5G is the fifth generation of mobile internet connectivity that
stands out for its greater bandwidth, ultra-reliable communications, low
latency and massive communications Machine to Machine. It will enable a
lot of future applications in different sectors such as education,
health, mobility, industry and leisure. It is also expected to reduce
the digital gap, referring to the differing access to information
between the ones who have a good internet connection and those who do
not. Moreover, 5G deployment is expected to foster the industrialization
processes by empowering the key reference businesses in every country.
One of the main features will be the virtualization and segmentation
of the network (thanks to network slicing capabilities) that will enable
the creation of different segments of the network, another important
feature will be edge computing that will allow placing more computing
power near the end users to streamline real time applications.
A specific frequency spectrum is going to be used for eMB services
between the users and the antennas, in the commonly known as Radio
Access Network (RAN). 3.4 – 3.8 GHz and 26 GHz are the 5G frequency
bands going to be used in dense urban zones other lower band frequencies
such as 700Mhz due to their better penetration and coverage footprint
are expecting to be used for other scenarios
.
In this scenarios, there are two types of antennas: macro cells and small cells.
In one hand, macro cells are the current 3G and 4G eNodeB (base
stations already deployed mostly over rooftops in urban areas) that can
also be adapted to be used in 5G. On the other hand, the small cells are
designed for specific urban areas with a very high density of
population. The inconvenient is that they present a short range up to
50-300m in free space (empty of hurdles).
The mentioned antennas, need to be connected to the “core” side of
the telecommunication networks, also known as the “backhaul” of the
network. This connectivity can be provided through the specific
installation of radio links or by the deployment of FTTA (Fibre To The
Antenna).
FTTA connections are much more efficient but have a higher cost due
to the need of its deployment. In Spain there are a lot of unused
deployed optical fibre connections, however, in the majority of European
countries it will need to be deployed yet. Furthermore, there is also a
disposal of auxiliary equipment that offer extra functionalities to the
network such as the Mobile/Multiaccess Edge Computing (MEC).
Nowadays, there are 114 pilot tests in the European Community, Spain is leading this list with a number
.
In the following sections, different considerations about 5G roll-out
will be analysed in more detail, with some possible implications.
