Webinars

This webinar will give an overview of our latest forecast.

While most enterprises and industries have aspirations to use cellular connectivity to support programmes to make processes more digital and efficient, too few can access networks which are fully reliable, let alone optimized for particular requirements such as low latency. Fewer than half of enterprises say that mobile quality of service is adequate, and only about XX% would trust cellular networks with critical communications.

This report argues that four trends, if well supported by regulators, operators and the broader ecosystem, can deliver high quality mobile connectivity – 4G and later 5G – to all kinds of industries and public sector organizations, in a way that is affordable both for the enterprises and the service providers. Those four enablers are:

• Spectrum and other support for greater diversity of operators to complement MNO activities, since MNOs often find specialized enterprise requirements are at odds with their business model. Alternative providers include private network operators, neutral hosts and enterprise integrators.

• Shared spectrum, a key factor in enabling new service providers and lowering barriers to entry.

• Self-contained RAN and core technologies, often virtualized, are emerging, allowing enterprises and their partners to have full control of cellular connectivity, including aspects such as access control. New open architectures will further reduce costs and lower barriers to new providers.

• Co-investment across ecosystem will be essential, with the costs and rewards split between enterprises, operators and other partners.

This report tracks and forecasts the development of these trends so far.

The array of deployment options for 5G is bewildering, and an operator’s timing to adopt new technologies will have a profound effect on its commercial outcome.

This webinar answers the question, “Is it better to be a Tortoise or a Hare when it comes to diving into these key 5G choices?”

Should a Mobile Network Operator install the most advanced 5G features as soon as they become available, or wait until platforms are more stable and mature? What is the optimal timing to adopt the 5G core, and move to full cloud operation?

Rethink Technology Research has surveyed 86 service providers about their deployment strategies, covering a combination of converged telcos; mobile-first operators; and alternative deployers with greenfield mobile businesses and no legacy networks. In each case they have discussed their plans and priorities, and their key business drivers.

The resulting forecast is part of Rethink’s RAN Research service and this webinar gives headline conclusions and some insight into their thinking.

This webinar is an illustration of the content of a forecast in our RAN Research series from our head of research Caroline Gabriel. Between now and 2025, Mobile Network Operators will spend $51.8bn in building new networks, and 43% of that will be invested by alternative operators.

This will happen because the need for connectivity for applications such as autonomous fleets or deliveries, manufacturing and others, has already driven a surge in private LTE networks, which will be deployed and run by a variety of organizations, from integrators to specialist private operators, enterprises to MNOs themselves.

This report forecasts spend across all equipment types, not just Macro spending, but also all forms of Micro base stations, and new Mini-Macro formats. Cumulatively through the period, new and alternative operators will deploy 978,000 macro and micro base stations, and will finally kickstart widespread adoption of small cells.