5G may be all the buzz, but there are steps needed to prepare for the evolution
Imagine a future where nearly everything in the physical world is connected to ubiquitous, high-speed mobile networks. Think of cars that safely drive themselves, buildings that regulate their electrical and water systems automatically and doctors that monitor patients’ vital signs remotely in real time. This is the promise of the next generation of mobile technology known as “5G.” And this generation will deliver the high speed, high capacity and ubiquitous availability vital to building a new world of the “Internet of Things,” the smart city and other innovations.
Although 5G has been mostly a buzzword up to now, 2016 will likely see the mobile industry take the first steps toward making this technology a reality. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project recently established a timeline for 5G development and held its first workshop on the topic last year, and 2015 also saw a number of 5G research partnerships sprout up among operators, researchers and technology organizations. The start of this standards definition work and the strengthening of research into a plethora of technologies, services and use cases that will constitute 5G will help bring possibilities into sharper focus this year.
But before the industry can make the transition, the next step will be completing the buildout of the networks that are now of prime importance – “4G,” or LTE, networks. LTE represents a fundamental change to an IP-based environment for the mobile industry that will lay the essential IP technology foundation for 5G. For this reason, it’s crucial operators place emphasis on three factors that will help them position their networks best for LTE and voice-over-LTE rollouts now, as well as build on the success of 4G becoming mainstream and evolving to 5G in the future.
Understanding LTE technology and business challenges
The first step in this is to understand how LTE deployment is progressing and what the major challenges are. In fact, more than half of the world’s mobile operators have not yet evolved to 4G and one of the most important growth periods for LTE is expected to take place in the next few years. According to the GSMA, 264 LTE networks were launched between December 2009 and January 2014, and almost as many will be launched from 2015 to 2020. This will lead to 2.5 billion LTE connections by 2020, covering 64% of the world’s population. Through this period we will also witness sporadic deployment of intermediate technologies, like “4.5G” or LTE-Advanced Pro, or constituent capabilities like mobile-terminated calls and device-to-device communications. This will then lead to commercial iterations of 5G appearing after 2020.
Yet operators are facing key challenges with LTE deployment. On the technology side, operators have to install new equipment and adapt existing infrastructure to new standards. A critical part of this is enabling VoLTE roaming, which is rapidly gaining momentum, but requires testing and ensuring the quality of scores of new processes among different operator networks. On the business side of LTE deployment, operators have to determine a number of new pricing structures and reconfigure business partner relationships for roaming. As a result, LTE growth will depend on how smoothly operators are able to work through these technology and business complexities.
3 factors for LTE growth and 5G readiness
With these challenges shaping the course for LTE deployment and, later, 5G deployment, three factors have emerged that operators should place particular focus on in 2016:
Making IPX the core of a strategy
Operators deploying LTE must focus first on establishing reach to a maximum number of LTE networks to offer the widest coverage for their users. IPX has emerged as a fundamental network backbone for LTE, VoLTE and next-generation services, allowing operators to efficiently achieve this reach. This technology allows a single-connection approach designed to simplify testing and deployment while consolidating a large number of connections worldwide. Moreover, new improvements in IPX enable new integrated services and operator links worldwide through a single connection. Consequently, operators should make IPX the core of their strategy in building out their LTE networks and laying a foundation for 5G.
Ensuring roaming interoperability
Enabling ubiquitous roaming is a special challenge of LTE. It requires comprehensive testing of critical roaming processes, such as clearing and settlement, and customer-experience management between LTE networks. In particular, one potentially problematic area is that LTE roaming requires operators to submit new call detail record information to their clearing houses in order for the records to be processed and changed to TAP accurately. This is just one of many complex areas involved in LTE implementation that operators should fully master to ensure a smooth path to 5G later.
Implementing VoLTE effectively
Voice communication represents the next frontier of LTE, but enabling VoLTE poses special challenges. Operators must manage the intricate process of converting voice calls into Internet traffic so the same airwaves can be used for voice or data. One of the most crucial challenges involves a roaming marketplace that is fragmented into markets with no LTE service, markets with both LTE and legacy 3G and 2G services and markets with only LTE service. Operators must have a strategy in place for these roaming situations co-existing. They must ensure that VoLTE calls will smoothly hand off to legacy technologies and users with VoLTE service enjoy seamless connections to all available LTE service areas. Getting this right will be imperative for integrating 5G-based voice technologies later.
What’s ahead
As mobile traffic continues to explode and new technologies like the “Internet of Things” drive massive numbers of mobile devices online, 5G will become a must. Users will increasingly expect access to the same high-quality mobile experiences anytime, anywhere. Machines will eventually depend on high-speed, far-reaching mobile networks to operate. Placing special focus on an IPX strategy, roaming interoperability and VoLTE implementation will be critical for operators to position their networks for LTE now and to pave the way for 5G in the future.
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