News

According to statements from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel)’s president Carlos Baigorri, standalone 5G coverage now reaches almost 46% of the country’s population

Brazil’s road to 5G has been a bumpy one, full of delays, regulatory clashes, and spectrum clearing issues.

But now, just over one year since standalone 5G services were first switched on in the nation’s capital of Brasilia, the nation’s mobile network operators are surging ahead with their infrastructure deployments, with coverage reportedly now reaching almost 46% of the country’s population.

According to figures published by Brazilian consultancy firm Teleco, population coverage for 5G in the 3.5GHz band reached 45.7%, with Vivo covering 40.2%, Claro 39.7%, TIM Brasil 36.8%, and Algar 0.7%.

This encompasses 180 municipalities around the country as of July, up from just eight the same time last year.

The coverage has been achieved via the deployment of 14,796 5G base stations, almost a thousand of which had been deployed between June and July this year.

Achieving this level of coverage in such a short span of time is no small feat. The GSMA recently forecast that Brazil would only reach 47% population coverage by 2025, increasing to 84% by 2030, hence the country is already proceeding far faster than anticipated.

In the same report, the GSMA expected 5G subscribers to increase to 36.2 million by 2025 and 179 million by 2030. As of July, the country currently has just over 10 million 5G subscribers.

“The growing coverage of 5G networks in Brazil should drive take-up of the service, which accounted for around 3% of connections at the end of 2022. 5G adoption will also be supported by the increased availability of 5G smartphones. For example, TIM claimed in September 2022 that 75% of devices on sale in its stores were 5G-ready,” read the GSMA report.

Naturally, this is all very positive for the Brazilian mobile sector, reflecting a group of operators highly committed to modernising their networks and unlocking new services for customers.

Whether the operators can maintain the pace of this rollout, however, is a different story. As is always the case with infrastructure deployments, the most commercially viable areas – typically the largest cities – will be covered first, typically leaving more expensive and complicated hard-to-reach areas for last. Extending 5G coverage to these areas economically represents a challenge even in highly urbanised countries, but in Brazil – where various estimates put the rural population at between 24% and 46% of the total population – reaching the upper percentiles of population coverage will be almost impossible.

In addition to this rural challenge, it is also worth noting that Brazil is notorious for its outdated municipal legislation, which can lead to delays in deploying antennae even in some of the country’s largest cities. Operators have long called for clearer and more uniform rules regarding site deployment, but it is unlikely legislation will be introduced in time to simply the majority of the 5G rollout process.

To conclude, great progress so far for Brazilian 5G, but there are still many challenges to overcome down the road.

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News

Chinese telecoms equipment company is accused by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) of building numerous new chip fabs in China under different company names in order to circumvent US sanctions

According to a report from Bloomberg, Huawei may be seeking to sidestep US sanctions by operating a network of semiconductor facilities under different company names.

U.S. Commerce Department added Huawei to its export control list back in 2019, with the company having been deemed a risk national security risk. As a result of this designation, US companies can now only sell products to Huawei if they are granted specific licences from the government.

Matters were made worse in late October, when President Joe Biden levied additional restrictions on chip technology exports,

Combined, the various sanctions in place have left Huawei largely cut off from accessing US semiconductor technology – a major blow to almost all of Huawei’s core business units, particularly smartphone manufacturing.

Huawei, meanwhile, maintains that they pose no security risk, arguing that they are simply caught in the middle of the geopolitical tug-of-war between China and the US.

Nonetheless, it launched its own semiconductor business last year, seeking to solve its chip supply issues through domestic production.

This move was largely in line with the policies set out by the Chinese government, which has made bolstering its domestic semiconductor research and production industries a major priority in recent years, seeking to remove the industry’s heavy reliance on US tech.

Indeed, these measures appear to be working for Huawei, with the company noting in recent months that they could soon return to the 5G smartphone business by procuring 5G chips domestically.

In fact, according to the SIA, Huawei has received around $30 billion in government subsidies to expand this new business. Using these funds, the SIA says Huawei has already acquired two chip-making facilities and is in the process of building three more.

By operating these businesses under new names – such as Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. and Pengxinwei IC Manufacturing Co. (PXW), in the cases of the acquired plants – Huawei can potentially bypass at least some of the sanctions against them and retain access to key US technologies.

Naturally, such tactics are sure to draw the ire of the US government, who say they are monitoring the situation carefully.

“Given the severe restrictions placed on Huawei, Fujian Jinhua, PXW and others, it is no surprise that they have sought substantial state support to attempt to develop indigenous technologies,” a speaker from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) told Bloomberg. “BIS is continually reviewing and updating its export controls based on the evolving threat environment and, as evidenced by the Oct. 7, 2022 rules, will not hesitate to take appropriate action to protect US national security.”

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The Southwark Crown Court in London has today found an autistic Oxfordshire teenager, Arion Kurtaj (18), responsible for having hacked a number of major companies – including, among others, broadband ISP and mobile giant BT (EE)- while acting as a member of the wider Lapsus$ hacking group. The jury concluded that Kurtaj, who due to […]

The CEO of UK ISP Zen Internet, Richard Tang, has today published a new video interview with the CEO of network builder Netomnia (inc. sibling ISP YouFibre), Jeremy Chelot, which reveals a lot of useful information about the coverage of their alternative Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, costs, take-up and future targets. Just to recap. Netomnia, which […]

Telecoms giant BT (EE) and network supplier Nokia claim to have pushed mobile broadband upload speeds to over 230Mbps on a new trial network, which operated by harnessing the uplink aggregation of two carrier components in live spectrum for a 5G Standalone (SA) network. Combining multiple radio bands together to boost mobile data speeds and […]

VIEWPOINT

Fiber broadband technology evolution is not really about technology: it is about business opportunity. Successive generations of PON technology have increased performance levels, providing the opportunity for PON to deliver unbeatable residential services and go beyond residential broadband into higher ARPU 10G services for businesses, factories, mobile backhaul, smart cities, and more.

In the UK, for example, there are more than 50 altnets building fiber networks. Competition is driving down residential broadband prices to as little as £25 per month in central London. Interestingly, Gigabit business services with a reasonable level of service agreement creates 10x more revenues, at around £270 per month. So, by adding only three business customers, a service provider can roughly double their income on a PON. Take that service level up to 10Gb/s, and ARPU goes beyond £700 per month.

10G opportunities are here today and make for an extremely compelling ROI for fiber network operators. So, what is the best way to deliver 10G?

Until recently, that speed could only be delivered by point-to-point (P2P) fiber. P2P is more costly than PON: it requires more equipment, more real estate, more fiber cabling, and consumes more energy. P2P is also an overlay network, so operators end up running both PON and P2P, which increases costs. Hence, there is a growing appetite for converging business services onto PON networks.

How can this be done successfully? XGS-PON (10G symmetrical PON) networks are becoming more widely deployed, already delivering multi-gigabit connectivity to businesses worldwide. But XGS-PON cannot reach true 10Gb/s because its capacity is limited to 8.5Gb/s due to standard specified overhead. The good news is that XGS-PON can easily run faster with 25G PON, delivering true 10G speeds and beyond from the same hardware that is being deployed today for XGS-PON. And this is already happening. There are now 1 million PON lines worldwide capable of 25G PON, enabling operators to address 10G opportunities very efficiently, and that number is growing fast.

More good news is that 25G PON can be complemented with 50G PON in the future, because the two technologies can co-exist. This will enable the delivery of even higher speeds to more customers, but that is not quite the case yet.

A fully mature 50G symmetrical solution ready for volume deployments will take many more years. Unlike 25G PON which is a straightforward evolution from the current solutions, 50G PON is a technology leap involving a new generation of components that need to mature and reach high volumes to become cost-effective. In addition, the migration to 50G PON requires the introduction of new hardware, which takes time and money. The first demonstrations of 50G PON are asymmetrical with 50Gb/s in downstream and 25Gb/s in upstream. Business services are defined as symmetric, so asymmetrical 50G PON brings no advantage over 25G PON. And finally, since both symmetrical and asymmetrical 50G PON variants share the same wavelengths, operators will need to consider swapping all 50G ONTs when they introduce the symmetrical variant. The industry has seen this kind of issue before with 10G PON, which was one of the reasons operators skipped asymmetrical XG-PON and preferred to wait for symmetrical XGS-PON.

So, is it worth considering 50G PON? Absolutely! But it doesn’t mean you have to make hard decisions between 25G PON and 50G PON, because one doesn’t exclude the other. Every operator should evaluate if they can afford to wait for fully mature and deployable symmetric 50G PON, or address the real opportunities today with 25G PON, while having an open path to 50G PON in the future.

25G PON is the most optimized solution for 10G era, and here’s why:

It is available, mature and being deployed today. No need to wait and lose opportunities to competitors.
It is easy to introduce. The OLTs and line cards in use today for GPON and XGS-PON can also support 25G PON. It’s just a case of plugging in the 25G transceiver.
There’s huge capacity for 10G business services and beyond, with enough bandwidth left over for residential broadband and mobile backhaul.
It’s the most power efficient technology for the 10G era. 25G PON delivers a 10-fold capacity boost over GPON for only a 2.5-fold power increase, consuming 0.25 watts per gigabit. 25G PON’s limited power consumption allows an ONU to be integrated in an SFP form factor (aka ONU on stick) for business and mobile transport applications, while this is not sure for 50G PON.
Backward compatibility with GPON and XGS-PON and forward compatibility with 50G PON make for assured migration paths.
It’s cost-efficient as 25G optics and electronics are mature, with component prices coming down faster than 10G components. Since 25G PON is available on existing hardware, there is very little additional investment to be made.

The industry’s experience with GPON also tells us about commercial sweet spots. Operators successfully deploy 1 Gigabit services on 2.5G GPON networks. This 1:2.5 ratio holds true for 10G business services on 25G PON.

As ever, the decision on which technology an operator will adopt comes down to the business case: when does an operator need it, and at what cost. With 25G PON offering an immediate path into highly lucrative 10G business services, the return on an investment in 25G PON looks highly appealing. All the benefits now, while leaving an open path to symmetrical 50G PON in the future.

Learn more about our 25G PON solution.

This article was written by Ana Pesovic
Ana heads the Fixed Networks Fiber marketing activities in Nokia. She built up extensive international telecom experience, with positions in sales, pre-sales and R&D in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and India. Ana has a Masters Degree in Informatics and Computer Science from the University of Belgrade. As member of the Board of Directors of the FTTH Council Europe, she’s a strong advocate of Fiber.

Nokia are Diamond sponsors of Connected Britain being held at ExCel London on the 20-21 September 2023. Get your ticket here

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News

The move leaves rival operators Bell and Telus’ customers without access to connectivity on the subway, with network access negotiations proving contentious

This week, Canadian mobile operator Rogers Communications has announced that it has begun offering customers 5G services on part of the Toronto subway system.

The new 5G network will initially be available on parts of both Line 1 and Line 2 as outlined here:

On Line 1: All stations and tunnels in the Downtown U; plus Spadina and Dupont stations.

On Line 2: Thirteen stations from Keele to Castle Frank; plus the tunnels between St. George and Yonge stations.

Extending the network to the entirety of the subway system, which spans 75 subway stations and nearly 80km of track, is expected to take around two years to complete.

Alongside offering greater speeds and coverage for customers, new network upgrades will also help to increase the availability and reliability of 911 service calls throughout the system.

“Toronto is a world-class city and TTC riders deserve a transit system with world-class cellular service,” said Tony Staffieri, President and CEO of Rogers Communications. “That’s why Rogers stepped up to do what’s right for Toronto transit riders. We’re working hard to modernize and expand the network so all riders can reliably access 911 and connect to 5G everywhere across the subway system, including underground. Today is an important milestone, and we’re just getting started.”

Back in April, Rogers announced that it would acquire BAI Communication’s Canadian operations, which held the exclusive rights to build the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)’s wireless network. Rogers said the acquisition would allow them to deploy a 5G network across the subway system, greatly improving service quality for customers and improving access to emergency services.

However, the deal was immediately controversial, with Rogers’ rivals Bell and Telus raising concerns that they would essentially be blocked from serving customers on TTC.

Despite Rogers’ attempts to assuage these fears, saying that they would work together with the other operators, Bell and Telus quickly urged the local authorities to mandate immediate access for all carriers on the new network.

Negotiations between the three companies regarding network access began quickly but made slow process. As a result, in July, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne launched a consultation on how to resolve the situation, hoping to accelerate the process.

Now, Rogers is beginning to activate its network before this consultation has concluded, giving its customers access to the network while Bell and Telus customers will be forced to wait.

Rogers has consistently argued against suggestions that it should wait for negotiations with its fellow telcos to conclude before offering its services to customers on the subway, saying that to do so would cause lengthy and unnecessary delays and disruption for customers.

“Depriving customers of service in this manner would prioritize the interests of certain carriers over consumers,” Rogers said in its submission to the federal department. “It would also reward tactical self-serving manoeuvring by Bell and Telus who did not show any interest in providing wireless services in the TTC until Rogers stepped up to make the investments needed to modernise and expand the TTC wireless network.”

But Telus and Bell, on the other hand, argue that move is anticompetitive, potentially disincentivising Rogers from reaching a fair and equitable network access deal.

“Importantly, allowing Rogers to gain a head start in deploying wireless services would create an imbalanced landscape and diminish the incentive for it to negotiate and establish agreements with other licensees,” said Telus in a government filing.

“If Rogers is already operating with a competitive edge, it may be less motivated to engage in meaningful negotiations and reach mutually beneficial agreements with other licensees. This not only hampers healthy competition but also hinders the ability of TTC riders to access a diverse range of wireless services, thereby limiting consumer choice.”

What impact this network activation will ultimately have on negotiations remains to be seen, but it is sure to only worsen the bad blood between Canada’s mobile giants.

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Press Release

 Viavi Solutions Inc. today announced the availability of base station and end-to-end testing supporting Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and High Altitude Platforms (HAPs). Wireless technologies are increasingly augmenting traditional terrestrial communication networks, with satellite communications helping to provide near-complete coverage. The VIAVI TM500 and TeraVM test platforms validate the conformance, performance and reliability of gNodeBs and entire networks under the unique service link conditions of NTN and HAPs networks.

3GPP Release 17 specifications formally introduced support and guidelines for NTNs, with subsequent releases expected to continue to refine the standards. These specifications will help improve the performance of NTNs, allow them to converge with terrestrial telecoms networks and enable support across existing 5G mobile handsets and chipsets. A VIAVI analysis estimated that the growth in satellite communications will result in approximately 30,000 new satellites orbiting the Earth, significantly expanding the potential of NTNs to provide universal coverage.

Satellite communication in 5G brings another level of complexity for testing. NTNs need to be reliable to cope with the distance, speed and mobility of both satellite, HAPs and User Equipment (UE), while still delivering on performance. Test solutions are not only required to emulate different UE mobility and fading profiles, but they must also take the large doppler shifts from fast-moving satellites and airborne platforms into consideration.

To validate the base station prior to non-terrestrial deployment, the TM500 can emulate a high volume of devices, new mobility patterns, signal propagation delays, and other conditions unique to NTN while TeraVM emulates the core network. This test scenario is ideal for early functional tests such as 3GPP protocol testing and can be applied to both regenerative and transparent architectures. Further test scenarios are focused on testing and optimizing the network end-to-end, using a real core to validate the performance and reliability of the entire network.

“NTNs offer new opportunities and partnerships for mobile and satellite operators and the exciting potential to offer connectivity to both underserved and over-populated areas as well as support mission-critical applications,” said Ian Langley, Senior Vice President, Wireless Business Unit, VIAVI. “However, amidst the growing interest and race to deploy these networks, it’s vital that reliability, stability, and performance testing are done to ensure success.”

How is the rise of non-terrestrial networks transforming the telecoms sector? Join the global operator community in discussion at this year’s live Total Telecom Congress

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News

The ASA had received complaints from the likes of Vodafone and Three UK that questioned EE’s claims that it had “the number one network for 5G”

Today, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued a ruling banning a number of historic 5G-related ads from EE.

The investigation was initiated after the ASA received complaints from Vodafone, Three UK, and a member of the public, who disputed EE’s advertising claims that the operator owned the ‘UK’s No.1 5G network’.

The complainants primarily argued that the adverts did not make the metrics behind their claims of superiority clear enough for consumers, either by not including the relevant information or not adequately directing consumers towards further information.

Ultimately, the ASA upheld the majority of these complaints, saying that several adds “did not provide sufficient information to allow consumers to understand the comparison”, while in others “the amount of information provided about the testing methodology was not sufficient”.

As a result, the ASA has banned the ads from being used again – a task that will not be too arduous for EE, since the last time the ads in question were used was August 2020.

“The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told EE Ltd to ensure that the basis of any comparative claims was presented clearly. We also told them to ensure that ads provided sufficient information to enable consumers to verify comparisons with identifiable competitors or adequately signposted consumers to such information,” read the ASA’s ruling.

Why it took so long for the ASA to complete its investigation is unclear, but the ruling coming almost three years after the ads were last used means it amounts to little more than telling EE to be more careful in future.

Clashes between the operators over advertising claims of 5G superiority are nothing new. Back in 2020, Three saw a number of its adverts banned due to the misleading nature of its slogan ‘if it’s not Three, it’s not real 5G’. That same year, the ASA also banned a number of ads from EE, finding fault with the company’s claim that their 5G network was ‘unrivalled’ and ‘unbeatable’, as well as claims of being the UK’s ‘No. 1 network’.

In somewhat related news, the ASA also banned some adverts from ISP 6G Internet, saying that the combination of the company’s name and advertising could lead customers to believe they could purchase 6G mobile services, which do not yet exist.

What’s next for 5G in the UK? Join the operators in discussion at Connected Britain, the UK’s largest digital economy event

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