Unveiling a fresh milestone, the UAE’s TDRA has concluded phase two of its 5G Advanced trials, achieving a staggering 10 Gbps speed. This development, achieved in collaboration with operators e& and du, utilized the full potential of the 400 MHz bandwidth in the 6 GHz band. This accelerates the data transfer rate, vastly enhancing capacities for IoT, smart city projects, and metaverse evolution.
Significant strides are being made in Slovakia’s telecommunications sector with O2 Slovakia and Slovak Telekom finalizing an eagerly anticipated network sharing agreement. Ultimately expected to lower costs and enhance service quality, this move notably excludes Bratislava and Košice, with both operators maintaining their separate networks in these areas.
In a strategic move, 1&1 penetrates the German 5G market through a new agreement with Vodafone, leaving Telefonica potentially at a loss. Details of the agreement, such as leveraging on Vodafone’s robust 5G, 2G, and 4G networks, and potential future technologies, raise various possibilities for 1&1’s continued growth.
Despite the seemingly lagging global investment in standalone 5G networks, promising trends in the telecom sector indicate an upcoming surge. With minimal progress indicated by Global Mobile Suppliers Association’s statistics, the industry pins hopes on major moves from operators like New Zealand’s Spark and Vodafone. Meanwhile, the increasing adoption of 5G SA in private networks for various sectors shows an encouraging forecast. The journey towards profitable 5G investments seems complex, yet strides are being made in the right direction.
As T-Mobile launches its 5G SA network slicing beta, it offers a unique window of opportunity to developers, aiming to improve video calling applications. With the rising demand for such apps in the remote work era, developers leveraging the tailored network slices could unlock applications showcasing faster speeds, decreased latency, and better reliability. As some experts express high hopes for the potential of network slicing, could this move revolutionize telecommunications amidst the surge in hybrid work?
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) plans to invest £40m in converting local and regional authorities into ‘5G Innovation Regions.’ The funding will support regions with solid strategies to leverage 5G and wireless tech for sectors such as agriculture and transportation. One potential application is using 5G-powered drones to gather field data, enabling farmers to make efficient, informed decisions.
T-Mobile has taken a bold step forward in the world of 5G technology, initiating the rollout of its latest innovation that promises lightning-fast speeds of up to 3.3Gbps. The breakthrough is achieved through carrier aggregation, a technique that combines four distinct 5G channels into one for compatible devices. At present, only Samsung’s newer Galaxy S23 phones are capable of harnessing this impressive speed boost.
In a remarkable stride, Bharti Airtel has connected over 20 million IoT devices via its B2B branch, Airtel Business, amid India’s 5G evolution. This permits a vast assortment of IoT features offered through multiple connectivity mediums. Major deals have propelled Airtel to surpass a key milestone. Moreover, the Airtel IoT platform facilitates enterprises to manage their IoT connections via the Airtel IoT Hub.
In an exciting leap forward for 5G technology in Europe, Ericsson and O2 Telefónica in Germany have joined forces to accomplish a remarkable feat in the development of 5G Cloud RAN technology. Their groundbreaking Proof of Concept (PoC) deployment at O2 Telefónica’s Wayra innovation hub in Munich showcased the immense capabilities of Ericsson’s first 5G Cloud RAN installation on the continent. The PoC utilized cutting-edge mmWave frequency and a centralized control unit (CU), achieving an impressive end-to-end speed of over 4 gigabits per second.
In a recently revealed Q2 report, Nokia showed flat sales at €5.7 billion year over year, suggesting reduced capital expenditure by operators. Interestingly, while a 5% sales growth in Nokia’s Mobile Networks unit occurred, a troubling 6% decline at the Network Infrastructure division offset this boost. With stark contrasts across regions, North American sales notably dropped by 42% as 5G deployments slowed, while energetic 5G deployments in India couldn’t adequately balance the losses. Mirroring these figures, Ericsson too reported a 9% year over year decrease in Q2 revenue. A gloomy yet realistic outlook from Nokia’s CEO Pekka Lundmark, coupled with analyst firm Dell’Oro’s forecast on the shrinking RAN predictions, suggests telecommunications could be in for a turbulent few years.
