This archive report was first published on 17 July 2020.
Investing in 4G Networks Key to Unlocking 5G Future ¶
By the end of May 2020, 386 operators globally had announced their investment in 5G, with 81 operators in 42 countries/territories launching commercial 5G services, including MTN's recent launch in South Africa.
However, the immediate need is for online, digital communications, which can be easily provided by 4G or LTE networks.
According to Emmanuel Coelho Alves, Senior Marketing Director at Huawei, narrowing the digital divide and empowering more people with online connectivity is key to overcoming poverty and achieving a sustainable future.
"There is a need to redouble our effort for more digital transmission and inclusion to support United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and bring the excluded 3.9 billion of the world's population online," he said.
Alves was speaking at the online LTE Summit 2020 held by the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA).
GSMA's report shows that almost 66% of areas now have mobile broadband coverage, with 90% having access to high-quality networks such as 3G and 4G.
Around 80% of the world's population now has mobile coverage, with more than 50% of connections already on 4G.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, there are 456 million unique mobile subscribers, representing 44% of people, with this proportion expected to grow to 50% by 2025.
Bringing Africa's people into the mobile economy will require ongoing expansion of mobile broadband services such as 4G, with penetration expected to reach 39% by 2025.
"4G provides an extremely good asset when you go later to 5G," said Alves. "4G has been deployed widely in the past years. 4G is the capacity layer in cities, leveraging massive MIMO in hotspots with significant traffic."
By applying ENDC (E-UTRAN New Radio – Dual Connectivity) and DSS (dynamic spectrum sharing) technologies, network operators can use both 4G and 5G schedulers together, allowing for real-time allocation of spectrum resources between 4G and 5G.
Industry leaders believe that in the medium term, 4G will be the layer of choice for global mobile communications, while 5G will mainly be used in more industrial communications.
However, 4G networks already have the capabilities to guarantee an optimal user experience for 5G users, including services such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and cloud gaming.
It thus makes sense for national networks to invest in 4G to secure future growth opportunities, while already supporting leading-edge 5G capabilities.
As Mohamed Madkour, VP of global wireless networks marketing and solutions at Huawei, said at the AfricaCom 2019 conference in Cape Town last year, "all investment in expanding 4G and organising site assets will reduce the amount of money needed to switch on 5G in the near future. Every rand spent on 4G is thus a rand invested in 5G."
