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
Partnering with Ericsson, Rogers will trial 5G in Toronto and Ottawa, in addition to select cities. They recentlydemonstrated 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:
Switzerland has approximately 11.2 million connections for a total population of 8.53 million, mobile penetration in Switzerland at the end of 2018 was nearly 132%. Swisscom is the largest mobile phone operator in Switzerland, holding down 58.3 percent of the Swiss mobile network market. This translates to a customer base of 6.55 million customers for Swisscom, 2.78 million for Sunrise, and 1.88 million customers for Salt.
Now Europe clearly have most of the global 5G deployments as of yet but according to one vendor executive, Switzerland is “massively in the lead.” Currently Swisscom and Sunrise are both offering commercial 5G services, with the third national operator Salt working to launch sometime later this year.
The diagrams above and below are from a report about Sunrise, but they are useful for showing the market/spectrum position of Salt.
Salt is the smallest of the three operators has recently secured 20 megahertz in the 700 MHz band, 80 megahertz in the 3.5 GHz band and 10 megahertz in the 1.4 GHz band and are working with Nokia to begin rolling out 5G this quarter. Previously it teamed up with Nokia to showcase potential applications for 5G, achieving download speeds of 4.5 Gb/s using spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band. It also tested virtual reality applications and transmitted live video to demonstrate network characteristics such as latency of around 1 millisecond. Nokia is supplying core and radio access network equipment based off of a deal signed in January. In terms of use cases and applications, the carrier called out video streaming and augmented and virtual reality for the consumer media market, and the internet of things for verticals including, smart cities, banking, manufacturing and tourism Accordng to Salt CEO Pascal Grieder:
“We are committed to providing our customers with an outstanding customer experience and have identified Nokia as the right partner to deliver exceptional mobile experience. They convinced us not only through their advanced technological capabilities but also their reliability and security, which are paramount to Swiss private users as well as our country’s corporations."
Salt have also just reached their 20th anniversary:
Et parce que chez Salt c’est nous qui faisons les cadeaux même si c’est notre anniversaire, tu peux maintenant bénéficier d’un rabais de 50% sur tous nos abonnements. #LetsPartyNow
Salt’ mobile network now covers 99% of the population with 4G services. The operator today serves 1,228,000 postpaid as well as 596,000 prepaid customers. In June 2019, Salt's mobile network was ranked number one among its two national competitors for the first time and ranked sixth among 318 operators tested worldwide with a total of 29,218 points by 4GMark, a platform mobile performance test.The measured average download speed was 44.2 MB / s and the average upload speed was 16.9 MB / s. These levels provide consumers with a great download experience and watch TV in high definition anywhere and anytime on their mobile device. This achievement is the result of a great deal of investment in their network which will only further improve with the development of 5G. Related Post:
Despite being on the back foot in the West, the Chinese technology giant Huawei has been quietly strengthening its foothold in the massive South Asian market. Both Huawei and ZTE are the main suppliers of the radio access network (RAN) in Pakistan. Huawei has up to 60 percent of the RAN market share, with ZTE capturing virtually all the remainder. Huawei have very much convinced the South Asian nations with a flourishing middle class to adopt their 5G technology. Huawei are already well established in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka alhtough they have yet to take off in India. Pakistan, which has a population of 217 million, has 161 million mobile phone subscribers including 69 million 3G / 4G users. Pakistan’s most popular data network and a pioneer of mobile internet connectivity is Zong , they have provided Huawei with the foothold it was looking for locally. With Zong having 12,000 4G sites across Pakistan, they announced a partnership for digital transformation early this year. Zong 4G and Huawei will be integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data to provide consumers with fast, uninterrupted connectivity. China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), branded as Zong 4G , has now achieved another milestone by successfully conducting 5G trials in the country. This achievement has made the Chinese telecom company the first and only local mobile operator to do so. Zong CMPAK has been delivering the many firsts of the telecom industry in Pakistan; for instance, being the first to launch 4G in Pakistan, first to cross the prolific mark of 12,000+ 4G towers and the first to reach the more 13 million 4G customers mark and 34.71 million mobile phone subscribers overall. Zong has now become the first operator to conduct successful 5G trials to play a leading role in transforming the digital landscape of Pakistan. Zong believes that 5G will bring more profound and long-term changes to Pakistan’s economic transformation, social progress, and people’s livelihood improvement in future. 5G is expected to revolutionise key sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and education in Pakistan. It will have a significant impact on Pakistan's economic transformation, social progress and create new avenues of entertainment. With a commitment to develop the digital ecosystem in Pakistan, Zong has always been at the forefront to offer innovative, state-of-the-art and most advanced services and solutions to its valued customers. As the pioneer of 4G services in Pakistan, Zong has already established itself as Pakistan’s largest network with more than 13 million 4G customers and 12,000 4G sites. During the event, the Secretary IT, PTA chairman, Economic & Commercial Counsellor, Chinese Embassy along with the dignitaries tested Zong’s 5G network. According to industry sources, 5G service in Pakistan will be 100 times faster than the current levels while network will be 10 times faster than existing broadband connections available in the country. 5G home routers speed has been recorded at 4 gigabytes per second, which means that it can download a 50 GB file in just two minutes. However some industry gurus are cautious and believe Pakistan is likely to take longer time to enter into 5G business because the penetration of 3G / 4G has only reached 32.72 percent by June 2019. Jazz, a part of Veon, has around 60 million mobile phone users in Pakistan. Telenor has 44 million mobile phone customers, according to statistics from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Mobile phone users on 3G and 4G network are facing poor network performance. Local mobile operators, under the regulation, have to maintain data rates of 256 kbps for 3G and 2 Mbps for 4G in Pakistan, Matt Walker said in a research report from MTN Consulting. Jazz has achieved an average download speed of 17.13 Mbps and average upload speed of 10.74 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2018, Speedtest report from Ookla said. Zong has achieved an average download speed of 17.13 Mbps and average upload speed of 10.74 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2018. Telenor has achieved an average download speed of 7.72 Mbps and average upload speed of 3.81 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2018. Ufone has achieved an average download speed of 4.43 Mbps and average upload speed of 2.29 Mbps during Q3-Q4 2018. The currency in Pakistan has been devalued by more than 40 percent to its value of January 2018. During January 2018 the exchange rate was USD 1 to PKR 110 and now in August 2019 it is hovering around PKR 160. This is impacting the telecom sector in the country. Reduction in profit margins, decrease in available Capex for new investments as nearly all equipment is imported and increase in Opex are the main issues due to the devaluation of PKR. Mobile operator revenue in Pakistan reached PKR 488750 million in 2017-18 as compared with PKR 464111 million in 2016-17. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said telecoms Capex has reached $670 million in 2017-18 as compared with $635 million during 2016-17. Therefore Pakistan operators may well not be ready for making investment in 5G network. They may try to expand 4G network coverage and may take another 3-4 years to look for additional revenue streams from 5G. Related Posts:
MTN is the largest mobile operator group in Africa with roughly 168 million subscribers, but who is number 2?
Airtel just crossed 100 millions subscribers in Africa and many news sites have started calling them the second largest operator group in the region. Livemint for example reported:
Bharti Airtel’s Africa arm has crossed the 100-million customer mark across its operations in the continent, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. This is significant for the company, which entered the continent in 2010. Airtel Africa is currently the second-largest mobile operator in Africa by the number of active subscribers; South Africa’s MTN is the largest. Airtel Africa is the holding firm for Bharti Airtel’s operations in 14 countries in the continent across three regions — Nigeria; East Africa, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia; and the rest of Africa, including Niger, Gabon, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Seychelles. Nigeria alone accounts for almost half of its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).
According to this Bloomberg article, back in July 2019, Airtel was the 4th largest by subs numbers.
MTN 167.7 million
Orange 120 mil
Vodacom 110 mil
Airtel 98.9 mil
There is a small caveat though. While MTN does not include Middle East, Orange does. Again, Vodacom includes Safaricom in which it has around 35% stake. Vodafone, Vodacom’s parent (64.5% stake), had an additional 49.3 million customers in its operations in Egypt and Ghana at the end of June. If we include Vodafone, Vodacom and Safaricom, it would be going head-to-head with MTN for the top place.
The Guardian, Nigeria has a good summary of the top 4 mobile operators in Africa here.
Back in April this year, the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT provided details not just about 5G commercialization but also about the future 5G+ strategy. This post combines that announcement with a recent presentation by the Ministry at UN ESCAP:
The Korean government celebrated world’s first 5G commercialization in Olympic Park on April 8 2019 and shared the national vision for realizing an innovative growth in the 5G era. On that day, the Korean government announced the ‘5G+ Strategy’ as a way to create new industries and services based on 5G and pledged to establish the world’s best 5G ecosystem moving on from being world’s first. In particular, the Korean government proposed the goal to reach 180 trillion won in productivity, 73 billion dollars in export and create 600,000 quality jobs by 2026, through promoting 5G+strategic industries (major 10 industries and 5 services). As an effort to nurture 5G-based new industries and markets and improve the quality of people’s lives, 52 specific tasks under the following major five strategic areas will be implemented.
secure early market and improve people’s quality of life through taking initiative in investing in public sector
create testbed for expanding investment in private sector and develop industries
support 5G service facilitation and user protection through system maintenance
nurture globally recognized innovative enterprises and talents through establishment of industrial foundation
globalize Korea’s 5G technologies and services through providing support to overseas expansion
Demonstration and spread of 5G+ core services provide support in identifying and demonstrating profit models in 5 core areas in the private sector (2018~2021) ⇨ carry out 5G+ innovation project for deployment and spread of services (2021~2025)
immersive content: real time hologram performance for remote areas
smart factory: solution development for each industry and spread of industrial complex
autonomous vehicle: develop and distribute 5G self-driving shuttle buses
smart city: emergency rescue service in fire sites
digital healthcare: emergency medical service between ambulances and hospitals
Support demand creation in public sector
(SOC) support safe and efficient management of infrastructure and deteriorated facility
(infrastructure) carry out ‘5G+ smart SOC project’(2020~) for establishing real time monitoring system (utilization of 5G robots and CCTVs etc.) on road, port and airport etc.
(life support facility) support real time 5G-based safety monitoring in educational and cultural facility (2020~)
(deteriorated nuclear power plant) develop and adopt safe, 5G-based nuclear power plant decommissioning technologies such as real time monitoring of high risk work sites and identifying biometrics of workers (2020~2023)
(utilize cutting-edge device) create 5G device market based on public demand
(robot) carry out 5G public service robot (guide robot on public facility etc.) pilot project (2020~)
(drone) support R&D and demonstration of 5G drone service such as public safety, environment and measurement (2020~) and develop 5G drones for mail delivery (2019~2021) and connect this to public procurement
(CCTV) implement 5G intelligent CCTV R&D and demonstration as well as disaster safety pilot service (2021~)
improve people’s quality of life through 5G public service deployment
(5G+ life sustaining project) distribute 5G solutions* based on public demand for improving people’s livelihood in areas such as education, agriculture and environment and resolving regional social issues (2021~)
* e.g. (immersive education) provide 5G-based, VR and AR remote education and training for local and vocational schools, (smart agriculture) deploy 5G unmanned tractors and drones, (environmental monitoring) 5G-based, real time fine dust monitoring etc.
(improve medical service) implement ‘5G-based collaborative telemedicine pilot project’ for hospitals and clinics (2020~) → increase the portion of the medical facility with scale similar to or larger than that of general hospital to 50% by 2023
create 5G-based smart city
(national pilot city) establish data and AI center in pilot city for building data-based intelligent urban operating system in connection with 5G (2020~2022)
(existing city) support expansion of 5G-based smart city technologies by active deployment of 5G to projects in turning existing cities into smart cities such as smart city challenge (2019~)
Expand private investment by:
tax credit and investment
provide tax credits to network investment (2~3% for 2019-2020) for inducing early deployment of nationwide 5G network and invest in innovation companies by engaging in financial programs driving new growth*
* program supporting advancement in industrial structure (10 trillion won for 2019-2021), KP Inno fund (1.2 trillion won for 2019∼2022), smart factory fund (300 billion won for 2019∼2021) etc.
establish 5G testbeds and demonstration infrastructure
(establish testbeds) establish 13 5G testbeds and demonstration infrastructure in five areas including various 5G terminals and equipments, 5G Vehicular-to-Everything*(V2X) communications, 5G drones** and edge computing
* provide support in verification of 5G autonomous driving performance on real roads in K-City(Hwaseong), Pangyo zero city and Sangam of Seoul (2019∼)
** establish 5G test infrastructure in 5 drone flying test sites which are in the process of construction (Yeongwol, Gosang, Boeun etc.) (2020∼2021)
provide internationally accredited certificate service for supporting 5G terminal and V2X exports (2019~)
(5G challenge) hold contests for demonstration and expansion of 5G autonomous vehicles and drones
(establish clusters) establish ‘Songpa mobile cluster’ which has expanded the existing function of supporting radiowave and security industry to providing support to 5G equipment development and demonstration (2020~2025)
promote 5G technology commercialization of SMEs
(network equipment) increase support for R&D of technology commercialization in 5G equipment (small cell, repeater, modem etc.) of small and medium-sized enterprises (to take up 25%(2017) → 35%(2020) out of mobile communication R&D)
(purchase conditional R&D) expand R&D support for commercialization of SMEs based on demand for purchasing 5G-based new technologies and products of public institutions and foreign countries
support facilitation of 5G content market
carry out ‘5G content flagship project*’ and secure infrastructure for development hub (2019~) for creating major 10 globally recognized 5G content by 2022
* e.g. (immersive media) 360° VR sports streaming, (immersive communication) hologram video conference, (immersive life) VR shopping, (industry convergence) control AR factory and farm, (public service) VR safety education
support innovation of productivity in leading industries
(smart factory) support gradual distribution* of 5G factory solutions optimized for innovating manufacturing and processing of small and medium sized enterprises to 1000 factories by 2022 (2020~2022)
(shipbuilding) secure core technologies of ‘smart yard’ (2021~) providing support to demonstration of 5G-based smart telecom environment establishment in shipyard (2020~2023) and technologies which automate and optimize processing
(maritime port) establish smart maritime port logistics system which is automatic and intelligent based on 5G (pilot project: 4 ports including Busan Port and Gwangyang Port) (2019~)
(energy) set up an optimal energy generation system through real time 5G and big data processing in order to respond to expansion of renewable energy (solar energy etc.) generation complex (2020~2023)
(manufacturing AR) provide pilot AR service (AR manual, AR remote support etc.) in the field of manufacturing to small and medium sized enterprises in relation to 5G smart factory distribution (2020~)
Support 5G service facilitation and user protection through system maintenance
telecom service plan and system maintenance
(launch 5G service plan) induce the launch of service plan* which does not rapidly increase household burden on telecom fee, so that citizens can use various 5G services (April 2019~)
* continue to reduce rate for data per unit compared to LTE from the first 5G service plan
(support B2B facilitation) improve service plan to be flexible enough to reflect various 5G services such as autonomous vehicles and smart factories (2019~)
secure radiowave resources and improve regulations
(allocate frequency) double frequency for 5G service by 2026 (2,680MHz bandwidth as of now → 5,190MHz bandwidth) and allocate frequency for 5G convergence service (autonomous vehicle and smart factory etc.) (2019~)
(improve regulations) support ease of administrative burden through measures including introduction of ‘frequency license system’ (revise radiowave act, 2019~) which integrates and simplifies the process of frequency allocation and radio station establishment
create the safest user environment
(cyber safety) establish preventive system for cyber security breaches such as designating 5G core facilities to be critical IT infrastructure and coming up with ICT convergence security system* (revise the act on information communications network, 2019~)
* legal grounds in relation to IoT device and service security, recommendations for convergence service security standard etc.
(reinforce stability of communication networks) establish communication disaster prevention and response system such as expanding subjects to government inspection to all of major communication facilities (80→870) and securing detour route for signal transmission between facilities etc.
regulatory innovation for 5G convergence service
identify items for regulatory improvement in connection to regulatory sandbox and pilot project and ease regulations for location based information project (grant system → registration system, revise location information act)
bridge digital divide and protect users
(bridge digital divide) reinforce accessibility to new terminals and services for the vulnerable class (the disabled and elderly) and expand education for utilizing intelligent information service focused on real life experiences (VR, AR etc.)
(principles of protecting users) set principles to prevent new kinds of damages done to users and strengthen their rights amid expansion of 5G convergence service and intelligent information technologies (2019~)
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.
The Saudi Arabian Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has released the statistics for mobile data & voice calls from Hajj this year. While the majority of activity is centered around Makkah (Mecca), Medina (Madinah) becomes highly active too. To give an idea of why this is important, see this picture below
The city of Makkah is always full of people but during Hajj time, around 4-5 million people gather in a small area. This is the most challenging network deployment because people are always on their smartphones, talking, live streaming, video calling, etc. There is also no end time. This continues generally round the clock.
The use of Information and Communication Technology services (ICT), during this season of Hajj 1440-2019, witnessed a significant rise; the average number of subscribers reached nearly 7.4million per day, the number of voice calls exceeded 309 million hours, and the total data consumption during the entire season exceeded 30.2 thousand terabyte, with a rise of 26% compared to last year, according the statistics issued by CITC about the ICT services consumed in Makkah Almukarramah, Al Madinah Almunawarah and Holy sites throughout Hajj season 1440-2019. Implementation of daily measurements showed that the Internet average download speed is 44.83 Mbps in Makkah Almukarramah with a rise of 69% compared to last year. While in Madinah it reached 48.14 Mbps with a rise of 54% compared to last year, due to availability of advanced infrastructure for communication networks and massive increase of their capacity.
The statistics also included average of daily data consumption per person; the average rate reached (299.12 MB / subscriber) compared to daily global data consumption rate per person (180 MB / subscriber), noting that the most popular applications are (in order): YouTube, Snap Chat, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram.
The statistics additionally mentioned that average Internet download speed reached (45.61) in Makkah, achieving an improvement rate of (71.79%) compared to last year. The number of domestic calls reached (22.7 millions) while international calls reached (7.6 millions ) with success rate of 99.06%.
Note that the two pics above are from CITC tweet below.
MTN South Africa permanently shut down 53 base stations and 90 more are awaiting repair, while rival Vodacom loses 2,000 batteries per month, as the country’s two largest operators warned of the growing impact of crime on connectivity. In separate interviews with TechCentral the operators said organised criminal gangs were actively targeting theft and vandalism of materials from base stations in South Africa. Vodacom estimated it was losing ZAR140 million ($9.2 million) per year to theft and vandalism. It has also switched to different batteries, which cost more to install, in an attempt to deter thieves. MTN said it had been hit with “severe damage and vandalism”, which put the future of hundreds of towers across the country at risk of permanent shutdown. In a single week in July, MTN reported 125 separate incidents of battery theft.
Carte Blanche has done an investigation looking at Off-the-Grid with Stolen Mobile Mast Batteries. Details here and video of the investigation embedded below:
UN-OHRLLS report on Cambodia provides a good summary of current state of play in Cambodian Telecoms market. From the report:
Cambodia has a history of a highly competitive telecommunications market characterized by on-going mergers and acquisitions. It also has the distinction of being the first country in the world where mobile subscriptions surpassed fixed telephone lines (in 1993). There are presently six active mobile operators, up from three in 2000 but down from a peak of nine in 2012. Given the number of active operators in relation to its population, Cambodia has been cited as the "most saturated market in the world." The largest largest operator (by subscriber share) is Smart, majority-owned by the Malaysian AXIATA group. AXIATA is active in nine other Asian nations. VIETTEL, the Vietnamese mobile group, is the second largest following the purchase of Beeline in 2015 and uses the Metfone brand. Viettel is active in nine other countries including neighboring Lao PDR. CAMGSM, operating under the brand CELLCARD is one of the oldest operators, in service since 1996 and 100% locally owned. These three account for 98% of the market.
GSM mobile coverage covers 99% of the population and subscription penetration crossed the 100% mark in 2011. Home availability of cell phones is high for an LDC, standing at 87% including 96% in urban areas and 86% in rural ones according to the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey.17 By 2016, 97% of the population owned a mobile phone. Mobile broadband has developed rapidly due to the scarcity of wired infrastructure with the first 3G network launching in 2007. SMART was the first to launch fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in 2014, and it is available across 25 provinces covering over half the population. It also introduced so-called 4.5G in 2017 achieving speeds of up to 600 Mbps in selected areas. The other operators launched 4G/LTE in 2015. Of note is there are seven mobile broadband operators compared to six mobile operators as Kingtel operates a fixed wireless 4G/LTE network (Figure 0.1 above, right). Most Internet access is via mobile phones and almost half the population (48%) had a smartphone in 2016. 3G covered 66% of the population and 4G/LTE 58% in June 2017. The main constraint for extending mobile broadband coverage is the lack of low frequency spectrum which has a wider coverage area than higher frequency and hence results in lower investments costs. It is expected that this will be made available upon the completion of the transition to digital broadcasting when lower frequency (700 MHz) will be freed up.
State-owned Telecom Cambodia is the main fixed telephone service provider. In addition, there are seven other operators licensed using either copper lines or wireless technology to provide fixed telephone service. Due to the popularity of mobile, fixed telephone subscriptions have been in decline since 2012. Fixed broadband is provided through a mixture of technologies including ADSL (a technology that uses the copper telephone line going to the premise), fixed wireless, cable modem and fiber. There are over 30 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) including mobile operators with the top ten capturing 98% of the market (Figure 0.1, right). There were 117,049 fixed broadband subscriptions in June 2017, just over 1% of total Internet subscriptions in the country. Nevertheless, Cambodia ranks 12th among LDCs in fixed Internet penetration. Spider web tangles of overhead fixed broadband wires are quite visible in urban areas and the city of Phnom Penh has ordered the wires to be buried underground.
Back in Jan 2019, Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) reported that the number of registered mobile phone SIM cards reached more than 19 million in the first 11 months of last year, an increase of more than three per cent compared with the same period in 2017. The number of registered SIM cards provided by six mobile operators reached 19.3 million at the end of last year, up 3.78 per cent on 2017. The number is equivalent to 120.11 per cent of Cambodia’s total population of more than 16 million, and it was an 800,000 increase on the 18.5 million subscribers over the same period in 2017. The report shows that mobile internet usage also showed a rapid increase, with 12.9 million subscribers using their mobile phones to access online content last year – an increase of 22.79 per cent – while 34 operators provided fixed-internet to 147,596 users – up 9.16 per cent. The report also showed that Cambodia currently has seven fixed-line operators – companies offering a telephone landline service – with 91,331 users, down 27.46 per cent from 125,908 users in 2017.
Nikkei Asian Review reported back in May, The buzz around 5G mobile technology is building in Cambodia as major carriers plan to try out services this year and a state-owned telco teams up with China's Huawei to roll out a network in 2020. Three major carriers are expected to launch trial services this year, including Cellcard, a telco owned by Royal Group, one of the country's biggest conglomerates. Cellcard CEO Ian Watson told the Nikkei Asian Review that the company will choose network vendors by the end of next month and launch a 5G service on the 3.5GhZ frequency in the last quarter of 2019. Watson said Cellcard's current network vendors, Nokia and ZTE, were options for the rollout, with the Finnish telecom giant likely to "get some of the work." The first stage would include about 1,000 5G base stations across Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, he said. Watson added the company will continue to "maximize" its 4G services and plans to invest $250 million over the next three years in its network. Smart Axiata, a unit of Malaysian telecom operator Axiata Group, and Metfone, owned by Vietnam's Viettel, are also planning 5G service tests this year, said Im Vutha, director of the Telecom Regulator of Cambodia. Thomas Hundt, the CEO of Smart, told local media that users' heavy data consumption was straining the company's current 4.5G network, necessitating the move to 5G. Viettel, busy pursuing its own 5G service in neighboring Vietnam, was less forthcoming about its plans for the technology in Cambodia. Despite the flurry of activity, industry analysts reckon it could be several years before serviceable next-generation data networks cater to ordinary consumers across the developing country. They point to the scale of investment needed, the high cost of the few 5G-capable handsets currently available, and Cambodia's nascent mobile internet penetration relative to bigger regional economies. Smart itself conceded that there are concerns over how to monetize the new technology. Keen to see 5G adopted in Cambodia, the government is also pursuing a 5G network through an agreement with Huawei Technologies, signed last month in Beijing. The memorandum of understanding will see the Chinese tech giant work with state-owned Telecom Cambodia, or TC, in a bid to launch services starting next year.
Last month, Reuters reported thatCambodia’s Smart Axiata said it had begun 5G trials in partnership with China’s Huawei Technologies on Monday and could start rolling out the mobile network by this year. “It will not be a nationwide coverage from day one, it will be hot spot first, it will be an urban areas first and then we will gradually expand,” Smart Axiata’s chief executive Thomas Hundt told reporters after the trial.
Meanwhile Mobile World Live reported last month also that Metfone, Viettel’s mobile unit in Cambodia, signed an agreement with the country’s state-owned operator to share IT infrastructure and start 5G trials this month, VNExpress reported. Telecom Cambodia and Vietnam-headquartered Viettel also agreed to jointly fund projects covering IoT, smart cities, e-government, e-health, e-education and e-agriculture, the newspaper wrote. Metfone is the market leader with a 48 per cent share by subscribers, Q2 data from GSMA Intelligence showed. Nearly 11 per cent of its more than 10 million subscribers are on 4G plans.
Cellcard tested 5G back in October 2018, making first 5G call over our 3.5 GHz frequency and hitting an impressive 1.5 Gbps. Their 4.5G LTE customers receive up to about 137 Mbps.
It's interesting to see that Cambodia is going to jump the 5G gun. We will have to wait and see what kind of success they achieve with it.
Related: Hootsuite Digital 2019 Cambodia report embedded below
Samsung Electronics and Orange Romania have successfully deployed a 5G New Radio (NR) network to demonstrate a series of 5G use cases at Untold Festival 2019, the largest annual dance music festival in Romania, held from August 1 to August 4. The two companies started their 5G collaboration in 2018 with a 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) trial in Cluj county, Romania, where Orange mobile customers became the first European users to experience at home 5G services. Now, the companies are ramping up their efforts to bring the benefits of 5G to users in Romania. At Untold, which drew over 335,000 attendants last year, Orange Romania and Samsung have set up 5G use cases to offer immersive experiences powered by the 5G network’s ultra-low latency and ultra-high speed, unfolding the potential of the next generation technology for all to see. The demonstrations include real-time streaming of the performances, captured by 360-degree cameras built onto the arena’s main stage. The stream is shown at an Orange VR zone set up outside the arena, providing a uniquely immersive viewing experience to fans who visit. The companies are also holding an event demonstrating 5G download speeds reaching above 1Gbps, with a latency reduction of 50% on that experienced when using current LTE technology. “With these successful demonstrations, we are showcasing the experiences that 5G can bring to Orange customers in Romania,” said Emmanuel Chautard, Chief Technology Officer at Orange Romania. “Together with Samsung, we’re showing live network capabilities, with proof that goes beyond just impressive speeds more centered on the customer experience.” “5G offers more than just a faster connection; it enables transformative use cases that will benefit people and businesses across the industry,” said GY Seo, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “These joint demonstrations allow for a glimpse into the new kinds of services and capabilities that will be made possible as we unlock the potential of 5G for users across Europe.” The trial at Cluj Arena, where the festival is taking place, makes use of Samsung’s latest solutions, including 5G Massive MIMO Units (MMUs), which support the 3.4-3.8GHz frequency band. Samsung 5G MMUs have already been rolled out across Korea by all three Korean 5G operators for use with their 5G commercial service, which launched in April of 2019. This commercially proven MMU is one of the smallest and lightest in the industry, making installation in existing cellular sites very straightforward.
The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) launched a public consultation on 5G spectrum between May and June 2018. ANCOM launched a public consultation on the “National Strategy for the Implementation of 5G in Romania” between November 20th and December 21st, 2018. In December 2018, the Romanian regulator, ANCOM, has issued a consultation about its action plan for 2019. ANCOM’s President, Sorin Grindeanu, said in a press release that its main project will be the auction of the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2.6 GHz, and 3.4 – 3.6 GHz bands for 5G services. Spectrum in 700 MHz and 3.4-3.8 GHz frequencies could be auctioned in 2019/2020 and 26 GHz spectrum in 2021.
In Romania, while Orange and Telekom plan to launch 5G in 2020, Vodafone launched 5G back in May and Digi launched 5G in July.
