////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“
TRENDING
DATA
CONNECTIVITY IS
BECOMING THE
FOURTH UTILITY
IN CITIES .
waste management, and coordination of
departments for emergency services are just
a few examples.
In many cases, US cities are building the ‘Last Mile’ that connects customers, often in partnership
with local municipal electric companies
solutions. Verizon has already launched 5G
wireless access trials in several cities in 2018.
According to GSMA (Groupe Spéciale Mobile
Association), 5G will account for 16% of
total connections in MENA markets by 2025.
In fact, the advent of 5G networks over the
next couple of years is a major driver for fibre
deployments. 5G will not only bring faster
speeds, but also much denser small cell
deployments due to distance limitations with
millimetre wave technology and ultra-low
latency applications at the edge.
Network convergence
In the past, service providers built separate
wireless and wireline networks. Wireless
infrastructure is becoming more centralised,
so it makes more sense to converge all the
wireless backhaul traffic onto the same fibre
used by wireline services.
The process of fibre network convergence
is primarily driven by the development
of enabling technologies, user demand
and service providers’ capabilities. Large
incumbent service providers have both
wireline and wireless operations, so
converging onto a single network and
maximising asset utilisation makes excellent
business sense and will be a push for 2019. this fibre from different vendors in the same
trench and in the same conduit.
Real-life examples have occurred where
a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network was
built and several months later, the same
construction crew dug up the same street
to lay fibre for a cell site, which is wasteful
and disruptive. Network convergence would
mean one build-out that could be used for
multiple service delivery platforms including
FTTH (Figure 1). Some networks need to be private (public
safety, for example), but cities can at least
ensure that all networks use the same conduit
and perhaps even the same fibre bundle.
After all, when the US Interstate Highway
system was built, there weren’t separate
roads for trucks, cars and motorcycles –a
shared infrastructure was built. It makes sense
to do the same with fibre networks.
That said, most cities will incorporate
different providers’ networks in their overall
infrastructure. How should they tie all these
networks together? The first step is to put all Applications drive the need for more
bandwidth: parking, smart meters, public
safety (surveillance cameras), traffic
management, 5G small cell densification,
www.intelligentcio.com
It’s easy to see that a single converged
network would be the most cost-effective
way to support these applications. When
a city builds out a fibre network to its light
poles, for example, those poles can support
smart lighting, surveillance cameras and
small cells for 5G network densification.
Ehab Kanary, Vice President of Enterprise,
Middle East and Africa, CommScope
By providing the pole infrastructure and
facilitating permitting, a city can speed
the build-out of fibre-to-the-pole networks
by utility companies or service providers.
By meeting these expectations, 5G will
foster new applications. Large companies
like Netflix and Uber were built because
fibre and 4G mobile wireless infrastructure
were there to support their services. With
its increases in bandwidth and coverage
ubiquity, 5G will drive similar innovations,
but it will rely on fibre for transport to and
from the rest of the city’s network.
Cities are implementing Smart City
applications because they improve efficiency,
reduce costs, generate new sources of
revenue, and most importantly, improve the
lives of their citizens. By planning ahead, using
creative funding approaches, and converging
networks around citywide fibre rollouts, cities
will move forward on the path to becoming
smarter in 2019. n
INTELLIGENTCIO
25