smallest network with 23% of all mobile SIM cards in 2018.



Serbia has also joined a European project to establish 5G corridors to test driverless cars.

Telia Norway and Ericsson team up for 5G

Telia Norway and Ericsson have announced a four-year 5G network deal that includes deployment of the Swedish vendor’s spectrum sharing technology.

Ericsson is providing 5G New Radio (NR) hardware and software from its Radio System portfolio, and was chosen as the sole radio access network (RAN) vendor for Telia’s next-generation network in Norway. Ericsson is helping upgrade Telia’s 2G and 4G networks, with 5G rollouts expected to start in 2020 and extend through 2023.

Ericsson’s dynamic spectrum sharing solution, which enables operators to utilize the same spectrum for both 4G and 5G, is set to become commercially available in December, but it’s unclear how soon Telia plans to deploy it. In a release, Telia said its network modernization project will happen “gradually” over the four-year timeframe.



For Telia’s 5G rollout in Norway, the operator plans to use low-band spectrum. In June 2019 Telia Company secured access to 2x10 MHz in the 700 MHz band which will be a key enabler for roll-out of 5G in Norway. The band will be available from November 1, 2019.  Telia called this band a “key enabler” for the 5G deployment in Norway.

In addition to enhanced mobile broadband, Telia Norway is exploring 5G for IoT applications, industrial uses, smart cities and in-home uses, according to Ericsson.

The pair have already teamed up on a 5G pilot network in Trondheim, Norway, that involves smart transportation, automation and artificial intelligence.

To date, Ericsson has distributed two-thirds of the world's commercial 5G network.

An important part of Telia's social mission is to build critical national infrastructure that facilitates digitalisation for individuals, businesses, public companies and all sectors of society. Telia takes this responsibility very seriously. Telia was the first in the world to turn on 4G in Norway and Sweden, and in partnership with Ericsson will lead the innovation and technology development of 5G.

A point worth noting is that the current 4G network is supplied by Huawei. As part of 5G, Ericsson will also be replacing the 4G Huawei equipment with their own. Some analysts have sighted this as the main reason why 5G rollout will take 4 years.


Further Reading:

• Telia: Largest Operator in Nordic & Baltic Region
• Telia 5G Strategy and Services
• Ice - bringing 5G to Norway

Rogers: Striving for 5G

Rogers is the largest mobile operator by subscribers in Canada and also provides coverage in approximately 97% of the vast country.

Source

Recently they have been working to upgrade their existing network, which has fallen behind those of Bell and Telus when it comes to top speeds, according to independent reports by PCMag and Open Signal. 

They have invested $1.7 billion in Canada’s first-ever 5G auction to enable 5G deployment in urban, suburban and rural communities, and acquired the 600 Mhz spectrum. This will bring the company’s planned total capital investment in infrastructure to $4.7 billion this year. 600 MHz carries wireless data across long distances and through dense urban buildings. This creates more consistent and higher quality coverage in both remote areas and smart cities. This coverage will benefit businesses across the country that rely on real-time data including farming, mining, manufacturing and transportation.

Vous êtes-vous déjà demandé comment la 5G affectera votre temps de réponse au jeu? @Gadget_Guy nous explique l’impact de #Rogers5G en nous faisant une démonstration de l’utilisation de la réalité virtuelle! pic.twitter.com/6gjZq9aWyv

— Rogers FR (@RogersFR) July 9, 2019

Partnering with Ericsson, Rogers will trial 5G in Toronto and Ottawa, in addition to select cities. They recently demonstrated ultra-fast speeds and low latency with virtual reality and a robot, installing hundreds of small cells in a stadium to test the new technology with data-hungry crowds at this event:




This partnership with Ericsson intends to boost and densify their network with small cells and macro sites across the country. Rogers network plan includes the continued rollout of its Gigabit LTE network with technology and equipment that is based on the latest global 3GPP standards, including 4×4 MIMO, four-carrier aggregation and 256 QAM. While the 5G standards are not yet complete, these network investments mean Rogers will be ready when the standards are finished. The new infrastructure will simply require software upgrades to enable 5G when it is ready to go. It is estimated their 5G network should be ready for prime time by 2020.

The operator is also seeing increasing growth opportunities in the machine-to-machine segment with the firm’s current 4.5G capabilities, and Canada is a market leader in machine-to-machine/IoT technology.  

However in the first quarter of 2019 Rogers’ market share of industry net adds declined to 13 per cent from 35 per cent in the same period. In a bid to attract more subscribers, Rogers introduced its own unlimited wireless plan, Infinite, in June. Competitors Bell and Telus responded by offering their own promotional offers, sparking a price war in the crowded Canadian market.


Related Posts:

• Telus says 5G is just another 'G' (#5GJAG)

Cosmote 5G Ready as Greece Prepares for Spectrum Auctions

Along with being the largest of the Greek mobile operators, Cosmote provides an impressive coverage of all different generations of the networks; 2G, 3G, 4G (LTE), 4G+ (LTE-Advanced) and 4G++ (LTE-A Pro).

While up to date numbers of different mobile operators in Greece is not easily available, it is estimated to have roughly over 8 million subscribers.

Back in December 2018, Cosmote did some 5G demos with Ericsson. A summary of the demo is available in this presentation and embedded in the video below.


Some more information on what 5G would mean for Comote subscribers is available on their website here.

According to Telegeography:

Greece’s telecoms regulator, the Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Commission (Ethniki Epitropi Tilepikoinonion kai Tachydromeion, EETT), has taken a significant step towards its planned auction of 5G mobile spectrum. It has called for applications for a tender to find a contractor to help manage the award process, with bids for the EUR160,000 (USD181,000) contract invited until 12 July.

The watchdog is looking to award 2×30MHz in the 700MHz band, 65MHz in the 1500MHz range, 2×15 plus 2×45MHz in the 2100MHz band, 280MHz at 3.6GHz and 2,500MHz in the 24GHz-28GHz range. While some frequencies will be sold via auction, others will be offered for free.

Russia: the largest telecom market in Europe

The Russian telecom market is the largest in Europe, supported by a population of approximately 144 million. The market is dominated by the western regions where the main cities and economic centres are concentrated. All sectors have been liberalised, with competition most prevalent in Moscow and St Petersburg, the two largest regional markets.

The number of mobile subscriptions has passed 230 million, while SIM card penetration is high, at around 162% by early 2017. Several mobile network operators are active, although the market is dominated by four major operators.

MegaFon has the best nationwide coverage and good speeds in cities although at the highest prices. It is considered by many as the premier network in the country and the first one that covered all 83 regions (except Crimea).

As of 31 December 2018 their number of mobile subscribers was 76.9 million.

MegaFon was the first to start 3G (on 2100 and 900 MHz) and 4G/LTE network in Russia. This is the only network that is available in every region of the country except Crimea and Sevastopol. Their LTE is mostly on 2600 MHz and has reached all 83 regions where they operate. 800 MHz and 1800 MHz exist too, but have very limited coverage and are unlikely to be seen.

At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), in May 2017 MegaFon and Huawei set an all-time mobile internet speed record for Russia, demonstrating the operation of a 5G network at speeds of 35 GB/s.

At their stand in St Petersburg, MegaFon and Huawei presented a 5G base station in action, using TDD in the 70 GHz (E-band) frequency band with bandwidth of 2 GHz.

Aside from its high speed, 5G also ensures unprecedentedly low data transfer latency (less than 1 ms), which opens up new opportunities to use 5G in various areas of life. One such area is driverless cars, where reaction speed is vital. The stand featured a model car and virtual reality, allowing visitors to experience how — thanks to numerous sensors that communicate with each other over wireless 5G internet — the car could react in good time to changes in road conditions, cross junctions without traffic lights, overtake and much more.

“We have entered an era where all areas of life are going digital. As the future network technology, 5G will ensure connectivity anywhere, anytime, when in motion and with virtually no latency and unlimited possibilities for application. This will require the efforts of the entire ecosystem — operators, equipment manufacturers and industrial partners. Huawei is actively collaborating with sector players to develop and improve 5G technologies and create new use scenarios and business scenarios to speed up industrial and social transformation. There is a huge space for collaboration between Huawei and MegaFon — two innovative companies — for development of 5G on the path towards an ideal communications world.” 

said Huawei Russia CEO Aiden Wu.

MTS (or MTC in Russian, stands for Mobile TeleSystems, "Мобильные ТелеСистемы" owned by russian Systema group) is at present the biggest operator with more than 100 million customers and it is licensed in 83 regions of the country. It is the only provider operator that can be used in Crimea.

It's available in most regions of the country and gives good speeds but at lower prices than MegaFon. MTS is associated with Vodafone, which is also their favorite roaming partner. Nevertheless, MTS roaming prices in foreign countries are very high.

Their 3G network is on 2100 MHz and 900 MHz. LTE is on 2600 MHz in the form of both FDD-LTE and TDD-LTE (on bands 7 and 38) and on 800 and 1800 MHz. 4G/LTE coverage has reached all 83 regions where MTS operates in 2016. 55% is on 1800 MHz, the others on 800 and 2600 MHz.

As of June 2019 Huawei has signed a deal to develop 5G with  MTS.

MTS has also started a programme to support start-ups focused on 5G. The operator will provide the start-ups with premises for design, development and testing of digital solutions and devices using 5G technology. The best start-ups will be offered grants and an opportunity for long-term cooperation with MTS.

Companies using 5G solutions for the development of cloud transformation, new forms of streaming (Ultra HD, VR/AR, 360 degrees), IoT, new formats of cloud and data storage and other issues are invited to participate in the programme. In September MTS Startup Hub experts will select the best start-ups from the submitted applications for participation in the programme. 

Nokia acts as a technological partner of the programme and has provided an end-to-end solution with a core network and radio sub-system on the basis of the new generation AirScale module, as well as the 5G Nokia AirScale indoor Radio.

MTS plans to invest RUB 100 million in the programme through the end of 2020.

Veon (formerly known as VimpelCom) -owned Beeline is 3rd nationwide operator woking in almost all regions of Russia, their 3G coverage is concentrated in populated places, and is still limited in rural areas. 4G/LTE coverage is available in 246 cities in 58 regions covering roughly half of the Russian population in 2016.

Beeline and Huawei signed an agreement to pursue the joint development of 5G in Russia May 2018. Beeline is preparing its network infrastructure and is conducting research on how to make a rational transition to 5G technologies.

Tele2 by Rostelecom became the fourth national network active in 60 regions after they merged into a joint venture in 2014. Tele2’s subscriber base totals 40.6 million


Tele2 Russia commercially launched LTE on 1800 MHz (B3) in 2014 and rollouts in most major cities began throughout 2015. Further LTE networks have been launched on B7 (2600 MHz) and B20 (800 MHz), with smaller LTE-TDD deployments over B40 (2300 MHz) primarily in Krasnodar and Sochi districts. The company commercially launched B31 (450 MHz) LTE under the SkyLink banner in May 2016, initially in regional areas and gradually expanding to cover St. Petersburg and Moscow within the same year.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has been selected by Tele2 Russia to upgrade its network with the 5G-ready Ericsson Radio System, including software. More than 50,000 base stations will be deployed across the country as part of the five-year network modernization deal signed at Mobile World Congress 2019 .

Sergey Emdin, CEO of Tele2 Russia, says:

 “Mobile traffic in networks will continue to grow exponentially. We are deploying a high-quality network based on advanced equipment while taking into account the increasing data volumes and technological changes in the industry. Before launching 5G networks, Russia must first address several infrastructure issues. However, when all barriers are overcome, new networks will be built faster than LTE, partly owing to existing infrastructure. This would be possible only with Ericsson’s cutting-edge technology. We are sure that Ericsson’s experience, expertise and market-leading portfolio will allow us to upgrade our network to meet loads and gear up for the launch of 5G.”

Sebastian Tolstoy, Head of Ericsson in Russia, says:

 “Tele2 is an important strategic partner. We understand that their subscribers have high expectations on mobile connection speeds. Advanced 4G networks and 5G communication technologies provide the data throughput required. Ericsson’s commercial equipment and software for wireless communications support 5G technologies and we can deploy new functionality as soon as Russian regulators make the necessary decisions on frequencies, enabling operators to provide relevant services.”

Hootsuite has a good summary of Russian Federation Digital 2019 embedded below:

Related Posts:

• MegaFon: The Russian Giant Focusing on 5G and Blockchain
• VEON: Rebrand and Revolutionising?

DIGI Romania: Advent of 5G

Ericsson and RCS&RDS (DIGI) have launched Romania's first 5G commercial service in the busiest parts of Bucharest, expecting 5G to make a significant difference by providing increased speeds for mobile broadband to businesses and consumers.

DIGI deploying Ericsson's 3GPP standards-based 5G New Radio (NR) hardware and software. Built on top of DIGI's 4G network, the enhanced mobile broadband capabilities enable customers to connect to both 4G and 5G simultaneously to get the best possible experience even in the most crowded areas, depending on the compatibility of the terminal with 5G technology.

This first phase of DIGI's 5G rollout is a Non-standalone (NSA) deployment focused on using the combined power of 4G and 5G. In the coming weeks, DIGI and Ericsson will activate more 5G radios and base stations in the capital of Bucharest and the city of Cluj-Napoca. More base stations are to be activated in Bucharest and the city of Cluj-Napoca in the coming months. Although Romania will not hold its auction of 5G-enabling spectrum until the fourth quarter of 2019, Digi already has access to spectrum within the 3.6-3.8 GHz band.

At an event organized in the Old City Center of Bucharest, the busiest area of ​​the Romanian capital, DIGI offered journalists and authorities representatives the opportunity to test the facilities of the new technology. The demonstration, made under real-world Xiaomi network and mobile phone usage, was made possible with the support of Ericsson partners, the suppliers of the first 5G broadcast stations on the Digi Mobil network and Xiaomi. DIGI has also successfully tested Huawei networking equipment.  Evidently Digi is keeping its 5G technology options open they have indicated that they plan to deploy the tested 5G equipment from Huawei in other cities in early-July 2019. And also aim to test and deploy the Nokia kit during 2019 and will use equipment from all three vendors (Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia) to underpin its 5G offering.

According to Valentin Popoviciu, Vice-President DIGI:

"In 2018, Digi took the first step towards 5G, testing the functionality of this technology on a prototype platform. Today, we are experimenting the capabilities of Digi Mobil 5G Smart network, with the commissioning of the first station in our network, in one of the busiest areas of the capital. As usual, our promise is that we will serve our customers with reliable and affordable mobile data services, including 5G, in selected areas in Bucharest and other big cities of Romania already in 2019."

Source

Despite not having a 2G legacy, the 3G Digi Mobil network currently covers 99.5% of the Romanian population, and the 4G network, 75% of the population. Digi Mobil has positioned itself on the local market as a dynamic and attractive competitor, both thanks to its unbeatable quality-price ratio and through its terminal procurement financing tools. These competitive advantages turned it into the leader of portability in the mobile telephony segment, a position held constantly in the over 10 years of existence of the portability service in Romania. At the end of 2018, the parent company of RCS & RDS, Digi Communications NV, announced that the electronic communications operator has more than 3.4 million revenue generating units (RGUs) in the segment of mobile telephony and data services on its main market, Romania.

The Romanian government plans to start spectrum auction for additional spectrum needed for 5G wireless networks in the fourth quarter of 2019, an auction that may yield about 2 billion lei ($474 million) in state revenue. DIGI can already start offering initial 5G services through its already available commercial spectrum within the 3.6 – 3.8 GHz band.

Vodafone UK Launches 5G, Plans Disruption With Unlimited Data Plans

When we looked at the UK Operators 5G plans on this blog last year, we didn't expect the operators to innovate in pricing and business models the same way they are innovating in technology. There were some nice surprises in Vodafone's 5G launch event yesterday.

Let's start by looking at the roadmap shown above. Initial 5G network is launched in 7 cities including London. The service will be available from July 10 on Vodafone’s unlimited mobile data plans at no additional cost for 5G. Over the summer, 5G roaming will be available in the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain, more countries will be added to later on.

Next year, 2020, it's launching MEC and low band (coverage layer) 5G. The initial 5G is on Capacity layer, C-Band as we detailed in this post earlier. In 2021, Standalone (SA) core network and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) will be launched. DSS allows refarming of existing LTE bands in a way that LTE & 5G can both operate simultaneously.

According to TMN, The most notable thing is that Vodafone is deploying sites where ever it can with 64T/R Massive MIMO. Even though it is only using 40MHz bandwidth of its 3.5GHz spectrum (as per EE), this gives it the ability to extend coverage if it needs to, but also generate an effectively increased capacity via increased spectral efficiency. EE does have some 64T/R Massive MIMO sites, but it is generally speaking using an 8T/R setup for the majority of its sites. Vodafone will have some 8T/R sites where it cannot get enough site space for the larger and heavier, and more power hungry, antennas. But its default seems to be to go for the more extensive optoin. Three has also deployed 64T/R, and it has much more midband spectrum than the other two operators – but the Vodafone launch shows that Three is by no means the only UK operator to deploy massive MIMO across most of its sites, as it appeared to claim at its launch earlier this week.

According to Fierce Wireless, In London, Vodafone is using 5G equipment from Ericsson’s Radio System portfolio, including Ericsson’s Baseband 6630 and Massive MIMO 6488 products to enable 5G on the 3.5 GHz frequency. Vodafone is tapping Ericsson’s dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology, which allows Vodafone to combine 5G with LTE in the same spectrum band. Dispensing with the need to separate out sections of spectrum for 5G, Vodafone has been able to quickly extend 5G coverage over a wide area. When in use, the 5G technology delivers speeds 10 times faster than LTE.

As the picture above shows, 5 Great reasons why Vodafone UK is the destination for 5G. I guess the main reason is 5G = 4G pricing.

Also, this is the first time a UK operator has all plans with unlimited voice & SMS (nationally only) and unlimited data. The pricing is set on what maximum speeds a user can get. Most people would go for the Unlimited Max package.

Here's the demo. A use case you didn't know you needed 😄 pic.twitter.com/MYMHHT4XeP

— Phil Kendall (@philkendall_SA) July 3, 2019

This is a good demo to show low latency that 5G will provide.

Anyway, here is the Twitter Moment, embedded below:
Vodafone UK 5G Launch


Further Reading:

• How Vodafone can support its Unlimited ambitions - TMN
• Vodafone goes live with 5G in London, 6 more U.K. cities - Fierce Wireless
• Vodafone UK Takes Wrecking Ball to 5G Market - Light Reading

Related Posts:

• Vodafone UK improving coverage with Phone Boxes, Mini-masts & Manhole Covers
• UK MNO Mobile Spectrum Holdings
• 5G plans by UK Operators - Nov 2018
• 5G Terminology
• Finland: A country with only Unlimited Data Plans

Vodafone and Ericsson develop ‘Industry 4.0’ factory in Germany

Automotive 5G manufacturing production is now a reality due to the efforts of Vodafone and Ericsson who were challenged by e.GO  to help them to develop an ‘industry 4.0’ factory to help them gain a competitive advantage through the use of mobile technology.

e.GO was founded by Professor Günther Schuh, often characterised as Germany’s answer to Elon Musk, who is very much on a mission to create more affordable electric vehicles. The company was founded out of RWTH Aachen University in 2015 where the Professor was vice-rector for Industry and Business Relations. By then he had already developed an electric delivery van, StreetScooter, a company that was bought by Deutsche Post in 2014.   Thanks to an array of StreetScooter vehicles and some 12,000 e-bikes and e-trikes, Deutsche Post DHL Group today operates the largest electric fleet in Germany.

Professor Schuh, now focusing on the 5G network believes it will deliver faster and more reliable production with constant access to relevant information:

"The assembly plant for e.GO Life is a true Industry 4.0 factory. In other words, it is fully networked in terms of information technology. Connectivity links the physical and the digital world.”

While according to Hannes Ametsreiter, Head of Vodafone Germany:

 "Our automotive industry needs a fast network directly where the newest and most innovative cars are built. Data is an important fuel for modern automobile production.”

While Arun Bansal, President and Head of Europe & Latin America, Ericsson, says:

 "5G is the key to opening the door to a new era in manufacturing productivity, speed, security and efficiency – and the automotive industry is a prime example of the beneficiaries. Our 5G technology leadership, including solutions and abilities specifically tailored to manufacturing, enables us to partner with companies such as Vodafone and e.GO to deliver the very best private networks solutions."

This 4.0 factory is a model that many other European companies might look to in the future. 

The 16,000m2 e.GO site in Aachen is one of the first in the world to connect machines using a private ‘5G ready’ network rather than Wi-Fi. There have been 36 mobile antenna installed within the factory walls to connect all the machinery to the IT system and to send data back to the company’s network operations centre, the factory’s brain.  The use of mobile technology provides e.GO’s development team with incredible power to analyse network data and automatically adjust factory processes with the press of a button. Mobile network slicing is being used for the first time in Germany to dedicate a slice of spectrum for the factory to ensure that critical manufacturing processes are never interrupted by inadvertent data packet loss. 

Another first is the use of multi-access edge computing (MEC) by the network to boost the processing power of the Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) which carry the chassis from station to station, replacing the classic production line. The factory will contain the world’s first AGVs to use 4G+ rather than Wi-Fi.

These machines process environmental data, like unexpected objects in their path, near instantaneously (less than 10 milliseconds), ensuring both they and all other machines in the plant adapt their routines accordingly. In the future the AGV will be joined by smart forklifts and smart factory trains which will transport material between warehouses and production halls.

The use of such technology has given e.GO’s development team incredible power to analyse network data and automatically adjust factory processes with the press of a button. When the team decided to move from a steel to an aluminum frame it took just three months to install new machinery and adjust processes, around a sixth of the time it would take a competitor to do the same.

The new e.GO electric car has taken just two years to develop, less than half the average time and has cost €70 million, four times less than the industry average development costs.

This is a revolutionary project which can pave the way for other European businesses. 

Ericsson Private Networks are capable of delivering gigabit bandwidth and latency of just a few milliseconds, for example in the newly announced @vodafone e.Go factory project. https://t.co/lqon6ulddh #MWC19 #Shanghai pic.twitter.com/EwgvQmw1Oj

— Ericsson (@ericsson) June 28, 2019

 Related Posts:

• Swisscom brings Industry 4.0 to Ypsomed
• What is Industrial IoT (IIoT) and how is it different from IoT?

Iran: Mobile Uncertainty

There are two major mobile operators in Iran: MCI and MTN Irancell, along with minor operator RighTel. Significant progress had been made in the counttry in upgrading infrastructure particularly 3G and 4G networks before the US government reimposed economic sanctions during 2018. 

Mobile penetration is considered to be high with a rate of 119%. Most citizens access 2G and 3G networks and in November 2014, the first 4G LTE network was launched by MTN Irancell. While 4G LTE services are available, primarily in the urban areas – however one third of mobile subscribers don’t own a smart phone.  Further investment in both mobile and fixed telecoms infrastructure, particularly in the rural areas, is required however in order to speed up progress and lower costs for consumers, pave the way for 5G.

The latest official statistics reported by the government relating to the role of mobile operators in Iran’s communication market show that the first operator, Hamrah-e Aval (MCI), has a share of 59.53% of the market. When it comes to broadband services, MCI was the last of the three to upgrade its services to 3G and 4G but were successful in providing these services in all the cities (1246) of the country with 3G, 4G and 4.5G services in a very short time. 

Until June 2017, MCI with a penetration rate of 62.5% expanded its coverage to 32,078 km in main routes and 34,591 km in side routes, which in total with railways reaches 75,595 km and 96.5% of the whole population of the country and cover a total of 44,918 villages.

Some 13 million subscribers actively use internet provided by Hamrah-e-Avval or MCI, giving it the biggest share of the market. The number of MCI subscribers to 3G and 4G Internet has been reported as 12.8 million and 297,000 respectively, however many are unable to receive 4G as MCI only recently started giving out 4G SIMs. By the end of 2016 MCI covered 547 cities with 3G Internet while providing 33 cities with 4G Internet.  

Irancell, partly state-owned and owned by South African MTN group has been established as 2nd provider in the country, they have a 38.47% share  and penetration rate of 40.1% in the communication market. They cover a total of 35,936 km, including 17,631 villages.They started with 3G and 4G in late 2014 and already cover 1040 cities with 3G and 240 cities with 4G/LTE in 2016. Thus more than half of the population has access to fast internet now. In 2016 TD-LTE on 3500 MHz (band 42) was started to replace their WiMAX access and is operational in 49 cities so far. By the end of 2016 10.4 million subscribers use 3G internet provided by Irancell and nearly 1.6 million subscribers use Irancell’s 4G internet.  

The smallest operator Rightel has 2% has a penetration rate of 2.08% covers 27,406 km and 65 villages.
Rightel works great in certain parts of large cities, but has horrible (or non existent) coverage in smaller cities and many rural areas. Many people thought its prices were too high, and the speeds given were much slower than what was advertised. High speed internet also caused some cultural controversies, leading RighTel to restrict selling its SIM cards to those 18 and older.
They reportedly had a total of some 2 million mobile internet users at the end of 2016. RighTel’s 3G Internet coverage expands through 520 cities across Iran. It has only recently started with 4G/LTE on 1800 MHz in the capital.

All 3 featured operators 2G/GSM are on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G on 2100 MHz. 4G/LTE started with MCI, Irancell and RighTel on 1800 MHz.

MTN Irancell, and Sweden’s Ericsson jointly conducted a test of 5G connection in Tehran 2017.  Recently ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi wrote on his Twitter account:

“Heading towards 5G! It is an aim we pursue besides development of IoT in 1398 (Iranian calender year). Now, all the Iranian cities and over 66 percent of villages have 3G/4G coverage. We do our best for development of public access in next year despite sanctions. The new generation of telecommunication is waiting for us!” 

However no other details are as of yet confirmed.

In 2018 Nokia provided a range of equipment to mobile operators MTN Irancell and Mobile Communications Company of Iran. It also has a contract with fixed provider HiWeb. Limited fixed services were provided to regional players, either directly or through local contractors. It also sold wireless kit in the country through subsidiary RFS.

During 2018, Nokia booked net sales of almost €55 million from activities in Iran. However Nokia then announced it would refuse new business in Iran during 2019 due to the reintroduction of sanctions by the US government, restricting activity to completing existing contractual obligations.

Iran has blocked some websites and social media like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Some apps like Telegram are not completely banned and WhatsApp has been unblocked and some VoIP calls and messaging are allowed again. But with this 'openess', a system of smart censorship has been introduced. Certain websites that are considered to be offensive are 'phased out'. 

Swisscom launched 5G Fast and 5G Wide

We wrote a detailed post about 5G Spectrum auctions in Switzerland earlier this year. Now Swisscom has recently announced the launch of its 5G network this month (May 2019):

Long-awaited and available from May: Swisscom presents the first commercially available 5G smartphone in Switzerland. The Oppo Reno 5G is set to make the 5G mobile telephony standard a reality for residential customers. The range of 5G-capable devices will continue to be expanded.

Following the first prototypes at the end of 2018, Swisscom can now announce four end devices for sale. The very first 5G device in the Swisscom shop comes from the manufacturer Oppo, followed by other brands such as LG (from May), Samsung (from July) and Huawei (third quarter).

As can be seen in the picture on the top and the one above, Swisscom has a variety of spectrum available but is also refarming 2G & 3G to use 4G. This way Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G could be used with 4G. So what is happening with Swisscom 2G & 3G:

• 2G will be switched off at the end of 2020 and the 2G frequencies will be used for 5G. 
• As of October 2019, the 2100 MHZ frequency will be used for 5G instead of 3G. 3G technology itself, however, will continue to be available on the Swisscom network for some time to come: Standard 3G coverage will be offered at least until the end of 2024.
• Swisscom has 2x15 MHz of 900 MHz spectrum available. Right now it uses the frequency for 2G & 3G. 3G will continue to run in 900 MHz but 2G will be switched off. Not sure if this means that the 900 MHz 2G will be refarmed for 3G or 5G mMTC kind of usage.

Swisscom PR defined 5G-Fast and 5G-Wide as follows:

As soon as the Federal Office of Communications grants the licence, Swisscom will activate the 5G network which it has established with technology partner Ericsson. The first 5G devices run on a proven frequency in the 3.5 gigahertz band, which was previously used for outdoor TV reports and has now been approved by the federal government for mobile communications. This frequency is designed to achieve speeds of up to 2 Gbit/s (5G-fast). During the media event, Swisscom demonstrated a peak speed of 1.86 Gbit/s. "As number one, we are responsible for our country and must think ahead," says Urs Schaeppi. "We invented prepaid in 1996, introduced Mobile Unlimited as a world first in 2004 and were the first to build a 4G network in 2012. We intend to ensure Switzerland remains an innovation location. We have therefore been shaping the development of 5G in international committees since 2016 and are working on a modernisation of NIRO." By the end of the year, Switzerland will be supplied with 5G; this includes cities, the countryside and the mountain regions. Known as 5G-wide, this stage of the expansion uses frequencies that permit extensive coverage. Customers everywhere will benefit from faster response times, greater bandwidths and, thanks to technology sharing with 4G, higher speeds.

It should be noted that Swisscom also won 700 MHz spectrum in the auctions earlier, so it's a matter of time before we see 5G Ultra-wide or something similar later on.

Further Reading:

• Operator Watch Blog: Switzerland 5G Spectrum Auctions Results
• The Mobile Network: Swisscom promises 90% 5G population coverage before end of 2019
• 5G for Switzerland: Swisscom set to finish expansion by end of the year and launch the first 5G smartphones
• Swisscom: 5G for Switzerland

Bahrain: 5G imminent

We wrote about the mobile network operators in Bahrain last year here. Today we will look at Bahrain's 5G plans and rollouts. 

The Kingdom of Bahrain has announced it aims to provide commercial 5G services by June 2019. The Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed claims preparations for the rollout of 5G networks are finished, with the only missing piece of the puzzle being the availability of consumer handsets and equipment.

Bahrain has ranked first in the Arab region in the ITU’s ICT Development Index (IDI) for the last five years, and 4th globally in the UN’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Index (TII). 

Bahrain held successful commercial trials for 5G technology in June 2018, while the National Broadband Network (NBN) has ensured fibre connectivity is spread throughout the nation. By the end of 2019, the Government plans to reach 95% of households and 100% of businesses. While this does support the development of other use cases, the side benefit of having suitable backhaul infrastructure supports the 5G ambitions also.

The products and services will be in line with the 3GPP standards issued in 2018 and are set to utilise bandwidth in the C-Band spectrum (3GHz), allowing national companies to tap into the global 5G services market, which is anticipated to grow from an estimated US$60bn in 2020 to an estimated US$125bn in 2025.

Like SanMarino, another nation state which will experience 5G before the vast-majority, Bahrain could position itself as a test bed for numerous different technologies, from autonomous vehicles to virtual reality.

Viva Bahrain, a leading telecom provider in the Kingdom, has signed a nationwide 5G service launch agreement with Huawei, a leading global provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices.

Signed at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, this agreement compliments the successful completion of the 5G readiness project located in key areas across Bahrain that was announced recently.

Viva Bahrain will upgrade their existing infrastructure based on non-standalone 5G core and 4/5G dual mode radio unit and high capacity backhauling technologies that will enable Viva customers to access 5G services across Bahrain by June 2019. Moreover, transmission network’s high capacity ready hardware will allow them to rapidly scale up their networks to meet capacity requirements in the near future

Viva’s 5G mobile and wireless fixed services will ultimately enable Viva customers to enjoy not only gaming VR services and 3D 8K video but will also provide a platform for smart businesses and homes, ultimate VR and AR applications, AI and smart cars.

Meanwhile Batelco, another major mobile operator in Bahrain has selected Ericsson to help commercially deploy 5G. 

The deal, the latest in a long partnership between the companies, will see Ericsson commercial 5G equipment – including 5G New Radio (NR), mobile transport, and core – being deployed in Batelco’s network.

Ericsson’s high-speed and low-latency 5G technology will help Batelco meet growing data traffic demands and deliver high-quality enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access experiences.

Batelco’s stated mission is to drive network leadership in Bahrain and provide customers with next-generation mobile technologies. It recently achieved Bahrain’s first 3GPP-compliant 5G data call on a commercial mobile network using a 5G pocket router. The call used Ericsson Radio System solutions and 5G Cloud Packet Core.

Mohamed Bubashait, CEO of Batelco Bahrain, says: 

“Batelco is committed to delivering exceptional customer experience through provisioning of seamless, advanced mobile services over 5G. We are therefore very pleased to strengthen our strategic partnership with Ericsson to commercially deploy 5G – to enhance our mobile network and services for people across Bahrain.”

Zain Bahrain is yet to announce their 5G technology vendor.

According to Fitch Solutions, acknowledging the growing demand for mobile broadband services, Bahrain’s telecoms regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), has issued a consultation for new spectrum to be awarded in the 800MHz and 2600MHz frequency bands. In total, the spectrum available will be 60MHz in the 800 MHz band, available as 2x30MHz of paired spectrum, and 140MHz in the 2600MHz band, to be offered as paired or unpaired spectrum. The provisional date for the results will be November 25 2018. Reserve prices start at BHD1.3mn (USD3.3mn) for the 800MHz band and BHD166,000 (USD44,000) for the 2600MHz band.

Both Zain and VIVA have 90MHz of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band for the provision of fixed wireless services, but would require the regulator’s approval prior to launching 5G mobile services over the band. VIVA gained the spectrum after acquiring ISP Menatelcom in 2018, which provides broadband services through WiMAX technology.

A second consultation for the 800 MHz and 2600 MHz was released on March based on the responses of first one. It's available on TRA website here.

Further reading: 

• Bahrain: Mobile Networks Overview