FEATURE: 5G
several inhibitors. This includes the
cost to install the infrastructure,
long timeline for deployment, and
preparing for use cases that may
not even exist as yet.
networks has its drawbacks and
limitations. 5G networks will require
larger number of transmission sites
because of the shorter range of
transmission, since they require a
more consistent line of
sight to the end points.
5G networks using
millimetre wave
technology will
be susceptible to
obstructions, bad
weather, window
pane glass, hard
walls, amongst others.
There is also concern
about congestion in
the millimetre wave
spectrum band and
interference with other
devices.
5G relies entirely on
the new spectrum, not
on overlapping and
sharing the frequencies
already being used
by GSM, 3G or LTE
technologies. There
are many frequency
bands between 3 and
90 GHz being looked at
Andrey Koynov, Chief Technology
in order to achieve the
Officer at InfiNet Wireless
performance targets.
However, the two
bands which are in the
On the plus side, usage of millimetre key focus of research including
wavelengths in 5G networks, are
3.5-4.2 GHz and 27-31 GHz, have
expected to drive the birth of
already been utilised by service
Gigabit smartphones with much
providers for fixed terrestrial and
faster data access speeds, richer
satellite connectivity across EMEA.
applications and user experience,
better network connectivity through “Freeing-up the required frequency
multiple embedded antennae, and
resource will involve a lot of
more efficient use of the spectrum.
spectrum harmonisation and
“One important asset for 5G
re-farming work. The radio waves
networks is spectrum. High
have sufficiently lower penetration
bandwidth services are spectrum-
from outside into the glass-and-
hungry, and 5G opens the door
concrete structures common in
for using higher frequencies such
the Middle East’s biggest cities.
as cm-Wave and mm-Wave that
To tackle this problem, besides
simply cannot be used by LTE,” says the other measures, it is being
Nokia’s Ed.
proposed to increase the density of
the infrastructure and install so-
On the negative side, usage of
called small cells every few hundred
millimetre wavelengths in mobile
metres or so. Some of the operators
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INTELLIGENTCIO
One important
asset for 5G
networks is
spectrum. High
bandwidth
services are
spectrum-
hungry, and 5G
opens the door
for using higher
frequencies such
as cm-Wave and
mm-Wave that
simply cannot
be used by LTE.
have expressed doubts, that it
might be cost-prohibitive, as they
are not only looking at installation
and equipment expenses, but
also additional costs associated
with backhauls, operations and
maintenance costs,” continues
InfiNet Wireless’ Koynov.
Nokia’s Ed points out the
operational issues of managing
the gains and limitations of the 5G
spectrum maybe staggered in the
roll-outs. “High frequencies and the
available bandwidth provide the
ability to offer hyper-local services,
but they only have a very short
range. Wide area coverage and
in-building penetration needs lower
frequencies to be opened up, which
will come later.”
Virtualising the 5G network
platform
While it is relatively easy to point
out that 5G networks should
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