Page 97 - SAMENA Trends - October 2019

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Chinese Trio Launch Commercial 5G Services

China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have each confirmed that they have launched commercial 5G services.
Each player has activated their network in 50 cities from launch,
including the likes of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen,
Hangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin, Wuhan, Jinan and Zhengzhou. China
Mobile notes that it has built more than 40,000 5G base transceiver
stations (BTS) in 50 key cities and has carried out 5G network
construction in more than 300 cities across the country. In 2020,
the mobile giant will further expand its network coverage, with a
view to providing 5G services to all cities above the prefecture
level. China Unicom and China Telecom, meanwhile, have shared
construction of BTS in 24 cities, as per an agreement signed on
9 September. Going forward, the two parties have suggested that
the collaboration will represent the ‘world’s first and largest 5G
joint construction and sharing network’.

Openreach Pilots New Techniques to Bring Fiber to Remote Areas

BT’s access division, Openreach, is trialing areas. Openreach said some homes and know that around 10% of the country will
new tools and techniques to bring fiber businesses could receive FTTP in time for need to the support of public subsidy, but
to the premises (FTTP) broadband to Christmas. Once services are live, residents these trials will help us test a bunch of
remote locations. The company says the should see download speeds of up to 1 new techniques that could help us in other
pilot in the Lancashire villages of Hesketh gigabit per second (1Gbps). Clive Selley, rural areas. “The trials will also give us a
Bank and Parbold will pave the way for a Chief Executive of Openreach, commented, much clearer picture of what the technical
much bigger upgrade of rural homes and “At Openreach, we’ll never be just a city challenges in these kinds of rural areas
businesses in smaller, less accessible fiber provider. We’ve always worked hard are. We hope they’ll go a long way towards
locations. Approaches being tested include to improve connections to isolated, less developing the tools, skills and innovations
a ‘diamond cutter’ trench-digging tool. The commercially attractive communities required to make sure that nobody’s left
giant rotating circular blade with diamonds through inventive engineering and effective behind in the full-fiber future.” The pilot
embedded in the metal coating on its edge funding partnership models.” He added: could make areas eligible that were less
can slice through pavements and roads “In recent years we’ve been extending our commercially viable for Openreach’s
leaving a neat channel into which the full-fibre network into rural areas – mostly ‘Fibre First’ investment program, “if the
machine simultaneously feeds in tubing in partnership with local authorities and right investment conditions are met,” the
for fiber-optic cables. The tool can install Government - but the economics are clearly company said.
700 meters of cabling a day – more than challenging and we want to do more. We
20 times the amount possible by a two-
person team using drilling and excavation.
Openreach says this could slash the time
taken to deploy fiber by months. The
company is also trialing ‘remote nodes’
– where fiber-optic cables can be built
out from specially adapted existing green
roadside cabinets. Equipment installed
inside the cabinet enables full-fiber
connections to extend their current reach
by more than 1.5 times, with the capacity
to connect more than 1,000 premises. By
‘piggy-backing’ on the existing network,
Openreach says engineers can avoid up
to six months in time and associated
cost involved in deploying new fiber
cables from an exchange to remote rural

97 OCTOBER 2019