ZTE has completed a 5G New Radio (NR) field test with China Mobile in the Chinese province of Guangdong.
This tests demonstrates ZTE’s readiness to supply large-scale 5G rollouts and take advantage of the unique opportunities posed by standalone 5G in particular.
Network equipment vendors have been promoting their progress in 5G for years. So, when a vendor announces the completion of yet another 5G field test in early 2019 – many months past widespread industry pronouncements that “5G is here!” – it’s easy to casually disregard. It’s also easy to miss the real significance of this activity. Continue reading “ZTE’s 5G Field Test with China Mobile and Why It Matters”→
• At Mobile World Congress, radio access network vendors are likely to promote features that simplify 5G networks, ease their deployment, and optimize their energy consumption.
• Ironically, these features are necessary to tackle problems exacerbated by 5G itself.
Cartoon character Homer Simpson once called alcohol “the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” These days vendors of 5G infrastructure are making similar-sounding claims, as 5G hype has given way to a more, ah, sober reckoning of its implications.
As the telecom industry gathers at this year’s Mobile World Congress, we’re sure to hear that “5G is here!” and “5G is real!” – just as we have in previous years. But as the real-world challenges of 5G deployments draw nearer for operators, RAN vendors will need to devote some messaging to assuaging operators’ fears. In fact, this has already begun, and it takes the form of RAN vendors emphasizing 5G benefits that are, in fact, more like remedies to problems posed by 5G itself. Continue reading “MWC19: 5G Promises to Solve the Problems Caused by, Um, 5G”→
John Byrne – Service Director, Global Technology Telecom and Software
Summary Bullets:
• The wireless industry prepares to converge once again in Barcelona at MWC19.
• In addition to new 5G product and service launches and customer wins, political and financial concerns will serve as significant backdrops this year.
MWC19, the wireless industry’s largest event of the year, kicks off February 25 in Barcelona.
For network infrastructure vendors, MWC19 will serve as a launch point for a host of new products and services. Expect a number of 5G “plumbing”-related announcements from a host of vendors, including:
• Massive MIMO advancements
• Solutions designed to allow operators to support both 4G/LTE and 5G on a common core
• Similarly, flexible and programmable transport solutions that can support a host of to-be-developed 5G network slicing use cases
• Advancements in IoT platforms designed to help network operators do a better job of bringing the “connected X” proposition into a host of enterprises.
However, while 5G will obviously take center stage, as it has for the past three years, politics and financial concerns will serve as significant backdrops for this year’s event.
Huawei has endured a U.S.-backed campaign against it over the past year that has threatened its 5G prospects across the UK, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere. It will need to announce 5G-related deals at this year’s event to signal that it still has the support of a critical mass of the industry to thrive in the 5G era. Given the current urgency around this issue, Huawei will need to address security concerns more directly in its MWC19 messaging. Continue reading “Political Battles and Ongoing Restructurings Serve as Backdrop for MWC19”→
Ciena can now promote Blue Planet as an independent automation solution which can assist operators to create new services, automate service orders, and reduce O&M complexity.
Separating Blue Planet’s priorities from those of Ciena’s equipment business, packet and optical transport, enables it to better address multivendor network transformation opportunities.
Ciena noted in its Q4 2018 financial reporting that several mega trends were affecting its business: an increased need for greater bandwidth and what it termed ‘adaptive automation.’ In a recent (February 2019) blog post, the company announced its intent to form a separate independent operating division focused on providing intelligent automation solutions. A key question is: why establish a separate operating division for Ciena software and services? Continue reading “Ciena Sharpens Its Focus on Network Automation, Creates a Separate Blue Planet Division”→
Last week, Nokia announced a strategy to build out private industrial LTE networks, Ericsson carved out four cellular IoT segments, and Cisco offered solutions to bring ‘intent-based’ networking to the edge.
What do these announcements imply about the future of the IIoT and how should service providers respond?
Last week, three of the most powerful infrastructure and networking equipment vendors made IoT-related announcements, some in conjunction with their Q4 earnings reports. While this clearly denotes how strongly they view IoT as a key growth market, it also brings into question their relationships with the operators which in many cases have been their primary customers. Continue reading “Infrastructure Vendor IoT Strategies: What Impact Do They Have on Service Providers?”→
