Industry News

NSPs Carefully Explore Options for Allocating 5G Resources to Deliver Broadband Access to the Home

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Olivier Lafontaine, Technicolorby Olivier Lafontaine
Strategy and Product Management Director
Technicolor Connected Home

As the 5G era moves through its early stages of deployment, the network service provider (NSP) community is exploring how the different manifestations of this technology (millimeter wave, mid-band, and low-band 5G) can best be harnessed to serve consumers while optimizing the revenues. In so doing, carriers will have to evaluate the pros and cons of dedicating spectrum to burgeoning demand for mobile services while looking for ways to enhance broadband access to connected homes.

Establishing the right balance is likely going to be different for every single NSP. The directions operators take with 5G will depend on the regions in which they operate, the nature of their subscriber base, the disposition of local infrastructures, and the competitive posture of other players offering mobile and terrestrial broadband services in their markets.

5G Achieving Critical Mass of Industry and Consumer Acceptance

Once the winners of the 5G auction are announced, NSPs can expect spectrum assets to nearly double in size. These new frequency resources will enable NSPs to enhance existing services and deliver new value propositions. Compared to what has been achieved so far with the technologies previously available -- such as 4G LTE -- 5G comes with substantial capacity improvements, elevating the experience of consumers who have 5G-capable devices. 

Some mobile device manufacturers -- especially those in the Android market -- immediately jumped in over the course of 2019 in anticipation of demand for 5G services. Others, notably Apple, waited until the infrastructure build-out took on a clearer shape. By the end of 2020, however, it became clear that 5G successfully established itself as the new standard of service, a fact illustrated by the roll out of the iPhone 12, a 5G device. 

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EU Proposes "Right to Repair" Legislation

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The Circular Economy Action Plan proposal by the European Commission (EC) introduces right to repair legislation for consumer electronics-- meaning vendors will need to build longer-lasting products that are easier to reuse, repair and recycle.

mobile repair

Part of an all-encompassing agenda for sustainable growth, the legislation insists the industry should restrict single-use products and tackle "premature obsolescence," all in the name of helping the EU transition to carbon neutrality by 2050. The EC plans to push right to repair through an expansion of the Ecodesign Directive, the legislation setting energy efficiency standards for home appliances, while a "Circular Electronics Initiative" promotes reusability, reparability and the upgradeability of components and software.

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Google Wants to Buy Fitbit

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Fitbit VERSA 2

Reuters discloses Google's Alphabet Inc wants to buy wearable device maker Fitbit.

Google has yet to develop any consumer wearable offerings, despite an early attempt with Google Glass. But earlier this year Google did buy Fossil Group's intellectual property for smartwatch technology for $40 million.

While Google and Fitbit declined to comment to Reuters, a deal for Fitbit would come as its Q3 earnings report (Nov. 6th) will show how Fitbit is losing its dominant share of the fitness tracking sector to cheaper products from China. In smartwatches, Apple is making good time on the high end-- and their interest in health apps puts Apple directly on the train tracks blocking Fitbit from bigger growth in high end smartwatches.

Fitbit cut its 2019 revenue forecast in July 2019, with disappointing sales of its attempt to protect its bottom line from the cheaper suppliers. The newly launched cheaper smartwatch, Versa Lite, was light in sales. Yet Google backing could drive Fitbit forward, ensuring its dominance in the middle to high end of the wearable market.  Or it could fizzle like Google's attempt with Motorola in smartphones.

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Ericsson: 5G Subscriptions Reach 1bn in 2023

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According to the Ericsson Mobility Report 5G subscriptions will reach 1 billion by 2023, with 5G covering over 20% of the world population just 4 years after the first commercial 5G New Radio (NR) networks go live in 2019.

5g mobileA number of perhaps predictable markets will get the first 5G deployments-- namely the US, S. Korea, Japan and China-- all based in dense urban areas. The forecast period also involves an 8X surge in mobile data traffic, reaching 110 Exabytes per month (or 5.5 million years of HD video streaming) per month.

The mention of streaming is relevant, since video is a main driver of mobile broadband traffic. Young millennials (in the 15-24 age bracket) stream 2.5X more than people over 45 years of age, and higher resolution and immersive 360-degree video will further impact data traffic consumption volumes.

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Qualcomm Presents Quick Charge 4+

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Qualcomm is quick to present an update on the Quick Charge 4 standard-- Quick Charge 4+, a set of enhancements vendors can add to Quick Charge 4-compliant devices.

Qualcomm QuickchargeThe enhancements found in Quick Charge 4+ are Dual Charge (or at least a "more powerful" version of the feature found in the earlier version), Intelligent Thermal Balancing (steers current to the coolest dual charging pathways in order to keep temperatures down) and "advanced safety features" (monitor phone and connector temperature against overheating and short-circuit damage).

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