Page 89 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2021

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Rostelecom Testing 10Gbps-Capable GPON in St Petersburg

Rostelecom is testing 10Gbps-capable existing services and supporting new 10 GPON. We do not need to upgrade the
GPON (’10 GPON’) fiber broadband services such as UHD video streaming, existing cable infrastructure; we only need
access in St Petersburg in partnership AR/VR online gaming, education and to replace some of the equipment and
with Huawei, with a pilot launch of the medical applications, combined with the home routers. The pilot will be in the Nevsky
technology scheduled for the first quarter latest Wi-Fi 6 standard for enhanced Wi-Fi District, where we will offer subscribers,
of 2022. The telco said in a press release coverage for homes and smart businesses. whose homes are connected using optical
that end user internet access speeds of Rostelecom’s North-west regional director technologies a comprehensive solution
‘3-5Gbps’ will be made possible, opening Alexander Loginov noted: ‘In St Petersburg, with the installation of equipment that
up new opportunities for businesses and our company has a well-developed optical supports Wi-Fi 6.’
city residents, improving the quality of network, suitable for the introduction of

Nepal Telecom Issued License for 5G Trials

State-owned telecommunications pro-vider Nepal Telecom procedures approved by the NTA in July, companies are required to
(NT) has finally received the green light from the National apply for permission to perform trials. The NTA will then allocate
Telecommunications Authority (NTA) to proceed with 5G network the necessary frequencies – exempt from standard spectrum fees
testing, reports Nepalitelecom.com. Following submission of its – for a twelve-month period on condition the service is provided to
5G work plan earlier this year, NT has been licensed to conduct customers free of charge during the trial. The provided bandwidth
trials in the 2600MHz band for a maximum period of one year is held on a temporary basis and must be returned to the NTA
using 60MHz of spectrum (2500MHz-2560MHz) assigned by the following conclusion of testing, while operators must obtain
regulator. Although the Ministry of Communications & Information permission from the regulator before potentially re-using any
Technology (MoCIT) instructed NT to begin 5G network testing imported equipment for their existing 4G networks, failing which
in four cities by mid-July this year, delays in appointing a new the hardware must either be sealed or returned to the vendor.
communications minister had prevented allocation of the
necessary spectrum. The NTA also confirmed that it has yet to
decide whether to grant rival mobile network operator (MNO)
Ncell’s application to stage its own trial. According to Xinhua
News Agency, NT is keen for the regulator to confirm which
frequencies will ultimately be allocated for commercial operations
before it proceeds to import the network equipment required for
the trial. ‘We’re concerned whether the NTA provides us the same
frequency for commercial operation as we’re going to use for
conducting trails,’ explained NT spokesman Rajesh Joshi, adding:
‘We have to invest in telecommunication gear for 5G testing. If we
don’t get the same frequency for commercial use, our investment
in gear for 5G trials will be wasted.’ Under the 5G network testing

China to Triple 5G Base Station Count by 2025

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) make up about 70 per cent of the global total, with the number
laid out plans to more than triple the number of 5G base stations of customers on compatible plans accounting for 38.7 per cent
over the next four years, targeting a total of 3.64 million by end- of the nation’s tally. Xie Cun, director of the MIIT’s information
2025, China Daily reported. The MIIT’s plan aims to increase and communication development department, told China Daily all
the number of sites supporting 10,000 people from five in 2020 prefecture-level cities have full 5G coverage, with rural towns at
to 26 by end-2025, the newspaper stated. China reportedly had 40 per cent. The plans also forecast the cumulative investment
nearly 634 million 5G package subscribers at end-September. in telecoms infrastructure to grow from CNY2.5 trillion ($391.7
Currently the nation has 1.2 million 5G sites nationwide, which billion) in 2020 to CNY3.7 trillion in 2025.

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