ANALYSIS & OPINION: FIBRE & 5G
MACRO CELLS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE GROWING SPEED, LATENCY AND BANDWIDTH TO FUTURE- PROOF 5G AND BEYOND
A city’s network can be thought of as an inter-connected road map Most of the use cases for 5G fall over if you
don’t have high-speed backhaul capacity. Terefore, 5G simply cannot exist without fibre in the ground. A city’s network can be thought of as an inter-connected road map: the capacity of a main road connecting to a major motorway must be able to accommodate the traffic emerging from connected side roads. So even if an area had a sufficient number of
cell towers (side roads), it would still require a sufficient capacity of reliable ethernet piping (main roads) in order to connect to the internet backbone (major motorway). Ultimately, the quality and reliability of the wireless network will depend on the wireline network carrying traffic to and from the 5G small cells. According to a study by Deloite, only 11 per
cent of traffic is carried by wireless networks and the other 90 per cent of internet traffic is supported and carried by the wireline network. Terefore, a reliable backhaul connection is vital. Unfortunately, the UK’s network is built
on old foundations. While Openreach’s main distribution system to on-street cabinets uses fibre, the vast majority are still copper and the difference in performance is colossal. Fibre optic cables can travel 65km without losing signal strength, whereas copper can only carry a gigabit signal around 90m. Fibre optic networks are only limited by
the technology used to transmit and receive signals. It is only full-fibre that can handle 5G’s increased speeds with lower atenuation, and is immune to electromagnetic interference, offering practically unlimited bandwidth potential.
www.fibre-systems.com @fibresystemsmag
A political vision Despite this, while 5G has been the phrase on everybody’s lips, the practical necessity of fibre very rarely follows it. In fact, only 10 per cent of homes and businesses have access to full fibre in the UK, with only 2 per cent connected. In sharp contrast, FTTP is the most widely used technology in Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, with coverage in excess of 70 per cent. And in South Korea, the number is closer to 95 per cent. However, the recent re-instatement of Boris
Johnson’s Conservative government perhaps suggests that the UK is bound for change. His pledge and commitment to the roll-out of full-fibre could be the catalyst for change, in a country that is sorely equipped for the technological revolution. It is essential that, during this Conservative
term, we grab the unique chance to get Britain connected and competitive for the future to come – the most immediate future being a coordinated approach to mobile (5G) and full-fibre fixed line access. If local authorities, government, service providers and network operators work together to roll out full-fibre networks across the UK, we can ensure that 5G is optimised over the next five years and beyond. Now, the road to 5G in the UK is a vision, but full-fibre can make it a reality.
Collaboration is key to connection Evidence for the dire need to implement full-fibre is not far away. In Sweden, more than 70 per cent of homes and businesses are passed by fibre, with approximately 60 per cent connected. Sweden has achieved this
by promoting a collaborative approach with government, local communities, councils, as well as citizens and businesses – the active role of everyone in the community ensures that fibre can be tailored to a variety of use cases. I believe that collaboration is the key
ingredient for projects across the UK and Europe. If citizens, businesses and local governments can work together, it is simply more effective and efficient to achieve full-fibre connectivity – the common goal which unites all those involved. As an example, with this approach, Sweden has emerged as a world leading technology hub, creating more billion- dollar companies per capita than any other region in the world, apart from Silicon Valley.
Looking to the future Tere’s no doubt that full-fibre networks provide a feasible solution to the challenges of implementing 5G technology. Areas targeted for 5G coverage require fibre to be successful, not just for capacity reasons, but to also meet the other formidable 5G performance goals – network diversity, availability and coverage. And all three goals can be achieved through a greater number of interconnected fibre paths. 5G is potentially revolutionary across a
range of networks and industries such as energy, transport and utilities – which is just the tip of the iceberg. Te possibilities are virtually unlimited, but only a smart, fibre-deep infrastructure will be paramount to making the 5G vision real and, most importantly, to prevent the UK from being severely leſt behind. n
Mikael Sandberg is chairman at VXFiber Issue 26 n Winter 2020 n FiBRE SYSTEMS 29
VXFiber
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