Spectrum, mobile & wireless update November 2017

5G developments:

• The 2017 Autumn Budget included a range of measures to support the development of 5G and full-fibre broadband in the UK; see this previous post for further details.
• The European Union 5G Public Private Partnership (5GPPP) published Version 2.0 of its 5G Pan-EU Trials Roadmap, including “the latest up-dates of the Roadmap strategy, the 5G Private Trials, the 5G Platforms, the 5G Vertical Pilots, the 5G Pan-EU Flagship event 5G for UEFA EURO 2020 and the 5G Trials Cities.” Trials cities include 5G Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bari, Berlin, Espoo, L'Aquila, London, Madrid, Malaga, Matera, Milan, Oulu, Patras, Prato, Stockholm, Tallinn and Turin.
• Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report predicted that there will be 1 billion 5G subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband by 2023. 5G will cover over 20 percent of the world’s population by the same date. The first commercial networks based on 5G New Radio (NR) are expected to go live in 2019, with major deployments from 2020. Early 5G deployments are foreseen in several markets, including the US, South Korea, Japan and China.
• Verizon announced it is to launch 5G residential broadband services in three to five US markets in 2018. The first commercial launch is planned to be in Sacramento, California, in the second half of 2018.
• BBC Research and Development published a blog post on what 5G might mean for audiences and how it could enable the delivery of new content experiences currently being developed by the BBC, such as Ultra-High Definition (UHD) video, 360 and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, object-based media and more.
• EE demonstrated 2.8Gbit/s download speeds across an end-to-end 5G test network in its UK mobile lab, in partnership with Huawei.
• The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced additional steps to make available spectrum above 24 GHz, including an additional 1700 megahertz of millimetre wave (mmW) spectrum for terrestrial 5G wireless use.
• CCS Insight reported that the average UK mobile subscriber could use as much as 18GB of data per month in 2021, a sevenfold increase from the current average of 2.5GB per month. Continuing network enhancements and Improvements to LTE coverage and capacity are important steps in the shift to 5G, for which the first networks are expected in the UK in 2020.

WiFi news:

• PublicTechnology reported on the Connectivity over London scheme where 13 public bodies including a range of councils, NHS trusts, and universities are uniting to share the wireless bandwidth they are provided by the Govroam and eduroam services.
• The European Commission announced that the Connecting Europe Facility Telecom Work Programme had been amended to accommodate the first call for applications for the WiFi4EU initiative. The WiFi4EU initiative will “support public sector bodies to offer wireless connectivity in the centres of local public life (e.g. public administrations premises, schools, libraries, health centres, museums, public parks and squares) that is free of charge and without discriminatory conditions as an ancillary service to their public mission.”
• CCS Insight published an update on multi-gigabit WiFi developments: IEEE 802.11ad is the successor to 802.11ac and uses millimetre-wave spectrum in the 60 GHz band to offer speeds up to 4.6 Gbit/s. Also see this update on IEEE 802.11ax from NCTA.

Other developments:

• ISP Review reported that the Court of Appeal had upheld and challenge by UK mobile operators to Ofcom’s increases to the annual licence fees for the 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum bands used to deliver 3G and 4G mobile services. The Treasury may have to issue a £300m refund to operators as a result.
• EE announced its new “Time on 4G” measure of customer network experience, which shows the percentage of time a customer is connected to 4G – rather than 3G or 2G – when using the EE mobile network, as well as helping to identify areas that need additional network investment.
• BBC News reported an experiment by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which used anonymised mobile phone data to build up a picture of people’s daily commutes. Statisticians believe such approaches could one day replace census questions in England and Wales.
• Nominet and Broadway Partners announced the next phase of their rollout of TV white space (TVWS) broadband technology, with installations beginning around Loch Ness in Scotland (further background here and here).
• CCS Insight reported on Gigabit LTE, predicting that deployments and coverage are set to grow substantially. The technology offers the potential for “improving average throughput, increasing network efficiency, reducing congestion and enhancing the experience for all network users.”
• AT&T announced the deployment of commercial LTE-Licensed Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) technologies in select parts of downtown Indianapolis. The technology offers theoretical peak speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s.
• Transport for London announced that following successful trials over the summer it will begin tendering for a service provider in the new year to deliver 4G mobile coverage on the London Underground from 2019 (further background here).
• uSwitch reported that three in ten UK mobile users suffer patchy or no call reception at home. Four in ten (43%) have had calls cutting out, and 37% have suffered no reception at all when trying to make or take calls at home.
• Cambridge Broadband Networks (CBNL) published its 2017 UK Enterprise Broadband Index based on a survey of 200 businesses. Eighty-nine percent of said they would consider switching to wireless broadband, demonstrating “the enormous market opportunity that exists for disruptive wireless carriers.” Every respondent admitted that poor broadband has negatively impacted their performance over the last two years.
• BBC News reported on the pilot of 24-hour service offering NHS patients GP consultations via smartphones. The GP at hand service will initially cover 3.5 million patients in greater London and includes online healthcare provider Babylon as a partner.