The recent global economic slowdown has inevitably hindered investment and rollout of 5G networks. As we all know, the deployment of 5G networks requires a lot of money, and its operation requires a lot of electricity. In a global economy, these costs can be recouped by increasing the additional fees users pay for a high-performance network. But in today's economy, users themselves are under pressure to cut costs.
As a result, there have been reports of mobile network operators delaying the construction of 5G networks and scaling back their plans. Still, CommScope doesn't want to dwell on these headwinds here, as the development of 5G in the coming year is confident.
The overall construction of 5G may be delayed, but it will not deviate from the track
There have been two major changes (which are likely to accelerate in 2024): 5G base station simplifications that can reduce costs, and new disruptive business use cases that leverage the unique capabilities of 5G networks.
The combination of these two factors is likely to bring new energy and enthusiasm to this technology, which is expected to remain the foundation of wireless connectivity for at least the next decade or two. So, I think the next year will prove that 5G may be delayed, but it will never go off track.
Simplify and reduce costs
The initial phase of 5G network deployment uses non-standalone (NSA) networks, which use existing LTE networks to provide mobile networks and generate signals, taking advantage of the benefits of this approach to accelerate rollout. But it also adds complexity to the design of base stations, and in the wireless networking world, "complexity" is really just another word for "cost."
As a result, this overlapping NSA network architecture had to be compromised, and the technology did not work as advertised when it was first released. To truly simplify network architectures in the future, MNOs can no longer rely on the design of earlier network technologies. And thanks to some recent innovations in the industry, they don't need to do that anymore. Some of the measures to reduce complexity and cost include:
Combines active and passive RF technologies into a new antenna design in a streamlined, integrated form factor。Not only does this antenna reduce the size and weight of overhead deployments, but it also increases flexibility for MNOs when designing their networks because 5G and LTE networks can operate side-by-side with little to no impact on performance. These integrated designs can also reduce wind loads at the top of towers, or eliminate the need for costly load-bearing structural upgrades to support the addition of new 5G components, reducing the cost of upgrades per base station by tens of thousands of dollars.
As MNOs swap out the most expensive and powerful 64T64R MMIMO solution on macro base stations for the more economical 32T32R MMIMORationally adjusting the scale of 5G construction can better balance costs and revenuesto reduce deployment costs without impacting the 5G services currently required. In addition, the 64T64R and 32T32R MMIMOs used on macro cells and the 16T16R MMIMOs used in small cells can be replaced with an optimized 8T8R passive solution for further cost savings.
With the increase in the penetration of 5G devices and the emergence of the most valuable use cases, the transition of 5G networks from NSA architecture to standalone (SA) architecture。This will enable the network to evolve towards cloud-native deployments, reducing the cost per base station device while improving the power consumption and service delivery of the network through AI (e.g., through the use of network slicing).
These emerging improvements all address the cost challenges of 5G deployment, making it easier for MNOs to start, continue, or accelerate rollouts.
Of course, even smarter, modest investments can become unreasonable if the market is unwilling to bear the costs of adopting new features. Fortunately, a second key factor that will emerge in 2024 will also help to solve this problem.
New 5G Business Use Case – Private Networks
5G has many unique performance characteristics, starting with its amazing speed, huge capacity, and ultra-low latency. But in some ways, the performance of 5G seems to have surpassed some of the needs it needs to meet. For example, although the latency of 1ms is very impressive, there are very few applications that really need it. High performance is undoubtedly driving the development of high-demand applications, but it will take some time for these applications to reach the market.
That being said, some new business use cases are emerging that consider 5G as the preferred and even essential technology platform, even if they don't need to achieve a latency of 1ms. Enterprises, large public places, tourism distribution centers and other large indoor, outdoor, and indoor and outdoor combination places are increasingly interested in wireless private networks, and these places often have a large network traffic.
Compared to LTE, 5G gains capacity and throughput advantages by using a combination of higher spectrum and more powerful wireless systems (MMIMO). It is no coincidence that the first 5G devices were installed in more urban environments, but because it is only in these environments that 5G networks can most effectively deliver high traffic densities. However, due to link budget constraints, 5G is difficult to connect from outdoor macro base stations to indoor users who contribute most of the traffic. Indoor small cells and DAS solutions can solve this problem by backhauling indoor traffic to the core, but another discrete 5G network, the private 5G network, has also emerged.
With an internal 5G network, businesses (or airports, hospitals, stadiums, etc.) can provide security and privacy over a 5G connection that goes beyond ordinary Wi-Fi. Users can enjoy the speed and capacity of 5G, which can only be guaranteed indoors, while taking advantage of the security of end-to-end encryption to protect voice, email, text, and** activity on connected devices.
In fact, the security benefits of private 5G networks will only grow in the coming years. After 2024, it is expected that the advent of quantum-secure cryptography (QSC) (perhaps in another five or ten years) will dramatically increase the strength of encryption, making current encryption methods obsolete. To that end, the GSMA established the Quantum-Secure Telecommunications Networks Working Group last year to develop strong regulatory standards for the future use of such cryptography.
Private 5G networks will be one of the most anticipated new business use cases for 5G, and the market is still in its infancy. In 2024, global interest and investment in this safe, high-performance technology is set to grow substantially.
5G is set for a brighter year
The global economy and the dynamic international situation may slow down the overall construction of 5G, but it has by no means stopped it. 5G technology has broad prospects and many advantages, and will not be suppressed in the long run. As far as the Chinese market is concerned, as of November 2023, China has built a total of 328 5G base stations20,000, 5G is also increasingly empowering all walks of life. And this year, 5G networks will continue to move forward, thanks to base station architecture optimization measures that reduce costs and interest in private 5G networks.
Today, 6G is still evolving, and 5G will be the foundation of wireless networks for at least the next decade. Therefore, the current headwinds will not prevent 5G from reaching its full potential in the long term; On the contrary, these changes are likely to lead us in a new direction in 2024 that is only beginning to gain traction now.