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Fixed wireless access unlocks a world of opportunity

Contributor

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August 14, 2020

Fixed wireless access unlocks a world of opportunity

5G networks are now being built out, with performance and capacity gains available to be tapped by new use cases.

One of the first will be fixed wireless access (FWA). Around half of all households in the world – over one billion – do not have a fixed broadband connection.

Given the current speed and capacity of cellular networks with LTE and its evolution to 5G, there are opportunities for operators to deliver broadband services to homes and small and medium-sized enterprises economically using FWA.

Fixed wireless access (FWA) connections are forecast to grow threefold and reach close to 160 million by the end of 2025, accounting for 25 per cent of total mobile network data traffic globally, according to Ericsson Mobility Report.

FWA in the broadband context

There are approximately 2 billion households in the world. By the end of 2019, approximately 1.2 billion (60 per cent) had a fixed broadband connection, and by the end of 2025 this will reach approximately 70 percent.

In this context, FWA will represent 10 per cent of fixed broadband connections. However, it is worth mentioning that FWA is also seen as a replacement option for around 300 million existing DSL connections.

Considering the number of FWA connections, many households consist of several individuals using the same connection. However, in the mobile broadband context, there are more connections than individuals.

The forecast of close to 160 million FWA connections by the end of 2025 represents approximately 570 million individuals having access to a wireless broadband connection.

There are three main factors that drive the FWA market and the uptake of connections:

Demand from consumers and businesses for digital services continues, driving the need for broadband connectivity.
FWA delivered over 4G or 5G is an increasingly cost-efficient broadband alternative in areas with limited availability of fixed services such as DSL, cable or fibre. Increasing capacity – allowed by greater spectrum allocations and technology advancements for 4G and 5G networks – is driving higher network efficiency in terms of the cost per delivered gigabyte.
Governments are fueling broadband connectivity through programs and subsidies, as it is considered vital for digitalisation efforts and economic growth.

Future outlook

With the disruption caused by Covid-19, the demand for wireless household broadband has probably never been greater. In a recent study on mobile service provider offerings, 185 out of 309 providers had an FWA offering. Compared to December 2018, this number has almost doubled.

We estimate there were 51 million FWA connections by the end of 2019. This number is forecast to grow threefold through 2025, reaching close to 160 million.

FWA data traffic is estimated to have represented around 15 per cent of global mobile network data traffic by the end of 2019. This is projected to grow by a factor of around 8 to reach 53EB in 2025, accounting for 25 per cent of total mobile network data traffic globally.

With the performance and capacity gains from enhanced mobile broadband and the evolution to 5G, FWA will be an opportunity for communications service providers to deploy in many places. Previous experience from FWA and fixed broadband has shown that an “unlimited” traffic paradigm does not result in infinite demand and network congestion, but is manageable with a combination of performance-based service offerings and average consumption patterns.

Service providers can start on a clear path to capacity expansion by following a procedure of “utilise, add and densify”. First, network assets already in place should be fully utilized, including radio sites, spare capacity in deployed spectrum and associated radio, baseband and transport equipment.

Next, spectrum and radio network capabilities should be added, such as higher-order modulation, advanced antenna systems and beamforming, increased sectorisation and 5G NR access as needed. Finally, densification with the addition of macro and small cells when necessary.

An important aspect to keep in mind is that the results may be quite different from one service provider to another. This means that it is unlikely that a replicable template can be used to define the characteristics that will make FWA attractive in a given market.

Chafic Traboulsi is Head of Networks at Ericsson Middle East and Africa.

Automation that matters and eliminates errors

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August 14, 2020

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Automation that matters and eliminates errors

Operators consider network complexity to be the greatest threat for the next three years, according to a research survey by 451 Research.

At 61 per cent of respondents, this ranks higher than competition from cloud providers or concerns about the pressure on service margins and lower operating costs.

Greatest threat for next three years

Network complexity 61%
Competition from cloud service providers 49%
Inability to adopt agile service delivery models 35%
Regulatory constraints on spectrum 29%
Inability to lower operating expenses 25%
Increased pressure on service margins 25%

This concern was echoed by analyst, Patrick Donegan of HardenStance, who pointed to complex and unwieldy manual operations as the primary security challenge for operators scaling out their networks with more 5G devices and elements.

For example, “fat finger” errors by operations personnel can cause configuration issues and potential disruption when new devices are brought online.

Manual application for security patches is also prone to error or inconsistent updating, leaving network devices vulnerable.

With a variety of individuals implementing different configurations at different times along with the growing number of devices, it becomes difficult to compare configurations and patch updates to see if the correct one is in place.

The automation of simple tasks and discrete but complex processes are the first steps to better consistency. Automation, even in small steps, can provide big rewards to operators in reducing costs and enabling faster, more secure rollouts of 5G use cases such as fixed wireless access (FWA).

Supporting operator goals

Operators are caught between needing to automate and reduce costs while still managing older, multi-generational and hybrid technologies of 3G, 4G, 5G and fixed broadband.

The automation of deployment, configuration, update and upgrade processes can substantially ease the pain of this transition and support operator goals of lower cost, stronger security and better customer experience.

Service providers operating both mobile and fixed networks, such as the one interviewed in the HardenStance brief, are focused on FWA with 5G to improve the volume and quality of their video services, to further enable the convergence of the mobile and fixed infrastructure and to reduce costs.

This operator wants to provide consistent services for fixed broadband users, even when connecting via 5G FWA, and to extend broadband coverage to underserved areas such as rural populations.

Connecting underserved populations

Globally, the FWA market is surging worldwide with over 100 million households now using fixed wireless access. Overall, the mobile industry sees fixed wireless access with 5G and 4G as providing a cost-efficient way to connect underserved populations.

Broadband deployment has been particularly slow in developing and underdeveloped countries where as many as 1 billion families are estimated to be without any fixed broadband access at all.

The operators’ opportunity for fixed wireless access services (both 4G and 5G) is huge.

5G for fixed wireless access provides up to 100x more capacity than 4G and eliminates the need to deploy costly fixed wireline or fibre infrastructure, which requires digging trenches, laying cable and securing the right of way.

At A10 Networks we believe a comprehensive set of API scripts that allow operators to automate multiple tasks and simplify complex processes and meet network transition business goals.

A10 approach is we only require no more than a handful of API calls to execute many changes, which may require a thousand API calls from other vendors.

This greatly simplifies the management of ever-expanding network nodes. Furthermore, clustering functions and licensing options allow for the flexibility to increase capacity across different nodes, regardless of location and without service interruption in just 20 minutes.

The automation of seemingly simple tasks and processes and elastic scalability help optimise investment per site and enable operators to more easily build out mobile edge computing and to converge mobile and fixed technologies while ensuring a uniform subscriber experience.

Hesham Elsherif is the Principal System Engineer at A10.

Amazon launches online pharmacy in Bengaluru

TCN Bureau

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August 14, 2020

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Amazon launches online pharmacy in Bengaluru

Online retail giant seeks to widen its reach and take on rivals

Bengaluru: Online retail giant Amazon launched an online pharmacy in India to serve the city of Bengaluru, in a bid to widen its reach.

The initiative comes as online drugs business got a major boost during the coronavirus pandemic and offers prescription, over-the-counter and traditional Ayurveda medication as well as basic health devices.

The service, Amazon Pharmacy, will soon offer deliveries across the city, Amazon said.

The e-commerce giant started its move into pharmaceutical retailing in 2017.

India has seen billions of dollars of investment by US technology giants recently.

Earlier this year, Amazon’s chief executive Jeff Bezos pledged to make major investments in India.

Amazon had decided to open 10 new warehouses in India last month and has also started offering auto insurance.

It had also secured clearance for alcohol delivery in the Indian state of West Bengal, Reuters reported in June.

In May, Amazon entered India’s meal delivery business with a trial in four parts of Bengaluru.

Last month, Google became the latest big American player to invest in Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries’ digital business.

“Amazon’s customer base is very high, so we are bound to lose business. There are 5 million families dependent on this (offline) trade,” Yash Aggarwal, legal head of South Chemists and Distributors Association in New Delhi, told Reuters.

The group will raise objections against Amazon’s move with the government, he said.

Stay at home lifts Angry Birds maker’s second-quarter profit

TCN Bureau

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August 14, 2020

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Stay at home lifts Angry Birds maker’s second-quarter profit

Finnish video game developer’s revenues fall 3.6% due to lower movie revenue

Dubai: Rovio Entertainment, maker of “Angry Birds” mobile game series, witnessed a 160 per cent jump in second-quarter adjusted operating profit due to stable revenues of key games, increased player engagement due to Covid-19 and lower level of user acquisition.

The Finnish video game developer’s adjusted operating profit rose to 13.8 million euros from 5.3 million a year ago but its revenues fell 3.6 per cent to 69.2 million euros due to lower movie revenue.

“We had an eventful second quarter and reached record high games revenue driven by the strong performance of our key games,” Kati Levoranta, CEO of Rovio Entertainment, said.

Moreover, she said that Rovio’s largest game, Angry Birds 2, grew quarter-on-quarter due to game updates, seasonal events and increased player engagement that can be attributed to Covid-19, especially in April.

Overall impact

“The overall impact of Covid-19, which was visible in a higher level of downloads, daily active users and player engagement, peaked late April. From May onwards these KPIs started to normalize. At the same time, successful game improvements have led to somewhat higher monetisation compared to the beginning of the year and stable revenues in our key games,” she said.

During the first half of this year, the company has seen heightened viewership and engagement for “Angry Birds” content across all major digital platforms.

The “Angry Birds Movie 2” was amongst the most watched movies on Netflix during the spring.

“In June, we signed a contract with IMG Licensing Worldwide for exclusive global representation of Angry Birds consumer products and location-based entertainment licensing.

With their extensive global operations, supported by front and back-office resources across geographies and product categories, we believe IMG can help us build an exciting offering over the coming years to reach our fans with high-quality consumer products across the globe,” Levoranta said.

During 2020, she said that the company aims to launch 1-3 new games but the timing of new game launches depends on how the games progress in soft launch.

Rovio had launched one new game, Small Town Murders in June, and has currently two games in soft launch and several games in different phases of production.