The choice is not easy: which task determines whether 5G is the right technology for your own company. (Image: Pixabay)

Many experts emphasize the benefits of 5G for industry. However, details are still unclear. The discussions to clarify unresolved questions in the case of the new mobile radio standard are not only taking place in the committees and boards, but also in the public domain in presidential offices and chancelleries. This article looks at soft and hard criteria and helps to answer the question of how far a 5G network makes sense in your own company or not.

By Kenan Seba

The benefits of 5G are rarely fundamentally questioned. The facts provide too much technical charm: arguments such as the latency of one millisecond, the possibility of operating up to one million devices per square meter and achieving data rates of 100 Mbit / s in the 5G network are simply chic. But good looks are not enough. The decision for or against 5G hits those responsible in the companies with a certain force – small and medium-sized companies in particular are unsettled. Already the first part of this article gave hints for decision support. There you will find various more technical arguments as to whether it makes sense to use them in your own company. This second part completes the bouquet of considerations and aspects in order to understand the meaningfulness of 5G use in your own company. The following questions need to be clarified.

Do I need in my company and areal …

… Interaction between voice, video and data communication?

In the industrial environment, voice and data networks are previously separately operated networks, each of which generates separate operational costs (OPEX). With 4G and 5G this separation is removed. The internal voice communication then takes place using mobile devices. Fixed network telephones can be switched off and, at the same time, access to company-internal data can be made possible. Voice and data communication merge into a single network and thus reduce operating costs (apart from a high initial investment). There are no limits to the topic of unified messaging.

Voice communication can also be made possible via Wi-Fi, but it has limited or no mastery of the features and supplementary services of previous voice communication, such as CLIR, COLP, CLIP, COLP, CLIRO, COLR, conference calls, call number suppression, call forwarding, forwarding to a mailbox or specifying a hotline number on a group of employees working there. If this aspect is of enormous importance for your own operations, 5G is preferred over both 4G and Wi-Fi as state-of-the-art technology.

… a disconnection from production to discrete connection points to the network infrastructure?

Is the topic of local flexibility of great importance for your own production facilities such as production lines, robots, autonomous vehicles? Is production often redesigned or relocated? In these cases, a connection to the network infrastructure via mobile communication is preferable to discrete connection points. If this point is given high priority due to current or future planning, 5G should be preferred to other radio technologies due to the aspects already mentioned above.

Manufacturers: possibilities and alternatives

But a closer look also suggests softer criteria in order to play a not insignificant role in opinion formation. Here the potential suppliers and partners quickly become the focus of attention – to whom you will be bound for a few years if in doubt. In order to assess whether 5G is a number too large for medium-sized companies, four primarily non-technical aspects should be carefully examined:

Political aspect

The discussion about Huawei unsettles not only the Establishment in mobile communications business, but also large parts of the political landscape. Is Huawei spying, can you trust a Chinese provider, or is it all just conspiracy theory? The seal of the cheap provider threatens to be covered at Huawei with the flaw of the allegation of espionage! For the sake of objectivity, it must be mentioned here: Aren’t the NSA, CIA and other US-led organizations also spying? This question has undoubtedly been clarified in public opinion since Snowden and Assange.

And isn’t it rather certain that the BND, KGB or the Secret Intelligence Service would also like to spy? The list could go on. An obvious idea could be there: Does a country like the USA list the possibility of chipsets or kill switches without providing reliable evidence, only because otherwise it would have to disclose its own capabilities in spy technology.

From a technical point of view, both data and voice information can be read and spied on at any time. This is required by law for every single network equipment supplier worldwide and without exception. To put it bluntly and exaggerated: you can choose by whom you want to be spied on!

“The quality seal of the inexpensive provider threatens to be covered by Huawei with the flaw of the allegation of espionage!”
Kenan Seba

Aspect of company size

An underestimated aspect when deciding on the introduction of new technology is the company’s size and culture. From an empirical perspective, companies of the same size usually come together. Here the saying comes true: The same and the same likes to join. In essence, the decision-makers instinctively ask: Who do I trust which performance? The way decisions are made follows a similar pattern.

The speed of action at different levels also offers a certain recognition and instinctively influences the decision to work together. Patterns of action, communication, resources, financial strength are mostly at the same level in companies of a similar size, known from their own horizon of experience and thus create a certain familiarity. Medium-sized companies are therefore more likely to find themselves with 5G equipment of their own size, namely in the category of network equipment to be mentioned below.

Technological aspect

For some time now, lesser-known network suppliers with technologically sophisticated 5G products have also appeared on the market. There are both Core specialists and, especially in the open RAN environment, Radio Access Network (RAN) specialists.

The Core products of these unknown suppliers are equipped with state-of-the-art technology: Standalone and SBA (Service Based Architecture) oriented, virtualized, cloud-native, micro-service based, orchestrated and comply with the 3GPP standard. These products are technologically far ahead of one or the other of the three major 5G providers because no 4.xG is pretended to be 5G. Above all, they are available now!

While 5G antennas for the outdoor area are naturally available from the rather unknown RAN equipment suppliers, suitable indoor antennas for campus networks will partly only be available in Q3/2020. With this schedule, however, they are by no means at a disadvantage compared to the known network equipment suppliers. Depending on which of the three known manufacturers the comparison is made with, they are even far ahead. With the baseband network elements (base stations) in the RAN, the smaller suppliers are even pioneers, especially when it comes to virtualization and cloud-native implementation. Here the well-known three manufacturers are still far behind or have little interest in this type of implementation. Their baseband products are also available here immediately.

Cost aspect

It is obvious that a medium-sized company takes a very close look at high initial investments. At this point it is worth taking a look at the lesser known providers mentioned above. They seem to have an advantage in terms of both investment and operational costs. First experiences show: Here, “real” 5G technology is offered at almost a similar price as the 4.xG technology of some of the three known suppliers. Or even many times cheaper than the industry leader of the three well-known suppliers, who also offer “real” 5G technology.

In terms of operational costs, the unknown suppliers are also at the forefront, as they have incorporated important functions into their products due to the virtualization trend that is already prevalent in IT. In the core network, the topics are container technologies, Kubernetes for the orchestration of network elements, and SBA-oriented software implementation. In the RAN, “Self Organzing Network” (SON) is at the forefront for the aspects of radio network optimization that reduce operating costs.

Conclusion

The much touted properties of 5G are not the only decisive factor for use in your own company. Rather, different aspects should be considered and evaluated. It is important to first of all work out the needs of your own production process when deciding whether 5G should be used. This provides a sound basis for decision-making.

On this basis, the focus should be on possible new, less well-known providers. An analysis of product properties, availability, the latest technology and management tools for simple management network elements to reduce operating costs is absolutely advisable, as not all of the unknown network providers offer products that are tailored to your own needs.

However, the effort should be worthwhile: Outside of the known ways and providers, there are a considerable number of providers of 5G network supplier that can reflect the needs of medium-sized companies quite well. Free from political conflicts, with real 5G and the latest technology, as well as affordable cost structures for medium-sized companies. This shows that 5G is definitely “no number too big”. 5G can also be used by medium-sized companies!

Link to the first part of this article.

To the author

Dipl.-Ing. Kenan Seba is a communications engineer and certified project manager. He started his active career in mobile communications in 2001 as a product manager at Siemens Mobile. Six years later, he founded his own company SEBA Consulting for advice and interim management in the areas of mobile communications, landline networks and Internet technologies. In this role, he worked on various projects for Huawei, Nokia, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica O2, BMW and the Fraunhofer society, with a focus on rollout of mobile networks, landline modernization or fiber optic relocation. In this context, he leads outsourced business areas, creates and optimizes business processes, evaluates and analyzes 5G solutions and systems. By analyzing 5G systems and solutions, Kenan Seba is one of the few manufacturer-independent 5G experts.