Canada
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October 23, 2019 – On Wednesday, ENCQOR 5G announced that Canada's first publicly accessible mmWave service is live at Invest Ottawa, and will be rolled out to other ENCQOR sites in the coming weeks. The ENCQOR network is capable of mobile throughputs up to 1.9 Gbps. Along with lower latencies, these enable new enhanced mobile broadband services to be developed and tested. The 5G testbed supports applications that require high throughput and low latency, allowing innovators to experience the benefits of 5G in use cases such as smart cities, autonomous vehicles, healthcare and industry 4.0.
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October 18, 2019 – Hamilton’s Innovation Factory is focused on what it considers the 'breakthrough' 5G platform: the driverless car. It is currently testing traffic sensors at the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility to support autonomous vehicle startups. The next step will be running tests on intersections using hardware from GE and Nokia at the McMaster Innovation Park, then expanding the tests to Hamilton Mountain. The tests involve equipping street furniture with 5G transmitters designed for traffic optimization, parking detection, environmental monitoring and other public safety functions.
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Global 5G
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October 15, 2019 – For the next several years, North America will generate record revenues for service providers, according to the latest report from GSMA. The report expects that almost 50% of cellular connections will use the 5G standard by 2025. Further, GSMA Intelligence anticipates 5G population coverage to reach 80% by 2021. In terms of user connections, the report finds that an additional three or four years may be required to make substantial use of these services. The growth of 5G networks is expected to be swiftest in the U.S., according to GSMA, with Canada lagging slightly behind.
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October 21, 2019 – According to writer Sue Marek, the wireless industry has fought a battle over health issues for a long time. Each time a new technology rolls out, however, she sees the debate get revived. Russel Lindsay, senior product manager at Anritsu, has also been struck by the misconceptions about 5G. Responding to questions about whether 5G would be “denser” or require more antennas, he noted that more antennas do not necessarily equal more RF emissions. “What people don’t understand is that the reason for more radios is because of the lower power that these radios produce,” Linsday explained.
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October 17, 2019 – FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr recently touted his work on promoting telehealth, enhancing flexible use, and ensuring U.S. leadership in 5G. Carr spoke about the connected healthcare concept that emerged from his visits to rural areas in 33 states, leading to a proposed $100M pilot under the Universal Service Fund. He also noted that Americans no longer need to go to 'brick and mortar facilities' for better healthcare. Carr further announced that he has been working to ensure deployment of the 5G standard in conjunction with FCC efforts to enable diverse internet applications to make use of spectrum.
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October 22, 2019 – Oracle SVP Jason Rutherford says carriers stand to generate over half their revenue from 5G business services. While they face competition from market entrants like Facebook – who could provide services such as cloud hosting – Rutherford says providers still have the chance to "disrupt the disruptors." Quick exchanges of data between devices can lead to new business scenarios, while network slicing can provide enough bandwidth for critical apps. In particular, using Oracle’s Digital Experience for Communications platform, carriers could assemble innovative consumer services with different partners.
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October 16, 2019 – Finnish operator Elisa has seen an 11-fold increase in data consumption by subscribers over the last six years. According to Chief Technology Officer Kalle Lehtinen, this is the world’s highest usage level and proves the business case for 5G: people want more data more quickly. Lehtinen described Elisa’s approach to ramping capacity as a 'virtuous cycle', wherein higher demand for data leads to greater supply, and greater value from increased usage then prompts higher demand. Lehtinen summarized the cycle by saying, "it will always be a bit fast, it will be a bit smarter, you never go back.”
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October 10, 2019 – Audi has partnered with Deutsche Telekom to perform tests on a 5G network in Ingolstadt, Germany. Their goal is to promote more sustainable, connected and safe urban mobility. One application 5G facilitates is direct communication between traffic lights and automobiles – enabling real-time exchanges of data to improve traffic fluidity. Such deployments of 5G have the potential to make traffic smoother and reduce collisions, even as they pose technological challenges for manufacturers like Audi.
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