OTTAWA – With a winter storm blowing outside, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association hosted 300 delegates for its third 5G Conference at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
The focus of this year’s event was the tremendous potential for 5G to impact all sectors of the Canadian economy. Delegates were provided with the current status of 5G and what it means for Canada.
Touting Canada’s position as a “4G Superpower”, CWTA president and CEO Robert Ghiz emphasised that Canada is well positioned for the launch of 5G. That said, numerous challenges remain as the next generation of wireless technology ramps up.
Tejas Rao, managing director and global 5G lead for consultancy Accenture, provided an international update, saying 2019 will see the first commercial 5G launches, with large scale commercial deployments then expected in 2020. In his view, Asia and the U.S. are leading in the race to 5G. Japan, for example, is focused on 5G deployment for the 2020 Olympics.
Rao noted that U.S. carriers are making large scale 5G investments. Dark fibre is being deployed to scale 5G. Carriers are merging to combine and leverage spectrum holdings. 5G capable smartphones are expected to become available in the second-half of 2019.
Network densification is a key enabler of 5G and Accenture’s analysis concludes that, in the States, small cell densification will see sites grow to 800,000 from the estimated 150,000 sites today. Not surprisingly, the prime regulatory considerations in the U.S. are focused on rules to accelerate small cell site deployment. (Ed note: This is a key issue for Canadian carriers who have urged the Broadcast and Telecom Leglislative Review panel to make sure municipalities and local hydros can’t block deployment, or demand too much money.)
Also according to Rao, “latency is a new currency in 5G”. Network latency will be one of the main drivers of 5G use case development. He noted that today, consumers are used to paying for data buckets. In the future, perhaps, people will be willing to pay for low latency.
The Canadian update was provided by Bruce Rodin, VP wireless networks at Bell; Arnold Abramowitz, VP access network engineering for Rogers; and Brian O'Shaughnessy, SVP and CTO at Freedom Mobile.
Rodin explained Bell’s initial focus is on enhanced mobile broadband. Other key focuses are mission-critical services (which rely on 5G’s low latency) and massive internet of things (with 5G providing a foundation for a proliferation of low cost IoT devices). He added, 5G is required to continue the evolution of the speed and performance of current networks.
On the spectrum side, Rodin emphasised the importance of utilizing 3.5 GHz spectrum to support better broadband now (fixed wireless), and then using the spectrum to pave the way for 5G. He stressed that ISED’s 3500 MHz auction will be very important.
Bell has 5G trials underway in communities representing both dense urban and low-density rural environments, as well as specific hubs for tests with self-driving cars and other applications.
So, is Canada lagging behind in the 5G race? Maybe, when you look at the timing of the availability of 5G spectrum in Canada.
O'Shaughnessy explained how, up until now, mobile has been about enhanced services for individuals, but he described 5G as “a service with multiple personalities.” 5G will offer better broadband; lower latency; the delivery of automation (especially industrial automation at first); and massive connectivity – millions of IoT devices. O’Shaughnessy cautioned that the real 5G applications have yet to be discovered. (RCI CEO Joe Natale said late last year that most 5G business plans are primarily still just Power Point presentations.)
Shaw has completed preliminary 5G trials at 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz. The trials demonstrated that carriers can use hardware that is already deployed in the current 4G networks, with software upgrades for 5G software.
Rogers has begun testing 5G, leveraging the Rogers Centre in Toronto as a test bed, according to Abramowitz. Rogers has performed multiple 5G tests including a virtual reality baseball toss, virtually shopping in a retail store and controlling robots with real-time responsiveness.
For Abramowitz, growth in mobile data traffic is the key driver to 5G. Mobile data traffic will grow five-fold from 2016-2021, a compound annual growth rate of 38%.
The investments for 5G were described by Abramowitz as fitting into three key areas: fibre; network densification; and spectrum. These categories are consistent with those identified by Rao. Abramowitz stressed that the first step is the expansion of the 4G network, noting that Rogers is upgrading its LTE network to be the foundation for the deployment of 5G. He characterized 4G as being a user demand model, whereas 5G will be a real-time economy.
So, is Canada lagging behind in the 5G race? Maybe, when you look at the timing of the availability of 5G spectrum in Canada. However, the panelists emphasized the road to 5G is a transition from current networks. O’Shaughnessy explained that the operators are addressing 5G enablers now, so that they will be ready when 5G spectrum and compatible devices become available.
Rodin noted some differences between the U.S. and Canadian approaches to 5G; Canada is focused on mid-band spectrum, whereas American operators are focused on millimetre wave spectrum. In four years, we will be at the same place, according to Rodin. As explained by Abramowitz, the first step of the transition is underway with the expansion and upgrades to the 4G networks.
