Top

AR/VR Seen as Killer 5G Consumer App at Huawei Global MBB Forum

Huawei’s 10th Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Zurich, Switzerland was attended by more than 2000 industry executives from leading telcos across the globe. The key theme of the event was “5G, Gear Up” underlying the fact that 5G roll-out is well underway and accelerating.

Product Launches:

Huawei launched a slew of 5G infrastructure products at the event, including:

  • Its latest, third generation SuperBlade macro base station hardware with new Massive MIMO antenna (based on a 7nm chip); Easy Micro, BookRRU and its Digital Indoor System (DIS) Lampsite solutions. To date in 2019, Huawei has shipped 400k Massive MIMO antennas and expects this figure to reach 600k units by end of 2019. The key driver behind this growth is the launch of 5G in late 2019/2020 by the three main Chinese MNOs (the fourth has yet to launch).
  • Huawei announced that chipsets for the NR FDD standard are ready. The first batch of NR FDD smartphones will be launched in 2H 2019. Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE) will be launched in 2020.

Operator Launches:

During the event it was announced that Huawei had won more than 60 commercial contracts worldwide of which 41 are for mobile and 19 Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Key European operators who have launched 5G using Huawei infrastructure include Sunrise (Switzerland), Telefonica (Spain), Elisa (Finland), KPN (The Netherlands), Vodafone (UK), EE (UK), Three (UK) and O2.

Sunrise:

  • Sunrise’s 5G network now covers 262 towns and cities in Switzerland representing around 80% of the population. The operator intends to launch a 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) service to offer an alternative to ADSL to the remaining 20% of the population. Tests in a 5G cell in Zurich recently achieved a top data download speed of 3.67 Gbps using several brands of smartphones.
  • Sunrise and Huawei announced the development of the first 5G Joint Innovation Centre which will develop and showcase consumer and business 5G applications. Key use cases being developed include smart agriculture, smart factory and smart stadium.
  • Sunrise’s upcoming November 5G service launches include a 4k cloud gaming service with platform partner Gamestream and the first 5G smart ski resort at the LAAX resort on the Crap Sogn Gion mountain (and yes, that is the mountain’s name!).

LG U+:

  • Korean operator LG U+ has achieved around 80% network coverage and will deploy 5G indoors in 2022. However, the company believes that it is 1.5 to 2 times more expensive to use 5G to offer indoor coverage than LTE. The operator has given up on using mmWave to provide universal indoor coverage and instead will focus on providing coverage in selected indoor locations such as large shopping malls, stadiums, etc.
  • LG U+ is using the 28 GHz spectrum band for B2C and B2B applications. Current B2C services offered include AR/VR, Golf, Idol Live and Professional Baseball. LG U+ strongly believes that AR/VR is the killer application for consumer 5G. Its most mature B2B services include: smart school, smart factory and smart drone.

Takeaways and Key Challenges

5G operators are offering a mix of mobile and FWA services according to geography and market opportunities with several experiencing increasing data traffic per person and a steady increase in premium data plan subscriptions, as consumers view 5G data plans as better value for money.

There was broad agreement between operators that the killer app for consumer 5G will be AR/VR and live gaming. However, latency levels will be key to the success of live gaming services. Operators need to monetise latency, data speeds and downloads (downlink & uplink), traffic and connectivity (to tablets, wearables, etc.).

In the enterprise market, most operators are cooperating with service and industrial enterprises to develop vertical 5G applications. The most mature use cases are smart factory, smart ports, smart schools, smart agriculture, smart drones, autonomous control of mining trucks, etc. However, there is a need to develop a complete ecosystem with enterprises, device vendors, etc. before launch. 5G Edge Server Networks will be critical for widespread adoption of many 5G use cases, both consumer and enterprise, and concern was expressed about when this will become a reality.

Key challenges discussed include spectrum availability, particularly the supply of large contiguous (80-100 MHz) spectrum blocks and high CAPEX and OPEX network costs. Spectrum cost was also highlighted as a particular challenge, with calls for more innovative spectrum pricing solutions, such as payment by instalment rather than up-front payments.

5G will require thousands more (supplementary) base station sites compared to 4G and this will require more flexible regulatory procedures by individual countries. There were calls for uniform regulatory standards to be set up on a countrywide (or even continentwide) basis which could be universally adopted by local municipalities.

Gareth has been a technology analyst for over 20 years and has compiled research reports and market share/forecast studies on a range of topics, including wireless technologies, AI & computing, automotive, smartphone hardware, sensors and semiconductors, digital broadcasting and satellite communications.

Term of Use and Privacy Policy

Counterpoint Technology Market Research Limited

Registration

In order to access Counterpoint Technology Market Research Limited (Company or We hereafter) Web sites, you may be asked to complete a registration form. You are required to provide contact information which is used to enhance the user experience and determine whether you are a paid subscriber or not.
Personal Information When you register on we ask you for personal information. We use this information to provide you with the best advice and highest-quality service as well as with offers that we think are relevant to you. We may also contact you regarding a Web site problem or other customer service-related issues. We do not sell, share or rent personal information about you collected on Company Web sites.

How to unsubscribe and Termination

You may request to terminate your account or unsubscribe to any email subscriptions or mailing lists at any time. In accessing and using this Website, User agrees to comply with all applicable laws and agrees not to take any action that would compromise the security or viability of this Website. The Company may terminate User’s access to this Website at any time for any reason. The terms hereunder regarding Accuracy of Information and Third Party Rights shall survive termination.

Website Content and Copyright

This Website is the property of Counterpoint and is protected by international copyright law and conventions. We grant users the right to access and use the Website, so long as such use is for internal information purposes, and User does not alter, copy, disseminate, redistribute or republish any content or feature of this Website. User acknowledges that access to and use of this Website is subject to these TERMS OF USE and any expanded access or use must be approved in writing by the Company.
– Passwords are for user’s individual use
– Passwords may not be shared with others
– Users may not store documents in shared folders.
– Users may not redistribute documents to non-users unless otherwise stated in their contract terms.

Changes or Updates to the Website

The Company reserves the right to change, update or discontinue any aspect of this Website at any time without notice. Your continued use of the Website after any such change constitutes your agreement to these TERMS OF USE, as modified.
Accuracy of Information: While the information contained on this Website has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, We disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. User assumes sole responsibility for the use it makes of this Website to achieve his/her intended results.

Third Party Links: This Website may contain links to other third party websites, which are provided as additional resources for the convenience of Users. We do not endorse, sponsor or accept any responsibility for these third party websites, User agrees to direct any concerns relating to these third party websites to the relevant website administrator.

Cookies and Tracking

We may monitor how you use our Web sites. It is used solely for purposes of enabling us to provide you with a personalized Web site experience.
This data may also be used in the aggregate, to identify appropriate product offerings and subscription plans.
Cookies may be set in order to identify you and determine your access privileges. Cookies are simply identifiers. You have the ability to delete cookie files from your hard disk drive.