Connectivity will be the key to unlock the 4IR benefits for SA
The mobile industry is working hard on the 5G wireless networking technology
THE FOURTH Industrial Revolution (4IR) depends to a large extent on connectivity. Almost all 4IR technologies intended to make our lives easier, such as artificial intelligence, robots, self-driving cars, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things, all require high-speed, always-on Internet connections.
To keep up with the immense increase of connected devices, vehicles, and streaming video, the mobile industry is working hard on the fifth generation (5G) wireless networking technology. 5G is theoretically capable of speeds up to 20 Gigabits per second (Gb/s) as compared to the current 4G LTE, which has a maximum throughput of 1 Gb/s.
This is more than 600 times faster than current 4G speeds of mobile networks and 10 times faster than the fastest optical fibre network in South Africa. With 5G connectivity it should be possible to download an ultra high definition video of 4K-quality in 25 seconds.
5G technology will primarily have two major applications in the first years of deployment. In the first instance 5G will be used for mobile connectivity by devices such as smartphones and 5G mobile modems (hotspots with Wi-Fi).
Second, 5G will be used for fixed-wireless access (FWA) providing homes and businesses with broadband Internet in place of a wired ADSL or optic fibre connection.
The new 5G service will operate in the traditional and new cellular radio frequency band in the low(below 1 GHz, eg 700 MHz), mid- (1 to 6 GHz, eg around 3.5 to 3.8 GHz) and millimetre-wave (24 to 86 GHz, eg 28 GHz) ranges.
Initially, smartphones and modems will predominantly make use of the low- and mid-range frequencies, while the millimetre-wave with its much higher bandwidth will be reserved for FWA.
Although higher frequencies such as millimetre-wave provide much higher speeds and capacity to transfer data, they have a limited geographical coverage and also experience difficulty in penetrating walls or certain types of glass. Therefore most FWA devices will have to use external antennas.
About 20 handset vendors, for example Samsung, LG and Huawei, indicated that they would launch 5G-ready handsets in 2019. Due to the additional component costs for the 5G smartphone, it could cost about R750 more than a 4G phone. Apple enthusiasts will regrettably have to wait until 2020 for a 5G iPhone according to Apple.
Unfortunately, South Africa is lagging behind in the global connectivity sphere, even trailing behind Madagascar in mean optic fibre speed. Deloitte Global points out that 72 operators worldwide were testing 5G in 2018, of which 25 will launch their 5G services – mostly in cities by the end of 2019 and another 26 operators will launch in 2020.
The only company in South Africa to launch its 5G commercial network during February 2019 was the data-only network operator Rain. It was able to launch the 5G service in Johannesburg by using the 3.6 GHz spectrum already licensed to it.
South Africa’s more established mobile operators, including Vodacom and MTN, are unable to launch 5G services until more spectrum is licensed to them by the communications regulator Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
And this is the major reason why South Africa is trailing behind the rest of the world in deploying 5G services.
Over the years the government, and in particular the Department of Communications, has dragged its feet in freeing-up and licensing more frequencies.
Operators are therefore still waiting on Icasa to assign radio frequency spectrum for 5G networks.
MTN chief technology and information officer Giovanni Chiarelli recently said: “South Africa is one of the most constrained countries in the world from this perspective.”
Unless the government ensures that 5G spectrum is released quickly, it will be the first time South Africa is completely left behind when a new generation of wireless technology is released. Even Lesotho already has a fast 5G network of 700 Mb/s provided by Vodacom.
Although 5G technology is already installed and has been tested in some places in South Africa like Soweto, it will not be available commercially soon, since the radio frequency spectrum needed is not available, in particular the 3.5 GHz band.
Unfortunately, due to poor management within the Department of Communications, South Africa has not adhered to the worldwide agreement to switch off analogue television services and to replace it with digital terrestrial broadcasting in 2015.
Despite a government appointed panel in July 2018 to speed up the move and a new deadline of July 2020, there are no guarantees in the light of the previous poor performance by the government.
In fact, the digital re-stacking (revising channel plans and moving broadcasters out of the analogue bands) after South Africa has switched off analogue television could easily take up to two years, thus delaying the allocation of prime radio frequency to the second half of 2022 or beyond. In fact, the much-awaited 4G spectrum auction will finally (and hopefully) take place only later this year!
Perhaps not in the next few years, but somewhere in the future we would experience the much faster world of 5G.