[1]With 18 5G trials across the region to-date and a live 5G-ready network (Fixed Wireless Access) in Uruguay there is a fair amount of 5G activity in Latin America (LatAm). Despite these developments, the reality remains that LatAm will lag behind most regions in the world with a conservative 8 per cent adoption rate by 2025 (see chart above right, click to enlarge. Source: GSMA Intelligence. *Developing APAC excludes China).

LatAm is a large region with a mix of developing and developed markets that can behave as highly volatile economies. Thus, the future of 5G in this region will predominantly lie in the hands of its macroeconomic trends, the life that is still in 4G and the policies its governments set out to create opportunities for investment.

Macro impacts versus 4G
Stagnating economies and hyperinflation make it difficult to justify 5G investment.

Argentina saw a 27-year high inflation rate reaching 47.6 per cent in 2018, while in Venezuela hyperinflation will likely reach 10 million per cent by year-end 2019. Brazil seemed to be the poster boy for LatAm in the early noughties as a fast growing developing market, leading to a boom in foreign investments in the market. But limited progress in adoption of economic reforms caused a deceleration in the economy and slowdown in foreign investments.

These developments, together with mobile service and device taxation, represent a fair indication of consumer purchasing power. Income levels and affordability of newer (and 5G) devices will be likely hampered as a result. Current mobile device pricing as a percentage of GDP per capita is already high across the region, not only in the expected smaller countries but also in the larger economies. Whereas device cost as a percentage of GDP per capita lies at 0.1 per cent in UK and US for instance, it is 2 per cent in Bolivia and Brazil, and 1 per cent in Argentina.

There is still a lot of life in 4G – this is good news!

Whilst those macro impacts have partially resulted in slow LTE growth to-date (44 per cent adoption rate, Q2 2019), MNOs in LatAm are still working on network performance and deployment of 4G and 4.5G.

With 4G still growing, it will remain the dominant technology in the long-term (67 per cent by 2025) and until after 5G is launched. There is a gap of >10 percentage points between smartphone adoption versus 4G adoption rates (2019). This creates an upsell opportunity to operators especially now that 3G pricing has completely vanished from LatAm, allowing for 4G investments to be recouped over the next few years.

Spectrum, spectrum, spectrum – yes we need to talk about it!  
Ok, so 4G still has a lot going for it but we need more spectrum. With consumer readiness in place – nearly 90 per cent of mobile subscribers are mobile internet users – what is lacking is sufficient spectrum dividend per operator i.e. volume of MHz per operator. This remains low in LatAm, impacting network performance (up/download speeds).

With the ignition of 5G, governments and policy makers have the chance to reform policies and help foster investment and innovation in their markets.

To take an example from the largest economy in LatAm, spectrum dividend fares very low in Brazil with almost no change over the last four to five years, according to the Mobile Connectivity Index (MCI [2]). This has impacted network performance over time, keeping Brazil at an “emerging” market level in this category. Any upcoming auction will need to allow for sufficient spectrum dividend as well as consider auction fees and coverage obligations.

Vendors seek opportunities in Brazil
Brazil’s upcoming spectrum auction could potentially become the largest in the world: the national regulator (Anatel) is currently consulting on the 2.3GHz, 3.5GHz frequency tenders next March. There is speculation amongst vendors that 26GHz and 700MHz could be added to the same auction, making it the world’s biggest 5G auction to come. This not only would attract all eyes on Brazil but also could provide higher spectrum dividend per operator, allowing network performance improvements. Further testimony to vendor optimism is Huawei’s plan to invest in an $800-million-dollar factory in Brazil for the rollout of 5G.

With Brazil the obvious foster child, where else in the region can we turn to for opportunities?

Outside of the larger economies, in Peru 4G adoption rate is forecast to reach 73 per cent by 2025 and 4G availability[1] [3], measured by Open signal, shows an impressive reach in excess of 80 per cent. GSMA Intelligence forecasts show a fair growth for 5G by 2025 with 6 per cent adoption (with affordability of mobile services, relevance and availability of local content all faring well in Peru). Further, with growing competition operators have started investing in LTE-Advanced and the majority of upgrade deployments took place across 2018.

But where will 5G use case opportunities sit for LatAm?

5G use cases remain a significant discussion point across many major markets, with the top use cases evolving around enterprise, enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) in Europe, US, and China. In LatAm, two in particular could become successful.

Considering low fixed broadband penetration rates, FWA could take up well as it poses an opportunity to replace low bandwidth xDSL and in smaller range spaces, e.g. production plants and hot spots, as well as reach the unconnected.

Further, eMBB could make a good use case considering the high number of mobile internet users in the region as percentage of mobile subscribers, as discussed earlier. Additionally, per smartphone, Ericsson forecasts mobile data traffic growth of 481 per cent in LatAm to year 2024, reaching 18GB per month.

But what is indisputable for 5G success in LatAm is the need for adequate infrastructure, which includes sufficient spectrum as well as tax reforms to support 5G New Radio. Without that, 5G will be a 4G déjà vu.

– Armita Satari, Analyst – Core Mobile Research,  GSMA Intelligence

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members.

[1] This is not equivalent to population penetration. Instead, Opensignal measures the real-world experience of consumers on mobile networks.

[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Picture1.png
[2] https://www.mobileconnectivityindex.com/
[3] https://www.mobileworldlive.com#_ftn1

With India electing a new government to power, the vision of a Digital India has been given a renewed focus, but with more vigour. All stakeholders are now forging ahead to turn the dream of 5G by 2020 into a reality. Fibre backhaul, in particular, is expected to be one of the key enablers for 5G in India. Its deployment will remain critical to successful 5G rollout, but this journey will not be a smooth one.

As mentioned in an earlier blog  – Will India get 5G in 2020? [1] – the lack of required infrastructure is a major challenge to 5G rollout in India. To that end, it’s worth understanding the Indian fibre story to date.

Where does India stand today?
According to the National Digital Communication Policy 2018, India enjoyed 22 per cent of fibre coverage between the towers as of March 2018. In order to extend world class high-speed internet connectivity, around 75–80 per cent of mobile towers will have to fiberised; this is the case in markets like the US, China, and Japan. Even getting to a 60 per cent milestone by 2022 (which some consider the bare minimum for the satisfactory delivery of 5G) means there is clearly a long way to go.

[2]India’s leading telecom operators are committed to invest in fibre; Jio leads the pack followed by Vodafone-idea and Airtel. The government, in turn, has already taken initiatives (most notably BharatNet) to connect the deep rural pockets with fibre. Earlier known as National Optic Fibre Network (or NOFN), BharatNet was conceived with a specific aim to connect nearly 600,000 villages and eventually enable them with commercial internet access.

Evidently, efforts are being made, BUT…

Indian problems
While the necessity of fibre deployment for 5G is obvious, there is no shortage of challenges which will conspire to keep the pace of rollout slow: terrain hurdles, differing right-of-way norms across states, quality & maintenance issues. All of this is compounded by limited clarity on active network equipment sharing between the operators.

Of course, there’s also the issue of cost. Fibre deployment is expensive and comes on top of spectrum costs – which could be high given a mega 5G spectrum sale (275 MHz) coming up. And this is when Indian telcos are already saddled with a staggering debt of USD62 billion[1] [3] as of March 2019.

Clearly, the hurdles are there but as a worthy mind once said, “where there’s a will there’s a way.” And to find its way through these roadblocks, it’s time for India to look into a few nation-wide fiberisation models pursued across the globe and learn what can help India convert this digital dream into a reality.

Predominant models of fiberisation:
Based on research, predominantly five broad models of nation-wide fiberisation emerged across the globe. The models on the top of the chart below (click to enlarge) are considered more successful by some, as they mobilise public-private partnerships in such a fashion that they tend to be more conducive to faster and sustainable expansion of the fibre network to even the deepest pockets of the nation, yet remaining viable for operators to survive financially.

[4]

Unregulated Private investment: In this model, service providers are free to invest in fibre where they deem it profitable. There is little to no regulatory pressure to unbundle to competitors, and regulated prices are not enforced.
Incumbent-led, graded government support: In this model, the incumbent operator, usually still with a tangible government investment stake or a high level of influence, is mandated to roll out an extensive national fibre network. Public money is involved directly or indirectly, and some regulation is applied to create a competitive environment.
Private-led, graded government support: While similar to the above model, the government in this model distances itself from the incumbents. Importantly, the government drives and partially funds a national fibre agenda through all the players in the market.
Government-controlled fibre: In this model, the government takes a full hands-on approach to creating and, in some cases, operating a national fibre network. The agenda behind this is open digital economy, and the objective of policy and regulation is to openly offer and possibly transfer the infrastructure to the communication service providers in the country for commercial service operation.
Private investment with heavy regulation: With its focus on private investment, this model assumes strong competition and easy access to financing. Further, this model then applies open access and regulated price controls so that other, usually smaller, operators can offer services without the burden of heavy infrastructure investment. The intent is to induce considerable infrastructure competition that drives low prices for highly specialised services.

What makes sense for India?
For efficient asset management, Indian operators are already taking noteworthy steps to rationalise the capex required to lay fibre:

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-idea have spun off their fibre assets to separate entities respectively, to monetise the fibre. They have also been discussing the potential to share their respective fibre networks by creating a joint venture.
Jio is in the process of demerging the fibre assets into a separate company which could then be monetised through an investment trust (InvIT) structure. As of now, they plan to keep the 15 per cent share while potentially selling the remaining 85 per cent to five global investors, including Qatar Investment Authority and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

While a case can be made for all the models in India, a “Private-led, graded government support” model suits the most. This resonates with the recent recommendation by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), especially for extension of internet and fibre networks to rural India. Subsequently, DoT has recently proposed to tie-up with the country’s three private operators to ensure connectivity to every India village. DoT plans to work with the private operators by providing 100 subsidies on Capex incurred on extending the connectivity to 43,000 disconnected villages, and have also agreed to subsidise the operating costs for the next five years.

Finally, to tackle the biggest bottleneck – RoW (Rights of Way) – the right policies for permits is a must. There should be cooperation between central and local authorities, where the centre could help in resolving issues like enforcing advance notification of civil works for infrastructure deployment (e.g. road, sanitation, energy, telecoms) and creating a single point of information for granting permits. The state government on the other hand should change its approach to take a proactive stance on dealing with the RoW issues and treat the RoW approvals as social-economic enablers instead of a direct revenue source.

Bottom line – A lot is being done to make 5G a reality, but adequate infrastructure remains the most essential piece of the puzzle in order to become truly ready. Hence, it is important for the operators to continue to invest in additional fibre deployments as building blocks for 5G.

– Aryan Jain – Research Manager, GSMA Intelligence

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members.

[1] [5] Source: Crisil

[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/blog/intelligence-brief-will-india-get-5g-in-2020/
[2] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/breakup.png
[3] https://www.mobileworldlive.com#_ftn1
[4] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/india.png
[5] https://www.mobileworldlive.com#_ftnref1

With India electing a new government to power, the vision of a Digital India has been given a renewed focus, but with more vigour. All stakeholders are now forging ahead to turn the dream of 5G by 2020 into a reality. Fibre backhaul, in particular, is expected to be one of the key enablers for 5G in India. Its deployment will remain critical to successful 5G rollout, but this journey will not be a smooth one.

As mentioned in an earlier blog  – Will India get 5G in 2020? [1] – the lack of required infrastructure is a major challenge to 5G rollout in India. To that end, it’s worth understanding the Indian fibre story to date.

Where does India stand today?
According to the National Digital Communication Policy 2018, India enjoyed 22 per cent of fibre coverage between the towers as of March 2018. In order to extend world class high-speed internet connectivity, around 75–80 per cent of mobile towers will have to fiberised; this is the case in markets like the US, China, and Japan. Even getting to a 60 per cent milestone by 2022 (which some consider the bare minimum for the satisfactory delivery of 5G) means there is clearly a long way to go.

[2]India’s leading telecom operators are committed to invest in fibre; Jio leads the pack followed by Vodafone-idea and Airtel. The government, in turn, has already taken initiatives (most notably BharatNet) to connect the deep rural pockets with fibre. Earlier known as National Optic Fibre Network (or NOFN), BharatNet was conceived with a specific aim to connect nearly 600,000 villages and eventually enable them with commercial internet access.

Evidently, efforts are being made, BUT…

Indian problems
While the necessity of fibre deployment for 5G is obvious, there is no shortage of challenges which will conspire to keep the pace of rollout slow: terrain hurdles, differing right-of-way norms across states, quality & maintenance issues. All of this is compounded by limited clarity on active network equipment sharing between the operators.

Of course, there’s also the issue of cost. Fibre deployment is expensive and comes on top of spectrum costs – which could be high given a mega 5G spectrum sale (275 MHz) coming up. And this is when Indian telcos are already saddled with a staggering debt of USD62 billion[1] [3] as of March 2019.

Clearly, the hurdles are there but as a worthy mind once said, “where there’s a will there’s a way.” And to find its way through these roadblocks, it’s time for India to look into a few nation-wide fiberisation models pursued across the globe and learn what can help India convert this digital dream into a reality.

Predominant models of fiberisation:
Based on research, predominantly five broad models of nation-wide fiberisation emerged across the globe. The models on the top of the chart below (click to enlarge) are considered more successful by some, as they mobilise public-private partnerships in such a fashion that they tend to be more conducive to faster and sustainable expansion of the fibre network to even the deepest pockets of the nation, yet remaining viable for operators to survive financially.

[4]

Unregulated Private investment: In this model, service providers are free to invest in fibre where they deem it profitable. There is little to no regulatory pressure to unbundle to competitors, and regulated prices are not enforced.
Incumbent-led, graded government support: In this model, the incumbent operator, usually still with a tangible government investment stake or a high level of influence, is mandated to roll out an extensive national fibre network. Public money is involved directly or indirectly, and some regulation is applied to create a competitive environment.
Private-led, graded government support: While similar to the above model, the government in this model distances itself from the incumbents. Importantly, the government drives and partially funds a national fibre agenda through all the players in the market.
Government-controlled fibre: In this model, the government takes a full hands-on approach to creating and, in some cases, operating a national fibre network. The agenda behind this is open digital economy, and the objective of policy and regulation is to openly offer and possibly transfer the infrastructure to the communication service providers in the country for commercial service operation.
Private investment with heavy regulation: With its focus on private investment, this model assumes strong competition and easy access to financing. Further, this model then applies open access and regulated price controls so that other, usually smaller, operators can offer services without the burden of heavy infrastructure investment. The intent is to induce considerable infrastructure competition that drives low prices for highly specialised services.

What makes sense for India?
For efficient asset management, Indian operators are already taking noteworthy steps to rationalise the capex required to lay fibre:

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-idea have spun off their fibre assets to separate entities respectively, to monetise the fibre. They have also been discussing the potential to share their respective fibre networks by creating a joint venture.
Jio is in the process of demerging the fibre assets into a separate company which could then be monetised through an investment trust (InvIT) structure. As of now, they plan to keep the 15 per cent share while potentially selling the remaining 85 per cent to five global investors, including Qatar Investment Authority and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

While a case can be made for all the models in India, a “Private-led, graded government support” model suits the most. This resonates with the recent recommendation by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), especially for extension of internet and fibre networks to rural India. Subsequently, DoT has recently proposed to tie-up with the country’s three private operators to ensure connectivity to every India village. DoT plans to work with the private operators by providing 100 subsidies on Capex incurred on extending the connectivity to 43,000 disconnected villages, and have also agreed to subsidise the operating costs for the next five years.

Finally, to tackle the biggest bottleneck – RoW (Rights of Way) – the right policies for permits is a must. There should be cooperation between central and local authorities, where the centre could help in resolving issues like enforcing advance notification of civil works for infrastructure deployment (e.g. road, sanitation, energy, telecoms) and creating a single point of information for granting permits. The state government on the other hand should change its approach to take a proactive stance on dealing with the RoW issues and treat the RoW approvals as social-economic enablers instead of a direct revenue source.

Bottom line – A lot is being done to make 5G a reality, but adequate infrastructure remains the most essential piece of the puzzle in order to become truly ready. Hence, it is important for the operators to continue to invest in additional fibre deployments as building blocks for 5G.

– Aryan Jain – Research Manager, GSMA Intelligence

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members.

[1] [5] Source: Crisil

[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/blog/intelligence-brief-will-india-get-5g-in-2020/
[2] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/breakup.png
[3] https://www.mobileworldlive.com#_ftn1
[4] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/india.png
[5] https://www.mobileworldlive.com#_ftnref1

Last week, IoT blogger and journalist Stacey Higginbotham tweeted a fairly innocuous query. “Serious question: Do you think a printer is an IoT device?” What resulted was a prime example of Twitter at its best. Across a few days, the tweet generated an impressive conversation. It generated decent insights, some funny retorts, musings on whether or not hot dogs qualify as sandwiches and a marginal share of utter nonsense. Oh, and it wouldn’t be Twitter without a sprinkling of well-worn memes.

Serious question: Do you think a printer is an IoT device? If no, what would you call it?
I feel like this is kind of a “Is a hot dog a sandwich?” question.

— Stacey Higginbotham (@gigastacey) August 6, 2019 [1]

Reviewing the responses, there were a number of common themes about how to define an IoT device. Some make sense. Some don’t. In the end, however, they provide a clear explanation for why, at some point in the not-too-distant future, we will cease talking about IoT as market segment.

Understandably, this last comment (the end of IoT as we know it) might seem a little startling. In any case, I’ll return to it. Promise. But, first, let’s look at some of the arguments made around printers and IoT which hold water.

Connected versus not connected. This is an easy one. Without some form of connectivity, you don’t really have a network, internet or otherwise. You simply have a thing.

Connection: internet or local. This one is a little tougher. A number of folks said the device had to be reachable over the internet. The public internet. If you are taking the I in IoT literally, this makes sense. But, if you are thinking about real-world use cases, then there are many IoT devices we’d never want touching the internet. Industrial modules and devices, for example, which are mission-critical and don’t need to be accessed by anyone outside the enterprise. They might form part of a local, regional or global network, just not be connected to the internet. Do we discount those?

Connection: wireless against fixed. This is another easy one. Some of the replies to the original question argued that a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection would make the printer an IoT device. A wired connection, however, would mean that it’s not. This is silly. While (networked) connectivity is critical to IoT, the type of connectivity shouldn’t be. There are plenty of sensors that we’d consider part of IoT that are connected with wired media. And there are plenty of IoT use cases which may require the performance (latency, bandwidth, coverage) of wired connections. Industrial automation via 5G? Yep, it’s commonly cited as an IoT use case. But if it needs to be done with a wired connection? Would that mean it’s not IoT?

Existing or new creation. Among the answers to Higginbotham’s query was: “Printers have existed as a category of devices for years, long before IoT came into being”. For some, this simple fact removes printers from the realm of IoT. In theory, the same should hold for smart TVs, connected cars, and fitness trackers (anyone remember the pedometer?). The legacy, or age, of a device category doesn’t make sense as an IoT qualifier.

General purpose or single function. In an effort to deal with things like tablets or smartphones (which most people wouldn’t count as IoT), the multi-purpose nature of a device was suggested as an IoT litmus test. With sensors, smart locks and location trackers in one camp (IoT) and PC-like devices in another (not IoT), it works. Now, throw in smart watches, smart TVs (with app stores), or multi-function printers, and it gets a little fuzzier.

Hackable to mine cryptocurrency. Okay, this was my favourite. While obviously tongue-in-cheek, there are a few implications here: connected, running an OS of some sort, open to security threats. Pretty comprehensive and elegant if you think about it.

Regardless of how you categorise connected printers, or how you define IoT, there’s a bigger-picture message here. The definition of what’s included in the IoT is not black or white. It’s fluid. And, it’s going to get even more fluid as time goes by and we connect legacy categories of devices, we connect things with all manner of access technologies and we stop thinking about whether or not something is connected at all, because almost everything that can be connected will be.

I understand that this won’t be happening any time soon. But when it does, IoT will simply be part of how we run our businesses and daily lives.

Does that mean IoT will cease to exist as a distinct concept? Yes. Connectivity and analysis of things will continue, but will simply be part of the fabric of our businesses and everyday lives. For many people, this is already the case. As a colleague recently suggested, the winemaker using sensors and a wireless network (public or private) to monitor grape production doesn’t call what they’re doing IoT, it’s simply modern farming. Of course, for anyone marketing, selling, and writing about IoT, this might seem sad. It’s not. It’s a sign that IoT will finally have achieved its full potential, backed by the access technologies, platforms, silicon, and analytics solutions being deployed and perfected today.

– Peter Jarich – head of GSMA Intelligence

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members.

[1] https://twitter.com/gigastacey/status/1158852258894716929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Sub-Saharan Africa has been conspicuously missing from the global 5G story so far, and for good reason. 2G is still the dominant technology in the region, at least until the end of this year, while 4G, which accounts for just 8 per cent of total connections compared to the global average of 46 per cent, is far from mass adoption. There is also the issue of device affordability, which has stymied 4G adoption. With the first wave of 5G devices likely to target the top end of the market, it is not hard to imagine the impact device costs could have on 5G adoption in the region.

Against this backdrop, it is easy to see why the notion of 5G in sub-Saharan Africa may come across as an oxymoron to some people. But is it? 5G attracted a lot of attention at this years’ Mobile360 Africa [1] conference, with numerous mentions on the conference stage and side chats during coffee breaks, even though the subject was not officially on the agenda. I quickly noticed that more people talked about the prospects for 5G in the region at this year’s event, compared to 2018, where 5G and Africa were hardly used in the same sentence.

So, what has changed? Nothing much in terms of Africa’s readiness for 5G or actual 5G-related activities. However, there was a realisation that 5G, as a natural progression from previous generations, will one day become a reality in the region. This in itself raised several pertinent questions among participants, for example when will the 5G era will arrive in the region; which markets will lead the transition to 5G; how should stakeholders, including policymakers, operators and vendors, prepare for the 5G era; and what would the 5G the business case for the region look like, given the network deployment requirements and consumer peculiarities?

An earlier blog [2] captures the contrasting views of operators and vendors to some of these questions at the event.

GSMA Intelligence’s new report 5G in Sub-Saharan Africa: laying the foundations [3] directly addresses these other issues more deeply. The report reflects the perspectives of policymakers, operators, and vendors, and lays out key expectations and considerations for the 5G era, some of which are highlighted below:

5G mass deployment and adoption is not likely until the second half the next decade – Most people agree that 5G in Africa is a question of when rather than if. However, it will not be until mid to late 2020s before 5G network deployment and adoption becomes more widespread across the region. Only a handful of countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, are expected to have commercial 5G services before 2025 (see chart, below, click to enlarge).

[4]

Enterprises will lead 5G adoption in Africa – 5G will play a key role in addressing the connectivity needs of enterprises, given the challenges around access, cost and reliability of existing solutions, such as fixed broadband and satellite. However, deployments will need to be localised and targeted, as opposed to ubiquitous and mass market, considering the cost implications for the requisite cell densification. Beyond connectivity, 5G can enable new business processes to drive productivity and efficiency in closed ecosystem environments, particularly in large, consolidated sectors such as mining and manufacturing. However, our research shows a lack of awareness and understanding of the potential of the technology among enterprises. For operators and their vendor partners, the challenge will be to increase awareness and develop relevant use cases.
The consumer segment will be a long-term play – Affordability will be a crucial factor for 5G adoption in the consumer segment. At around $1,000 on average, the cost of 5G handsets today is way beyond the reach of most consumers in the region. While this is expected to fall over time, it is not certain when the market will see sub-$100 devices, the price point at which mass adoption can begin to take place, given the experience of 4G. Meanwhile, immersive use cases such as AR and VR, for which 5G’s low latency capability is well suited, are still underdeveloped in the region. This means that 3G and 4G will remain the primary consumer mobile broadband access technologies for the foreseeable future.
Ecosystem collaboration will be essential to ease the transition to 5G – Given the cost burden of network deployment and the need to address consumer barriers to broadband adoption, our research identified four areas where ecosystem collaboration could facilitate the transition to 5G. These are: content creation to stimulate demand for connectivity; solutions for cost effective network deployment; initiatives to bring affordable devices to market; and development of 5G use cases for local enterprises. Take network deployment, for example, operators could collaborate on active network sharing, which has been shown to deliver much higher levels of both capex and opex savings compared to passive. Vendors can also explore new ways of financing network investment, such as the lease-to-own-model, to reduce the upfront capital outlay for operators.

As governments and enterprises across Africa increasingly use technology to tackle the biggest challenges faced by society, and digital trends point to growing demand for enhanced connectivity, 5G will no doubt play a key role in the future connectivity landscape. The technology will support the implementation of transformative technologies, such as AI and IoT, that can improve industrial processes and generate significant social and economic benefits for individuals and communities.

While this scenario is still several years away for most countries in the region, now is the time for ecosystem players including policymakers, operators and vendors, to begin to put in place the necessary building blocks on spectrum, network modernisation, consumer and enterprise use cases, and other relevant areas to maximise value in the 5G era.

– Kenechi Okeleke – senior manager – GSMA Intelligence

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members.

[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/mobile-360-africa-2019/
[2] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/blog/blog-can-vendors-sell-5g-dream-to-developing-markets/
[3] https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/research/?file=7d4569ab4c1f69b82e9ad8f179ba92ef&download
[4] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/GSMAi_SubSaharanAfrica_5GRollout_predictions.png