As global demand for data continues to surge, the need for more robust and efficient connectivity solutions becomes paramount.
Enter 5G standalone (5G SA)– a transformative technology poised to revolutionise not just download and upload speeds but unlock an array of innovative use cases.
This next-gen network promises to drive unprecedented productivity and fuel future growth, particularly in emerging markets where its potential impact is vast.
According to the ITU, 5G coverage had reached 40% of the global population at the end of 2023.
Coverage in the Asia-Pacific is at 42% and only 6% in Africa. Europe boasts the largest coverage with 68% followed by the Americas with 59%.
Six years after the initial 5G deployments in 2018, 5G services today primarily focus on delivering faster download and upload speeds to enhance media consumption and creation, the broader capabilities of this technology are still largely untapped.
Faster download and upload speeds aren’t exactly pushing the average consumer to upgrade in a hurry. And because of this operator revenues are stalling and in tandem are less encouraged to on capex intensive 5G deployments.
Could 5G SA be the answer operators are looking for? And what can it deliver for developing economies if operators were to put their full weight behind it?
5G SA has been described by many experts as ‘true’ 5G or the ‘last G’. It does not rely on 4G infrastructure for support, hence standalone, and can of course deliver faster uplink/downlink speeds. But, most crucially it deliver much lower latency between devices.
It has been heralded as the technology to unlock lofty use cases including driverless cars, autonomous factories, remote surgical robots, and smart cities.
According to analyst house Teral Research, 5G SA infrastructure exists in 49 countries, and only seven of which are in developing markets.
The low number of developing market deployments is due to the high capex required for 5G SA.
The Asia-Pacific is the largest driver of 5G SA deployments with the bulk stemming from China, which has undergone a heavily government backed programme to spread the advanced technology nationwide.
Aside from funding, the Chinese government made regulatory changes to prepare for 5G including making it mandatory for all 5G devices to be 5G SA ready since 2020.
Speaking on the development, Teral Research Founder and Chief Analyst Stephane Teral said: “This is a situation where service providers have spent a lot of money on spectrum that they have yet to recoup, so they are delaying the decision of deploying that 5G SA core.”
The analyst, noted building a true 5G network is complicated as it is not designed for the traditional phone, but for every single device on the planet to connect to, alluding to another lofty ambition of 5G and that is Industry 4.0 or the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In a world where the Industry 4.0 is in full swing, sectors such as manufacturing, logistics and healthcare integrate IoT, AI and Big Data to drastically transform their operations to operate at greater efficiency and flexibility. 5G SA is absolutely crucial to making the Fourth Industrial Revolution a reality as it can deliver ultra-low latency, network slicing, automation and reliability.
But, according to Teral, the only place where this has materialised is in China.
But, Teral stressed that operators have no excuses to not ramp up 5G SA deployments as compatible modems for IoT devices and smartphones are now hitting the market.
“Lack of devices, or to be precise, lack of modems is important and needs to be cited but that excuse from operators is ridiculous as 5G was not developed in the first place for people, yet they cite lack of devices. 5G-SA devices and modems are hitting the market now this is the new event that we are anticipating, there is no excuse of waiting for 5G SA devices.”
Teral hailed Thailand for its deployment of 5G SA infrastructure which he deemed as “not surprising” as the Thai economy is “booming”. Operators in the South East Asian nation are benefiting from tapping into Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE, who have learned from successful domestic deployments.
“Chinese vendors have deployed the technology in their home turf and then brought it to Thailand. But then we’re also seeing a push from the Thai government similar to what you saw from the government in China. Thailand wants to really develop 5G for what it was designed for in the first place, and that is to connect things to improve productivity in factories and explore smart cities,” said Teral.
China and the US have been going through a very publicised trade-war with both nations raising tariffs against each other and making it complex and expensive to produce goods in the East Asian nation.
This gave other nations particularly Vietnam and India to provide industry giants such as Apple and Samsung, a politically stable base for operations, and tax incentives to set up factories.
Teral said that tensions between the US and China are “helping to accelerate “ neighbouring economies that are rapidly developing.
He urged operators in developing markets to ramp up 5G SA deployment as enabling foreign investors to set up 5G-Advanced facilities can make developing markets more competitive for tenders.
Developing markets are less burdened by legacy infrastructure such as 3G, which is being shut down across the world as we speak, noted Teral.
In theory it is “less problematic to migrate to 5G” particularly in developing markets with huge subscriber bases. Teral predicted some operators will indeed jump directly to 5G. He advised operators with capex constraints to stick a single 5G SA core vendor to reduce integration cost from a multi-vendor platform, starting with their incumbent 4G evolved packet core vendor to aid with the migration.
“We expect the 5G SA landscape to ramp up and gradually spread to developing economies. Brazil, the Philippines, and Thailand are in the driver’s seat and are showing signs of the necessity to move to 5G SA at some point of the development of their respective domestic market. Other developing nations will follow suit, which will create a long 5G SA deployment tail,” said Teral.
Teral Research predicted that the global 5G SA Core/5G Data Management/5G Policy market to reach the US$4 billion by the end of the year, an annual growth rate of 18%.
Despite the potential of what 5G can deliver for a developing nation, Diseye Isoun, Founder and Director of Nigerian ISP Content Oasis, said that 5G is a “rich nation solution” and 5G, let alone 5G SA, is still far in the future for Africa due to affordability.
Isoun said: “5G still requires a fair amount of population density to make it economically viable to deploy in a specific location. It still costs something around $70,000 to US$100,000 all in to deploy a presence.
“Secondly, telcos still have to buy 5G frequencies and that is very expensive itself. MTN and Airtel paid US$250 million for their 5G license in Nigeria, and they need to make their money back.”
“The elephant in the room people don’t like to talk about is that 5G continues to be a rich nation solution, and you can try to back reverse engineer it into some possibilities in developing countries, but there’s still quite a bit of cost overhead for it.”
What 5G can potentially deliver in standalone form will be transformative for developing nations that can tap into it. Whether it be improving conditions of cities or attracting lucrative foreign investment, there is no doubt that 5G SA will have a major impact on wider industries in the years to come. But, operators and governments must be aligned to ramp up deployment plans and provide the necessary infrastructure for a brighter tomorrow.
Source: independent
