Cloud computing, automated technologies and the emergence of 5G networks are coming together to help to connect devices across diverse global networks.
The age of the Internet of Things (IoT) is upon us, and it’s little surprise that a number of organisations are jumping on the bandwagon. IoT helps to connect us to the digital world, paving the way for enhanced customer experiences, improved processes and better operational efficiencies. Its potential is reflected in the fact that the global IoT market is set to be worth a staggering $1.5 trillion by 2030.
However, the ability to leverage the benefits of IoT implementation may not be as straightforward as initially thought for a number of organisations. Businesses must take a plethora of considerations into account, including the storage needed to power applications, the restrictions posed by legacy systems and the need to mitigate threats to sensitive data. Firstly however, they must ensure that the right infrastructure foundations are in place.
It’s all about data
Modernising cumbersome IT infrastructures is key, as is the need to migrate systems to the cloud to be able to fully utilise connected devices. Low latency and low cost is an imperative for businesses to fully embrace IoT, but can prove difficult to achieve. A solid infrastructural foundation is needed for huge volumes of data to be ingested in real-time. In addition, bandwidth must be sufficient to enable big data analysis and drive decision-making, with this capability gaining new significance as IoT data processing moves to the edge.
Legacy systems frequently prove to be a blocker to increased scalability and flexibility, as many products integrated over ten years ago are unlikely to possess the agility required to process, store and analyse significantly higher volumes of unstructured data. Simultaneously, understanding of IoT technology is still limited in a number of businesses, leading to hesitation and hindrances in digital transformation progress.
To ensure best utilisation of IoT, today’s data centre colocation providers are leading the way in delivering the right solutions. For example, they can provide methods to organise big data and enable low-cost connectivity, as well as share knowledge to businesses that may be unsure of the best strategy and therefore help them to navigate the implementation successfully.
Moving forward with colocation
Colocation data centres are ideally suited to bringing the benefits of IoT to businesses. For example, colocation can both enable and facilitate the connections needed to support IoT use cases, while also ensuring that sensitive data is protected. This is due to optimum levels of protection against the growing threat of cyber attacks by sophisticated malicious actors.
The benefits of colocation are evolving. For factories, supply chains, power grids, distributed products and even entire cities, it is now becoming the most efficient and flexible way to both manage and analyse significant amounts of IoT sensor data. No longer a hope for the future, smart cities are now very much real, with IoT bringing utilities, services, security and transportation together in a number of locations. Colocation providers are some of the organisations helping to make them a reality.
With businesses that have embraced IoT, network connectivity will need to grow in tandem. This means that an interconnected mesh of international and regional access hubs will be needed to enable hybrid cloud benefits through colocation networking. The ultimate intention is to ensure that data can move from each location to the next with limited costs involved for connectivity charges.
Unlocking IoT value
Opting for the right colocation data centre provider will enable organisations to make best use of the edge and enable their customers to benefit through use of IoT and cloud solutions. With so many of the IoT platforms and applications today being ‘as-a-Service’ and ‘cloud first’ by nature, moving data in the cloud will be a crucial first step to access the benefits, particularly as the number of IoT platforms and application providers continue to expand.
Organisations are then able to leverage the capability provided by colocation providers to utilise ‘anytime, anywhere’ interconnectivity alongside cloud-based storage and compute technologies. It’s this comprehensive infrastructure that will prove to be the key in being able to combine the digital and physical worlds and make best use of IoT devices.
As 5G continues to roll out, work is already well underway on its successor. 6G wireless technology brings with it a promise for a better future. Among other goals, 6G technology intends to merge the human, physical, and digital worlds. In doing so, there is a hope that 6G can significantly aid in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This article answers some of the most common questions surrounding 6G and provides more insight into the vision for 6G and how it will achieve these critical goals.
1. What is 6G?
In a nutshell, 6G is the sixth generation of the wireless communications standard for cellular networks that will succeed today’s 5G (fifth generation). The research community does not expect 6G technology to replace the previous generations, though. Instead, they will work together to provide solutions that enhance our lives.
While 5G will act as a building block for some aspects of 6G, other aspects need to be new for it to meet the technical demands required to revolutionize the way we connect to the world in a fashion.
The first area of improvement is speed. In theory, 5G can achieve a peak data rate of 20 Gbps even though the highest speeds recorded in tests so far are around 8 Gbps. In 6G, as we move to higher frequencies – above 100 GHz – the goal peak data rate will be 1,000 Gbps (1 Tbps), enabling use cases like volumetric video and enhanced virtual reality experiences.
In addition to speed, 6G technology will add another crucial advantage: extremely low latency. That means a minimal delay in communications, which will play a pivotal role in unleashing the internet of things (IoT) and industrial applications.
6G technology will enable tomorrow’s IoT through enhanced connectivity. Today’s 5G can handle one million devices connected simultaneously per square kilometer (or 0.38 square miles), but 6G will make that figure jump up to 10 million.
But 6G will be much more than just faster data rates and lower latency. Below we discuss some of the new technologies that will shape the next generation of wireless communications.
2. Who will use 6G technology and what are the use cases?
We began to see the shift to more machine-to-machine communication in 5G, and 6G looks to take this to the next level. While people will be end users for 6G, so will more and more of our devices. This shift will affect daily life as well as businesses and entire industries in a transformational way.
Beyond faster browsing for the end user, we can expect immersive and haptic experiences to enhance human communications. Ericsson, for example, foresees the emergence of the “internet of senses,” the possibility to feel sensations like a scent or a flavor digitally. According to one Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN) report, holographic telepresence and volumetric video – think of it as video in 3D – will also be a use case. This is all so that virtual, mixed, and augmented reality could be part of our everyday lives.
However, 6G technology will likely have a bigger impact on business and industry – benefiting us, the end users, as a result. With the ability to handle millions of connections simultaneously, machines will have the power to perform tasks they cannot do today.
The NGMN report anticipates that 6G networks will enable hyper-accurate localization and tracking. This could bring advancements like allowing drones and robots to deliver goods and manage manufacturing plants, improving digital health care and remote health monitoring, and enhancing the use of digital twins.
Digital twin development will be an interesting use case to keep an eye on. It is an important tool that certain industries can use to find the best ways to fix a problem in plants or specific machines – but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine if you could create a digital twin of an entire city and perform tests on the replica to assess which solutions would work best for problems like traffic management. Already in Singapore, the government is working to build a 3D city model that will enable a smart city in the future.
3. What do we need to achieve 6G?
New horizons ask for new technology. It is true that 6G will greatly benefit from 5G in areas such as edge computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), network slicing, and others. At the same time, we need changes to match new technical requirements.
The most sensible demand is understanding how to work in the sub terahertz frequency. While 5G needs to operate in the millimeter wave (mmWave) bands of 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz to achieve its full potential, the next generation of mobile connectivity will likely move to frequencies above 100 GHz in the ranges called sub-terahertz and possibly as high as true terahertz.
Why does this matter? Because as we go up in frequency, the wave behaves in a different way. Before 5G, cellular communications used only spectrum below 6GHz, and these signals can travel up to 10 miles. As we go up into the mmWave frequency band, the range is dramatically reduced to around 1,000 feet. With sub THz signals like those being proposed for 6G, the distance the waves can travel tends to be smaller – think 10s to 100s of feet not 1000s.
That said, we can maximize the signal propagation and range by using new types of antennas. An antenna’s size is proportional to the signal wavelength, so as the frequency gets higher and the wavelength gets shorter, antennas are small enough to be deployed in a large number. In addition, this equipment uses a technique known as beamforming – directing the signal toward one specific receiver instead of radiating out in all directions like the omnidirectional antennas commonly used prior to LTE.
Another area of interest is designing 6G networks for AI and ML. 5G networks are starting to look at adding AI and ML to existing networks, but with 6G we have the opportunity to build networks from the ground up that are designed to work natively with these technologies.
According to one International Telecommunication Union (ITU) report, the world will generate over 5,000 exabytes of data per month by 2030. Or 5 billion terabytes a month. With so many people and devices connected, we will have to rely on AI and ML to perform tasks such as managing data traffic, allowing smart industrial machines to make real-time decisions and use resources efficiently, among other things.
Another challenge 6G aims to tackle is security – how to ensure the data is safe and that only authorized people can have access to it – and solutions to make systems foresee complex attacks automatically.
One last technical demand is virtualization. As 5G evolves, we will start to move to the virtual environment. Open RAN (O-RAN) architectures are moving more processing and functionality into the cloud today. Solutions like edge computing will be more and more common in the future.
4. Will 6G technology be sustainable?
Sustainability is at the core of every conversation in the telecommunications sector today. It is true that as we advance 5G and come closer to 6G, humans and machines will consume increasing data. Just to give you an idea of our carbon footprint in the digital world, one simple email is responsible for 4 grams of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
However, 6G technology is expected to help humans improve sustainability in a wide array of applications. One example is by optimizing the use of natural resources in farms. Using real-time data, 6G will also enable smart vehicle routing, which will cut carbon emissions, and better energy distribution, which will increase efficiency.
Also, researchers are putting sustainability at the center of their 6G projects. Components like semiconductors using new materials should decrease power consumption. Ultimately, we expect the next generation of mobile connectivity to help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
5. When will 6G be available?
The industry consensus is that the first 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards release to include 6G will be completed in 2030. Early versions of 6G technologies could be demonstrated in trials as early as 2028, repeating the 10-year cycle we saw in previous generations. That is the vision made public by the Next G Alliance, a North American initiative of which Keysight is a founding member, to foster 6G development in the United States and Canada.
Before launching the next generation of mobile connectivity into the market, international bodies discuss technical specifications to allow for interoperability. This means, for example, making sure that your phone will work everywhere in the world.
The ITU and the 3GPP are among the most well-known standardization bodies and hold working groups to assess research on 6G globally. Federal agencies also play a significant role, regulating and granting spectrum for research and deployment.
Amid all this, technology development is another aspect to keep in mind. Many 6G capabilities demand new solutions that often use nontraditional materials and approaches. The process of getting these solutions in place will take time.
The good news? The telecommunications sector is making fast progress toward the next G.
Here at Keysight, for instance, we are leveraging our proven track record of collaboration in 5G and Open RAN to pioneer solutions needed to create the foundation of 6G. We partner with market leaders to advance testing and measurement for emerging 6G technologies. Every week, we come across a piece of news informing that a company or a university has made a groundbreaking discovery.
The most exciting thing is that we get an inch closer to 6G every day. Tomorrow’s internet is being built today. Join us in this journey; it is just the beginning.
Learn more about the latest advancements in 6G research.
A major wave of change is coming to the wireless world. 5G mobile towers are cropping up in cities from Boston and Seattle to Dallas and Kansas City. This 5th generation wireless network touts a new level of speed and reliability. With the exponential growth of smart devices and the internet of things, current 4G networks are straining to meet bandwidth demand. 5G promises to deliver increased capacity and energy efficiency at a fraction of the cost.
However, the adoption of any new technology is always fraught with challenges. The transition to 5G will not happen at the press of a button. Initially, 5G will work in parallel to 4G networks as physical infrastructure is overhauled. Devices and network technology will need hardware upgrades to adapt to the new system. Eventually, 5G will be released as an all-software network that can be maintained like any other digital system today.
“The race to 5G is on, and America must win,” President Donald Trump said in April of 2019. And while politics and media have defined this race as whoever builds 5G the fastest, the tougher race is focused on retooling and securing this network. Because of software’s innate vulnerabilities, the ecosystem of 5G applications could pose a serious security risk, not just to individuals but also to the nation.
Let’s look at three key cyber security risks for 5G networks and what can be done to minimize them.
Risk Factor 1: Exponential Increase In Attack Surface
A network’s attack surface is the total of access points that can be exploited by a hacker. 5G’s dynamic software-based systems have far more traffic routing points than the current hardware-based, centralized hub-and-spoke designs that 4G has. Multiple unregulated entry points to the network can allow hackers access to location tracking and even cellular reception for logged-in users. This new architecture also makes current cybersecurity practices redundant, opening up the network to dangerous attacks.
Risk Mitigation: Early Planning And Investment
5G technologies require a complete rehaul of network security, which isn’t possible without significant funding and executive support. This is a shared responsibility between both governments and 5G businesses. Government policies need to take into account where the market falls short and how it can be addressed. We need to invest now — before we’re caught with no sustainable cybersecurity plans in place.
Risk Factor 2: Nonexistent IoT Security Standards
Many IoT devices are being manufactured with minimal or non-existent cybersecurity measures. These devices are already being used by hackers as entry points to enterprise networks. We may soon live in a world where billions of everyday devices, from toothbrushes to coffee machines, could be connecting to the internet automatically. In the future, such unsecured IoT devices could easily allow for man-in-the-middle attacks. A cybercriminal could intercept and change sensitive communication over 5G.
Risk Mitigation: IoT Manufacturer Incentives And Consumer Education
Just like the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) grades radio systems, we should have a new regulatory body to oversee IoT devices. But it’s important to plan for a scenario where IoT manufacturers may still not comply with new regulatory frameworks. This especially holds true for low-end IoT brands, which just may not be able to afford the added cost of production when it comes to these changes. Incentives like market monopoly or logistics support for complying brands will be required to effectively regulate the IoT market.
Moreover, 5G security is only as strong as its weakest links. Despite regulation, a wide variation in security quality may still exist. Customer education on how to choose and use IoT devices safely will be crucial. For example, labeling standards may need to be introduced to indicate which devices are secure and which are not.
Risk Factor 3: Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Makes Network Partitioning Complex
Current 4G systems use network partition methods to limit cyber attacks. Networks are subdivided by hardware to prevent the existence of a single point of failure. If one node of the network is attacked, it can be “quarantined” to limit the attack, without ceding control of the whole network. On the other hand, 5G uses short-range, low-cost and small-cell physical antennas within the geographic area of coverage. Each antenna can become a single point of control. Botnet and denial of service (DDoS) type attacks can bring down whole portions of the network simply by overloading a single node.
Also, 5G uses dynamic spectrum sharing, a telecommunication system that breaks data packets into “slices.” Each slice from different, parallel communications is sent over the same bandwidth. Each slice thus contributes to its cyber risk degree.
Risk Mitigation: Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning In Network Management
The dynamic nature of 5G’s network architecture requires a dynamic and fast-learning management system. Software-based and intelligent computing solutions are required for effective countermeasures. AI-powered cyber solutions will continue learning and updating themselves. AI and machine learning can serve as powerful tools for 5G cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity Best Practices For Adopting 5G Networks
If you plan to switch to 5G networks, here are some things you can do to protect data misuse and system tracking from your devices.
1. Use a VPN when connecting any device to the internet. You can do this by implementing VPN routers in your home or office.
2. Set up complex passwords for all personal devices. Change default passwords on any IoT devices you may have at home.
3. Update your computer, phone and other devices regularly. Set up and use antivirus software on critical devices.
With this, you should be well on your way to embracing 5G and the innovation it will bring to all industries.
After years of waiting, 5G is finally here. 5G not only greatly improves network experiences for mobile consumers, but more importantly, will bring digitalization into every industry, revolutionizing our society. However, this vision will not be realized without small cell development.
So, why do small cells play such a key role in the 5G era?
With two new frequency bands, sub-6 GHz (3-7 GHz) and mmWave (24-48 GHz), included in 5G, 5G provides much larger bandwidth, lower latency, higher reliability, and many more connections in comparison with previous generations of mobile networks. The benefit of 5G not only accelerates the growth of mobile consumer networks but also has huge potential to revolutionize industries such as automotive, entertainment, computing, and manufacturing.
However, there are a series of challenges that need to be addressed before we can fully enjoy the benefits. One of the main challenges is the signal attenuation of high-frequency signals. This means that the signal propagation is much shorter compared to the previous cellular networks such as 3G and 4G. Small cells are proposed to address this big challenge. Creating an ultra-dense network by deploying more small cells plays a key role in 5G as it allows it to complement the macro network and therefore boosts data capacity.
Small cells can be categorized into three types: femtocells, picocells, and microcells, depending on their output power. Because of their smaller size compared to macro base stations, the material choices and the overall technology trend will be different from their macro infrastructure counterparts.
As of mid-2021, the majority of the 5G commercial rollouts are still focused on enhanced mobile broadband – installing 5G macro base stations to provide networks with high capacity for consumers using mobile devices. However, the new use cases such as industrial IoT 4.0, cellular vehicle to everything (C-V2X), new entertainment experiences, and smart cities, are where the real innovations are occurring and the huge market potential lies. 5G small cells will play an essential role in supporting those industries to become fully digitalized and the potential realized.
5G small cells market analysis: The big market potential waiting in front of us
This forecast builds on the extensive analysis of primary and secondary data, combined with careful consideration of market drivers, constraints, and key player activities. The analysis considers how the following variables evolve during the forecast period: the development and adoption rate of sub-6 GHz and mmWave in the 5 regions, the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) for broadband and critical applications, 5G rollout potentials for enterprises, urban, and rural & remote purposes, and the utilization rate of different types of small cells for each scenario.
In addition to the forecast, “5G Small Cells 2021-2031: Technologies, Markets, Forecast” presents an unbiased analysis of primary data gathered via interviews with key players, and it builds on IDTechEx’s expertise in the 5G industry. This includes a comprehensive analysis of the supply chain across 5G small cells, which incorporates a detailed assessment of technology innovations and market dynamics. Moreover, the reader will find in-depth case studies on selected verticals that IDTechEx predicts to have huge market potential such as Industry 4.0 and C-V2X.
This market report offers unique insights into the global 5G small cells market for:
• Companies that supply materials and components for 5G small cells
• Companies that develop 5G small cells
• Companies that invest in the 5G infrastructures
• Companies that plan to step into 5G small cell business
• Companies that develop digital solutions for industries
6G Communications will become one of the largest technology investments. It is currently in the healthy first stage of promising everything to widely deploy some in 2030. Meanwhile, 5G to “Beyond 5G” awaits.
We upgrade telephony to be more useful every ten years. The new IDTechEx report, “6G Communications Market, Devices, Materials 2021-2041”, predicts 6G communications may be more thing-to-thing than human communication. Once again, frequency increases a magnitude. We may mimic 5G in starting at the easy bottom, then go up another magnitude to grab extra benefits. 5G went from GHz level to tens of GHz. 6G may start at a few hundred GHz, then employ 1THz.
Only 6G can widely serve the exponential growth beyond 500 billion connected machines in 2030, real-time holographic communication, the future of virtual reality and empowerment of the poor in realistic timeframes. Expect cell-less communications and Wireless Information and Energy Transfer. WIET is 26 billion passive-RFID tags yearly (IDTechEx analysis). Some sense at the instant of being interrogated. 6G WIET promises that on steroids, even charging your smartphone.
6G will serve airliners at 10 km using Free Space Optical FSO links and deep underwater with fibre-optic links. Internet of Things nodes real-time monitoring billions of trees and ocean oil spills in 3D, billions in concrete structures? Hold on. This sits awkwardly with the consensus that local 6G has to be at terahertz frequencies to get magnitude-or-more improvements in data-rate, capacity, and latency. Terahertz is the Wild West of physics and electronics: little understood, even less demonstrated. They call it the Terahertz Gap. However, this we know. Beam spreading and attenuation, combined with feeble transmission technologies, currently limits these sad pencil beams to a few meters on earth. They are stopped dead by almost anything. We may need electronic wallpaper to get them round the house and many electronic billboards boosting and redirecting them outside.
Raghu Das, CEO of analysts IDTechEx, advises, “Massively-deployed Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces RIS are known by six other names just to confuse you. They will be essential for 6G to boost, redirect, collimate, polarise and otherwise manipulate those feeble THz beams using metamaterials embedding new active devices.”
Even at this early stage, some myths are emerging. They are:
6G will be everywhere. No. It flies in the face of the megatrend of eliminating infrastructure. THz local investment will never be justified to put 6G local infrastructure “everywhere.”
Widest area 6G backhaul/fronthaul is a done deal with thousands of Low Earth Orbit satellites recently flung up there and maybe 60,000 in prospect due to competition? No. They have a growing number of legal, safety, light-pollution, repair, latency and other issues. Solar fixed-wing and airship drones intended to be aloft at only 20km for a similar time of 5-7 years have huge advantages of holding position, far-lower latency and cost, easy repair and heavier payloads. Add them. Smaller numbers suffice.
6G should benefit IoT in locations with long-distance optical links. Serving unpowered devices such as 30-year, multi-sensor IoT nodes with fit-and-forget supercapacitors will be excellent. For more, existing energy harvesting is too weak and intermittent to power 99% of envisioned IoT nodes but add 6G WIET. Nonetheless, affordable 6G IoT everywhere in tens of billions yearly? Unlikely.
6G is essential for autonomous vehicles. No, not even desirable. The Tesla approach is to make a car you can put anywhere and it will navigate safely without being connected to any wireless system. Even the interim stage of LIDAR using ongoing mapping does not need connectivity. Relying on a new form of connectivity that requires exceptionally complex hardware everywhere would be downright dangerous. That is why the telecom operators went quiet about the 6G robot vehicle idea. Vehicles need connectivity and 6G may provide a better form but that is another matter.
License 6G bands near 10THz for even greater 6G performance? Sadly, in air, there is a nasty jump in attenuation beyond 1THz and active components get really challenging. This is not desirable or achievable.
Nevertheless, those arguing B5G means no need for 6G are wrong. Basic physics. IDTechEx report, “5G Technology, Market and Forecasts 2020-2030” explains and the IDTechEx 6G report tracks even more-demanding requirements arriving, making this more of a myth. We need 6G.
Telecommunications has never been an important Industry in our modern human history, with the COVID-19 pandemic unfolding, society relied on connectivity to access essentials of day-to-day life, telcos today are looking into their business and operating models with a new lens. Creating a strong foundation for digitalisation with the potential of US$2 trillion through 2025. As the digital revolution unfolds, the telco ecosystem has opened up to an immense opportunity to move up the value-chain to explore new revenue levers.
Today the telco ecosystem represents an increasing competitive pressure on core business and an immense opportunity to move up the value-chain to explore new sources of revenue levers. To excel in today’s ever changing market dynamics and customer needs, a telco needs to build agile, modular, customer-centric and intelligent platforms that leverage their own and partner’s services.
Key value drivers and market levers in telecom
Telcos over the past decade have seen revenue growth stagnate, despite the exponential growth in bandwidth usage, forcing them to ponder upon the new age growth drivers. Today, telcos are diversifying their revenue streams but margin management remains a challenge. Some of the key pain points and opportunity drivers for telcos across the pivots of business, operations, customers and services are as follows:
Hence, the key value drivers and focus areas for telcos across the globe should be:
● Omnichannel experience: The ability to provide an omnichannel experience by enabling the front (digital) to quickly adapt to market realities without having the backend undergo major changes.
● Modular new-age scalable platforms to onboard and bundle new partners and their offerings quickly and consistent product and services information across channels.
● The ability to track consumer behavior across channels and achieve personalisation at scale, thereby providing a superior customer experience.
● Expanding product portfolio from core to complementary and beyond, thereby increasing channels and digital touchpoints to reach a larger audience.
● Building and participating in ecosystems to collaborate and create economic value.
Now coming to niche focus areas of digital levers in the telecom, network of the future is a term telecom operators should swear by. Virtualising the current legacy infrastructure promises to fundamentally change the basis of future service, by creating self-optimising and safe zero-touch networks.
Expanding the product portfolio from core to complementary and beyond is another key driver. The increased digital transformation presents the telecom industry with opportunities to extend revenue streams beyond connectivity through IoT solutions, consumer and enterprise digital services across digital touchpoints, and reimagined digital communication models leveraging augmented reality/virtual reality and smart mobile advertising.
Lastly, to win the race for customer loyalty and wallet share, telecom industry players should focus on providing superior customer experience and building and participating in ecosystems to collaborate and create economic value and exciting digital experiences.
Customer experience management in telecom: What, why, how?
Further proliferating to the telecom value chain elements, network convergent technology and infrastructure, products and services, partner and ecosystem, enterprise technology, and customer experience management (CXM) form the core of it. Drawing our expertise in CXM, we define CXM in telecom as the amalgamation of the “system of records”, “system of intelligence”, “system of engagement” and “system of things” for an end to end digital transformation across the customer lifecycle.
Essentially, it means mapping customer interactions across touchpoints and channels and optimising customer journey by delivering personalised experiences with Integrated technology and services. However, the needs and expectations of the partner ecosystem are changing. Telecom providers will be facing discrepancies in consistent brand and omni-channel experience, and contextualising personalisation to align with the customer demands.
The need and expectations of our core partners and customers are changing rapidly and some of the key challenges in delivering a best in class experience are:
● Consistent brand experience and engagement. Customers expect the brand’s value proposition to be delivered consistently across their customer journey. Currently, there is a value leakage across the customer journey due to channel proliferation and inconsistent interactions across touchpoints.
● A holistic customer profile. Organisations and brands should strive for having a single source of truth on customer’s interactions, channels, purchasing behavior, experiences and social interaction to create an integrated and unified communication strategy.
● Omnichannel experience. Omnichannel experience is one of the biggest challenges for organisations. An integrated channel experience is highly desirable, but hard to achieve.
● Contextualising personalisation – Every customer wants to be treated as a valued individual. Hence businesses should be able to chalk out relevant user persona and optimise their touchpoint management.
Enabling telcos to measure customer experience and creating a differentiated experience across channels will be a major competitive advantage and will enable combat some of the bottom-line pressures.
Walking the talk leadership: Enabling telco transformations across the globe
BORN built a commerce platform for a leading telecom player in Malaysia, that delivers an exceptional customer experience. One of the hallmarks of the solution was the implementation of the headless commerce architecture with a common commerce platform providing unified catalog, payments, order management, and fulfilment capabilities across all channels. As a result of the solutions implemented, over 3.5 million users were registered across digital channels in eight months since launch.
There has been a 150% increase in the number of transactions on web channels, a 300% increase in conversion rate, a 30% reduction in bounce rate with a 10% increase in average web session duration.
We were also approached by one of the global leaders in communication technology, to create a fully integrated solution that could deliver advanced services to 3.5 million businesses across six continents. We implemented a diverse range of technology improvements, including new feature development, integration of multiple updated applications, and development of automated workflows.
The company saw an improved user experience with a five-point NPS improvement while the bottom line improved with a 70% reduction in the manual intervention. Our solution combined insight-driven CX and strategy frameworks to deliver the best outcomes. The accelerator methodologies used, delivered a customer-centric approach at speed. The company was able to apply a catalog of behavioral nudges to review their current user journeys.
Many of us are currently awaiting the release of 5G networks and devices, yet companies are already talking about plans for 6G. What will 6G potential provide, what research has been done into it, and what technology will become important?
5G’s Rollout and 6G Development
5G is the next-generation cellular technology that will provide many advantages over 4G including lower latency, higher download speeds, and higher instantaneous number of connections. However, the banning of Chinese developed hardware in the west and COVID has seen 5G hindered development. However, despite 5G still lacking in deployment, companies and researchers are already looking towards the next generation of cellular technology, 6G.
To start, 6G is nowhere near commercialisation, and is mostly researchers and engineers discussing protocols, expected speeds, and how it could be implemented. Two figures which have come up include terahertz signal frequencies and 95Gb/s connection speeds. Furthermore, the use of outer space for communication has also been mentioned with China having launched a 6G system into space in November 202 to test how well it would operate.
The network structure will also be similar 5G with cells that help to fragment and divide the network up. However, there has also been mention of the use of air balloons with solar panels on the top side to provide wide-area access that can indefinitely power themselves.
The Technological Challenges of 6G
One of the major challenges behind 6G technology is the use of terahertz frequencies. Such frequencies are currently impractical with modern technology. As such, semiconductors operating future 6G systems will be reliant on metamaterials such as graphene and gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistors. For perspective, terahertz frequency ranges fall between 140GHz and 230GHz which is well beyond the frequency currently used by cellular telecommunications.
The second challenge that 6G will face is installing infrastructure as each and every predecessor has also faced. However, 6G could potentially benefit from software-defined systems that allow for masts and cells to be given a software update to handle new protocols without the need for new hardware. However, there would still be a need for new antenna and decoding systems as a result of the use of terahertz frequencies.
How will 6G change the technological landscape?
Determining the technological impacts of 6G is difficult to predict as 6G is not expected to become implemented until well into 2030. Furthermore, technology (and how it is used) could change dramatically in the next decade. No one could have predicted the rise of social media and its influence, nor would anyone be able to predict the sudden integration of smartphones into daily lives.
The next decade will see technology become smaller, cheaper, and more advanced which will result in an increase in the use of IoT devices. This increase will be amplified with smart cities’ development, and the continuing demand for smart technologies will see large amounts of data being generated.
Therefore, 6G networks may be seen as the next step in connecting all devices onto a singular network. Furthermore, everyday home devices may become 6G powered meaning that internet connections into homes via Fibre and broadband may be seen as redundant. This could result in only 6G stations having access to fibre and broadband connections while the population utilises 6G.
However, increasing concerns about privacy and security may also see edge computing become more important. As such, the total number of devices globally will increase, but the demand for internet service may not accelerate as much (as data is processed locally).
Only time can tell what troubles 6G will face, and what it will be expected to do. From a technical point of view, it makes sense to move as many devices onto cellular networks as possible. The use of Wi-Fi and Ethernet is quickly becoming irrelevant, and those who live in remote locations often find themselves utilising 4G for internet already. Thus, 6G could become the unified network of the future.
Consumers expect several users connected technology services to be a standard reality by 2030, playing with our feelings of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. Among the expectations featured in the 9th edition of the Ericsson Consumer Lab Hot Market Trends report are the consumer forecasts about the Internet of Senses.
At the heart of 5G’s technology was the Internet of Things (IoT), while 6G aims to have multisensory insights that would be virtually indistinguishable from the real world. This is the Internet of Senses that was created.
More than 7,600 people around the world, each of whom is a standard user of AR, VR, and virtual assistants, were surveyed by Ericsson’s Market Trends research. The general public probably won’t think about how the Internet of Senses is in our future with advances in 5 G and various inventions, as per the study.
Quite nearly 66% of customers agree that they will have the option of planning routes on VR glasses by only thinking about a destination, and a comparable number accept that they will have the option of realistically taking on the voice of someone. The other uplifting business news is that 50 percent of respondents think of themselves as users of post-privacy. They want security problems to be fully resolved so that the benefits of a data-driven environment can be safely obtained.
Your Brain is the UI : By just thinking about a destination, consumers can plan a path.
Sounds like me : Consumers can imitate the voice of someone to fool their closed voices
Any taste you like : Consumers now have a tool that will digitally alter the taste of any food they eat.
Digital smell : Consumers can visit locations like the countryside digitally and have the capacity to feel the scent of those places.
Absolute touch : Consumers would have mobile phones with displays that pass on the digital icons and buttons’ form and surface.
Merged reality : Virtual reality games by 2030 will be vague about actual reality.
Checked as Real : Fake news is gone.
Post-privacy customers : Consumers want security problems to be fully addressed so that they can reap the benefits of a data-driven environment safely.
Sustainability Related : A sustainable planet can be made by the Internet of Senses.
Sensational services : Consumers will have digital malls that will allow all human senses to be used while shopping.
There are numerous potential use cases, particularly in areas such as manufacturing and healthcare, that will be useful to organizations. This would take it to a whole new level and make it as natural as possible to merge the virtual and physical worlds.
The improvement of more realistic training simulators is one of the simple business cases for the Internet of Senses. The current simulators can replicate the sights and hints of a real-world environment, but with the expansion of additional sensory input, they could be made dramatically more genuine.
Besides, several more ‘out there’ ideas have glided, such as using implants to turn the brain into an interface in its own right, allowing people to manipulate machines using only their contemplations. At this point, there are a lot of blue-sky innovations, with engineering companies zeroing in on cutting-edge AR and VR augmented with additional sensory inputs.
Every ten years or so, a new generation of mobile technology comes along with promises of being far more advanced than the one that preceded it. The arrival of 2G came with text messages, the launch of 3G unlocked data services, and the arrival of 4G made the mobile Internet a practical reality.
5G is no different, serving up gigabit speeds, greater capacity, and ultra-low latency. This means it will be easier to stream video, get a signal in busy locations and indoors, and entirely new business and consumer applications will be possible.
The first 5G networks went live in the UK in 2019 and one billion people will have access globally by the end of 2020. Within five years, four in ten connections will be 5G.
What is 6G?
6G – as the name suggests – is the sixth generation of mobile connectivity. It’s still unclear what final form 6G will take until it is standardized, but it isn’t too early to speculate which technologies will be included and which characteristics it will have.
What is apparent is that 5G will benefit from the backend changes made to mobile networks to power 5G. Operators have densified radio networks with more antennas so its easier to get a signal, especially indoors, while cloud technologies and edge computing mean data can be processed closer to users – even at a mast level so latency is much lower.
6G will build on this foundation and introduce new capabilities far beyond the limits of 5G.
How is 6G different from 5G?
The most obvious difference is speed. 6G will use more advanced radio equipment and a greater volume and diversity of airwaves than 5G, including the use of Extreme High Frequency (EHF) spectrum that delivers ultra-high speeds and huge capacity over short distances.
Whereas 4G speeds were talked about in megabit terms, and 5G will push the gigabit barrier, 6G will deliver theoretical terabit speeds. Most users will get in excess of 100Gbps, but this is still a transformational bitrate.
In terms of coverage, 6G could become ubiquitous. 6G satellite technology and intelligent surfaces capable of reflecting electromagnetic signals will deliver low latency, multi-gigabit connectivity to parts of the world where it has been too difficult or too expensive to reach with conventional mobile networks. Remote parts of the globe, the skies, and the oceans could all be connected.
While 5G already harnesses AI for optimization, dynamic resource allocation, and for data processing, extreme-low latency of less than one millisecond and distributed architecture means 6G will be able to deliver ubiquitous, integrated intelligence. Indeed, Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo believes 6G will allow for AI that is analogous to the human brain.
6G will also be more efficient than its predecessor and consume less power. Energy efficiency is critical for a more sustainable mobile industry because of the anticipated growth in data generation.
What will 6G be able to do?
Faster speeds, greater capacity, and lower latency will free applications from the constraints of local processing power, connect more devices to the network, and blur the lines between the physical, human and digital worlds. Existing services will be transformed but 6G could be the network that finally delivers use cases from the realms of science fiction.
Terabit speeds will inevitably make Netflix a more enjoyable experience and FaceTime calls less painful, but ubiquitous coverage and more connected ‘things’ will change the way we interact with technology – and potentially the world itself.
6G will enable location and context-aware digital services, as well as sensory experiences such as truly immersive extended reality (XR) and high-fidelity holograms. Instead of Zoom calls, it will be possible to speak to people in real time in VR, using wearable sensors, so users have the physical sensation of being in the same room together.
The Internet of Things (IoT) will expand and become more advanced, providing applications with more data and more capabilities. Real-time AI could transform robotics, while the extension of 6G coverage to the seas and skies could aid connected maritime, aviation and even space applications.
And because 6G is so much more power efficient than 5G, it may be even possible for low-power IoT devices to be charged over the network – transforming the economics of mass deployments and aiding sustainability.
Who is developing 6G?
Given the rise of mobile connectivity as a geopolitical battleground, it’s no surprise that governments around the world are keen for their countries to be leaders in the nascent field of 6G development.
There are a number of privately and publicly funded research projects taking place around the world, one of the most notable of which is the €251m ‘6Genesis’ project in Oulu, Northern Finland – a location that has long been associated with the developments of mobile networks.
China’s research efforts have already seen it launch a 6G satellite into space, while Samsung and Nokia are leading efforts in South Korea and Europe. The UK’s principal project is at the 6G Innovation Centre (6GIC) at the University of Surrey.
When will 6G be available?
Development is still at a very early stage and a final release will depend on the pace of rollout and a consensus on the technologies that eventually comprise the final standard.
Samsung believes commercial 6G services could be available as early as 2028, but it could be 2030 before the first site is switched on. Don’t expect to see that small 6G logo appear on your phone for a long time.
Will 6G replace 5G?
Just as 4G and 5G will coexist for some time (they share the same core network), it is likely that 6G and 5G will work together for some time. Development of 5G technology still has a long way to go and the 6GIC believes 5G has a 20-year lifespan, meaning it is likely to be around until at least 2040.
European regulators have been coming under increasing pressure regarding the slow pace at which the necessary lower 6-GHz band for Wi-Fi and its successor, Wi-Fi 6E, has been made available in the region.
At the same time, standards setters at the IEEE 802.1 committee have been making good progress in finalizing specifications for the next stage in wireless LANs. A working group has recently released detailed technical criteria for what is now referred to as 802.11be, but which is widely expected to be designated Wi-Fi 7 when the technology becomes a reality, now expected to be late 2024.
Let’s focus on the positive first. The technologists and standards setters working to define 802.11be [or Extremely High Throughput (EHT)] have set themselves hugely ambitious goals so as to meet the ever-increasing connectivity demands as well as ensuring the sector makes even more efficient use of the spectrum.
The Wi-Fi standards roadmap (click on the image for a larger view).
The developing standard targets higher data rates, lower latency, better power (and cost) efficiency, improved interference mitigation and higher capacity density — achieving all of these incremental improvements together is going to be tough. As is the ability to meet the mid-2024 target date set by the Committee for publishing the 802.11 be amendment, so that certification and interoperability tests can commence under the auspices of the Wi-Fi Alliance by the end of that year.
Of course as with previous iterations of the WLAN, pre-certified end-user gear is likely to appear before late 2024, as is happening now with Wi-Fi 6 and will soon with the next generation to follow — Wi-Fi 6E.
And backward compatibility with previous generations of the WLAN will need to be ensured for a smooth transition to the next generation.
The standards for 802.11be (let’s call it Wi-Fi 7) will still be based on OFDMA, but some key advances are expected that should allow the option to deploy 4096-QAM.
An improved MU-MIMO is being specified (to date referred to as “cooperative” CMU-MIMO), designed to support the defined 16 spatial streams, double that being used in Wi-Fi 6. This is expected increase throughput by 20%, but as noted, this will be offered as an option, and lower modulation schemes will continue to be supported.
The standards setters suggest that making this work could turn out to be perhaps the biggest design challenge for Wi-Fi 7.
The maximum channel size being targeted is 320MHz, also double that used in Wi-Fi 6, such that Wi-Fi 7 will be targeted for deployment in the 6GHz band, the most recent part of the spectrum added for unlicensed use (at least in some countries — see later) and supported by Wi-Fi 6E. Doubling the maximum channel should also double the throughput for Wi-Fi 7. In addition, the specifications will also support 160+160MHz, 240+180 MHz and 160+80 MHz channels so as to combine non-adjacent spectrum blocks.
Multi-link operation is also expected to be mandated for Wi-Fi 7. This will allow devices to simultaneously receive and/or transmit data across different channels or bands, with separation of data and control planes. This is what will give Wi-Fi 7 the ability to significantly increase the throughput to multiple devices, lower the latency and thus offer higher reliability.
These advances are expected to lead to the anticipated much higher maximum data rates to a theoretical 46 Gbps. A more realistic data rate anticipated by the standards setters will peg this back to about 30 Gbps, for real-world deployment shared across numerous devices.
Of course by the time all this is commercialized, the 6 GHz band will already be widely used for other wireless services, not least 5G cellular. It is anticipated that the Automated Frequency Co-ordinator (AFC) under development will be a work-around for this and will ensure efficient spectrum sharing.
And a recent technology brief from Monica Paolini, founder of networking consultancy Senza Fili , and supported by Intel, noted that “Wi-Fi 7 brings more flexibility and capabilities to enterprises,” extending the reach of wireless LANs.
She stresses the two networking technologies will need to work together “to introduce edge computing, distributed and cloud architectures, virtualization and digitalization in the emerging private wireless networks” as well.
Paolini notes that Wi-Fi 7 will also play a major role in supporting applications that require deterministic latency, high reliability and improved QoS.
Still on the impact on enterprises, the improved Wi-Fi should also offer even greater opportunities in IoT and IIoT applications such as industrial automation, surveillance, remote control, AV/VR and other video-based applications.
Paolini also organized and moderated a webinar late last week, in collaboration with the Wi-Fi Alliance, focusing on progress of allocating Wi-Fi spectrum in Europe.
Andreas Geiss, Head of Unit for Radio Spectrum Policy in GD CONNECT of the European Commission, a “special guest” during the webinar, was put on the spot. Host Alex Roytblat, VP of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at the Wi-Fi Alliance, referenced the landmark ruling of the US FCC to release about 1200 MHz of the 6GHz bands for Wi-Fi 6 and the follow-up Wi-Fi 6E, as well as other more recent moves in the same direction by authorities in South Korea and the UK, and urged Geiss to clarify progress in Europe in this area.
Geiss noted that the process was “very convoluted” as the discussions involve not just the 27 countries in the European Union (soon to be 26 with the imminent departure of the UK) but all the other of the 48 countries within the CEPT (Conference of European Posts and Telecommunications — the regulatory body representing all European countries in all matters relating to telecommunications.
Geiss also stressed that “being limited to on-line meetings over the past months rather than the much easier route of face-to-face meetings has not helped in trying to reach consensus.”
But he then revealed that European regulators are targeting April 2021 as the date for releasing 500 MHz (between 5945 MHz and 6425 MHz) for Wi-Fi use. “We hope to finalize our proposals by the end of November,” said Geiss.
He stressed that after this these proposals “will need to be looked at by other harmonization bodies, including, importantly, the European Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) that I also chair. It is very important that we get this harmonization effort right.”
Here, it might be apposite to precis the continent-wide rules for making such important decisions as the release of the 6GHz band.
The CEPT’s Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) is, according to Geiss, expected to approve the draft of the Working Group’s proposals for 6GHz regulation very shortly. This will then have to be rubber-stamped by the wider ECC plenary planned for mid- November.
The proposals are then passed up to the European Commission to organize approval by all the countries of the European Union, with input from specialist groups such as the RSC.
If there is broad agreement, the group should then review and adopt the proposals by December, which will then have to be approved by all member states by, as Geiss suggests, next April.
One of the most contentious issues during the discussions within the ECC apparently relates to protection of the so-called CBTC (Communications Based Train Control) signalling regulations that are used by many European train operators.
But stay with us as there is yet another twist in the process. Current rules in the EU oblige all member states to transfer the approved rules into national regulation within six months after adoption. But the wider CEPT rules state countries can take up to two years to fully implement the rules. The expectation, though, is that all countries will in fact nod the new rules through within the six months.
And both groups are expected to adopt harmonized Low Power Indoor (LPI) and Very Low Power (VLP) versions of the 6GHz regulations.
The differences between the two categories of equipment will be transmission power and portability. LPI gear will only be allowed to be deployed inside buildings and have access to the full 480 MHz, while VLP equipment will be sanctioned for both indoor and outdoor use. The spectrum for that will be divided into two categories — 400 MHz and 80 MHz.
Most installations are expected to come under the LPI umbrella, while the newly devised VLP version will focus on consumer applications such as VR/AR glasses and other applications that can be connected to smartphones.
Another of the panel speakers, Chris Szymanski, director of product marketing and government affairs at Broadcom, was keen to get an insight of when the upper part of the 6 GHz band would become available for use.
“We are open to studying this aspect next, but we do need to make more studies into this area, notably regarding connectivity interference issues — notably with 5G operations,” noted Geiss.
“Sharing that spectrum in the correct way is one of the key issues for achieving the European target for a ‘gigabit society’, said Geiss. “But for now, member states want to focus on ensuring they can make best use of the lower 6GHz region, and ensuring there are no mitigation issues.”
Szymanski welcomed the progress in regulation which he said “is set to offer a huge opportunity for companies like ours who are readying the components and end-user equipment at pace Wi-Fi 6 and soon Wi-Fi 6E.
“Yes, at times it has been challenging and frustrating, but we are getting there.”
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