Monday, October 25, 2021

5G Millimeter Wave Value Often is Not What You Think

The paradox of 5G value is that actual commercial value might be said to be one thing, but actually is something else, on many occasions. Though much is made of 5G millimeter wave speed (gigabit per second or higher) and low latency, the actual practical value for mobile operators and customers often is predictable bandwidth at times of peak usage in areas of high network demand. 


As some might argue, the value of 5G over 4G might sometimes be its support for ultra-low latency internet of things applications. At other times it might be the gigabit-per-second speeds that allow the mobile network to become a substitute for fixed network access. 


source: Bell Labs Consulting 


But the business value of 5G for mobile operators also is the ability to supply customer bandwidth demands at prices those customers are willing to pay. In other words, 5G allows mobile operators to supply more bandwidth at lower cost per bit. 


In tests, Nokia Bell Labs has found that at crowded locations such as train stations, it is not so much customer bandwidth demand that is so high, but rather the sheer number of users to be supported at a location. 


That is in accord with the realities of mobile network demand generally, where a small number of base stations and cell sites account for a disproportionate share of end user demand. T-Mobile, for example, has pointed out that 20 percent of cells carried half of all traffic


source: T-Mobile


Likewise, Ericsson says five percent of cell sites support 25 percent of total traffic.  About a quarter of sites handle half of all traffic, while 70 percent of sites are required for 25 percent of total traffic. 


So the value of millimeter wave is the ability to support demand at the highest-usage cell sites. 


source: Ericsson


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