While there are many commercial 5G networks already in operation, the features that make 5G suitable for mission-critical operations won’t arrive until the 3GPP Release 17 is rolled out, probably by the end of 2022.
Everyone is looking forward to using the new features of 5G networks for advanced applications such as telemedicine, remote surgery, autonomous vehicles, and real-time factory automation. The promise of ultra-low latency and guaranteed delivery are the most important selling points of the new technology.
The problem is that the current non-standalone 5G networks do not fully support those features. Existing commercial networks are based on 3GPP Release 15, which was released in late 2018. Some of the newer 5G installations have some elements of Release 16, which is being field-tested right now.
For most IoT applications, especially when connecting many devices, 4G technologies such as LTE class-M and NB-IoT provide the necessary connectivity for Massive IoT.
To learn about the evolution of the IoT cellular market, and digital transformation using LTE and 5G networks, we talked to Marie Hogan, Head of Broadband and IoT, at Ericsson.
IoT Times
Good morning Marie,
We talked last year at the Mobile World Congress. And, at the time, it was the beginning of the deployment of 5G commercial networks. A year later, how do you see the IoT industry coming to 5G? And, do you see 5G already enabling new applications for IoT?
Marie Hogan
I guess there’s maybe two scenarios: there is, you know, the early proof of concepts and trials, both through what you would call initial 5G technology.
We’ve rolled out quite a number of 5G commercial networks, some tiny and some quite larger. And of course, the initial focus has mainly been for mobile broadband, and non-standalone. And, from IoT new use cases perspective, a lot of the attention is still on 4G as the network for IoT and broadband.
From a practical purpose, you could conceivably already connect a lot of new use cases with the basic 5G mobile broadband. But, I think a lot of the focus is to test out the full power of 5G, what we could call advanced 5G, maybe for critical IoT.
We really mean “time-critical communications”, not to be confused with “mission-critical”. When we talk about time-critical communications, we mean guaranteed delivery of data within a specific time period. And that’s something that only 5G can do.
IoT Times
So, is 4G still the best solution for Massive IoT?
Marie Hogan
On 4G, you can do Massive IoT; you can do the more advanced use cases based on our mobile broadband, which we call broadband IoT. And 5G will allow more advanced use cases for those, and also on a different spectrum.
Critical IoT is a new thing. And beyond critical IoT, we have a segment that’s probably further away, industrial automation IoT. And that is, I guess, the ultimate goal of wireless everything.
IoT Times
What about IoT on Millimeter-Wave?
Marie Hogan
In 5G Millimeter-Wave, massive IoT isn’t defined for it today. But, if we want to do more basic IoT connectivity and lower-cost devices, we would need a similar category device for Millimeter-Wave and the higher mid bands. That’s being defined now in 3GPP release 17, probably something we’d see in 2022.
IoT Times
Over the past five years, we have been talking about the benefits of 5G, and the new LTE modes for IoT. However, there are still millions of IoT devices connected to 2G networks.
Some of the carriers supporting those devices have been talking about shutting down their 3G networks but not 2G because they still see a market for it.
Marie Hogan
Yeah, and I think it’s fair to say that if you are a customer of, say a point of sale or a vending machine, if you use 2G in that machine today, and you want to continue running that specific use case in the same way, and nobody’s changing the spectrum, then, of course, there’s no incentive to move from 2G, as it works exactly as good as you would like it to work.
But then there are a few trigger points that will probably come, some sooner, some later. Look at AT&T, and they have more or less shut down their 2G network. So, those players would need to move to something else.
If the spectrum is reformed, for example, to 4G or 5G, you need to think about moving to it. If you, as a customer, have other digital transformation plans in mind, maybe you want to do more advanced things.
If it’s just to maintain the status quo then, and the spectrum is available, you could continue on 2G. But if you have any need for something more ambitious or more advanced, and more digital transformation, then 4G, and 5G, of course, will offer huge advantages.
IoT Times
Thank you Marie, looking forward to seeing you next year in Barcelona for MWC.
