The dark fiber stink, baseband software hold-ups and a virtualization impasse are just a few of the problems facing Vodafone UK as it prepares to launch 5G.

Iain Morris, International Editor

June 21, 2018

11 Min Read
Petty's Grievances: The 5G Hopes & Fears of Vodafone UK's CTO

Switch on your smartphone and tiny letters at the top of the screen handily indicate whether you are using a 3G or 4G data network. How soon 5G pops up could depend on marketing abuses as much as network readiness, according to Scott Petty, the chief technology officer of Vodafone UK.

"The need for 5G creates an opportunity for non-tech people to sow confusion and tag 4G features as 5G," he said during the 5G World Summit in London last week. "What features have to be enabled for a smartphone to decide if it is offering 4G or 5G?"

Misleading labels are just one of the 5G issues that concern the Vodafone UK man as he gears up for the rollout of the next-generation mobile technology. Despite gloom that Europe is trailing the US and parts of Asia in the march to 5G, Vodafone's UK business could launch its first 5G services next year, putting it in the vanguard of the 5G movement. There is a lot to figure out before that happens.

Figure 1: 5G Reality Check Scott Petty, the chief technology officer of Vodafone UK, sets out his company's 5G dreams and demands. Scott Petty, the chief technology officer of Vodafone UK, sets out his company's 5G dreams and demands.

What now looks certain is that Vodafone -- along with many other European operators -- will use 5G first as a bigger pipe in areas where mobile data is gushing like an oil blowout. That has driven Vodafone toward the "non-standalone" variant of 5G, which combines the 5G New Radio (NR) standardized in late 2017 with an existing 4G network, to support mobile broadband services in urban hotspots. (See 5G Is Official: First 3GPP Specs Approved.)

This makes commercial sense because 5G is about four times as "spectrally efficient" as 4G, according to Petty, and therefore a less costly option. Lowering operating expenses may be the only way to improve margins, in this mobile broadband scenario, as Vodafone does not expect consumer spending to rise with the introduction of 5G. "We need to find a way to service customers more cost effectively," said Petty.

Some hint of where Vodafone might concentrate its efforts came this week, with the announcement that 5G trials in seven UK cities will start in October. Engineers are now preparing 40 sites in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester. Petty thinks 5G might additionally have a UK role as an alternative to fixed broadband in some communities. Vodafone is also in talks with business customers in its trial cities about testing new 5G applications.

These business services, many of which fall into the "Internet of Things" (IoT) category, will probably not arrive in a hurry, said Petty. As a result, the recently finalized "standalone" version of 5G, which unites the 5G New Radio with a 5G core, is unlikely to be an immediate priority for Vodafone. "The only thing that would change that is a massive drive for IoT apps that can't be served by 4G," he said. "I am skeptical this will happen in the next three to five years." (See 3GPP Done With 5G SA Specs. Now the Hard Work Begins.)

Frustration at the shortage of demonstrable, new "use cases" for 5G was palpable at the 5G World Summit. Slow progress in this area inevitably harms 5G's prospects as a revenue-growth opportunity, and puts greater pressure on the industry to make 5G as cost-efficient as possible for mobile broadband. Yet Petty cautioned against expectations that 5G would quickly become a mass-market mobile phenomenon. If it follows the same adoption curve as 4G did after standardization, only 50% of customers will be using 5G services by the mid-2020s, he said.

Without some magic in the market for end-user devices, this transition might take even longer. There can be little doubt that 4G received a massive boost from the iPhone revolution and subsequent emergence of stylish new phones. Petty's concern is that innovation in smartphone design may have reached its limit. Even if the promise of faster connectivity persuades consumers to upgrade, mass-market handsets will not appear until late 2019, he said. The suggestion is that network operators may be waiting for device makers to catch up.

This lag is especially pertinent when it comes to new form factors. Wearables might ultimately hold greater 5G appeal than smartphones, but Petty has little visibility of when truly captivating new devices will arrive. The industry will also need to work out how to integrate 5G chips into some of the emerging IoT devices.

Next page: Shipshape and Bristol fashion

Shipshape and Bristol fashion
While end-user devices remain largely outside Vodafone's sphere of influence, the UK operator is doing its utmost to ensure networks are 5G-ready. Its RedStream project has given it a single, optical fiber core network, reaching into 1,400 aggregation points at exchanges owned by BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA), the UK incumbent. "We can drop off voice and data traffic from mobile basestations on to RedStream, whereas all other operators have to traverse the BT network," said Kye Prigg, Vodafone UK's head of fixed and mobile networks, during a recent press briefing in London. "This is a distinct advantage."

Vodafone's claim is that RedStream will help to reduce the "latency," or signaling delay, on 5G networks. With plans to connect all of its 5G sites to advanced data centers, it is targeting latency of below 8 milliseconds. The target still looks some way off the 1 millisecond the most advanced 5G applications may need, but it would mark a huge improvement on average 4G latency of about 50 milliseconds across the wider industry.

As previously reported, Vodafone is fortifying its radio network, as well. A three-year investment of £2 billion ($2.6 billion), starting in the previous fiscal year, is going partly toward the rollout of 4x4 MIMO, a performance-boosting antenna technology, and carrier aggregation, which combines different frequencies to pump up bandwidth. (See Vodafone UK Turns Mobile Network Guns on BT/EE.)

Moreover, it last year signed a pre-5G deal with Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), its main supplier, to upgrade networks in London and southern England with carrier aggregation and massive MIMO, an even more sophisticated antenna technology. It now has more spectrum at its disposal, too: In April, it paid £378 million ($499 million) for a 50MHz license in the 3.4GHz band, which has been earmarked for use with 5G services. (See UK's £1.4B '5G' auction looks bad for industry and Ericsson Seals 4G, 5G Deal With Vodafone UK.)

Figure 2: Spectrum Holdings in UK (MHz) Source: Ofcom, Light Reading. Source: Ofcom, Light Reading.

Through Project Beacon, a network-sharing initiative with Telefónica UK, Vodafone has also been equipping all radio sites to use single RAN (radio access network) systems, allowing the operators to support more than one access technology on the same platform. About 95% complete, Beacon has seen Vodafone use its 800MHz spectrum to support 4G services, its 900MHz airwaves with 2G and its 2100MHz frequencies for both 3G and 4G.

Given Petty’s forecasts regarding 5G adoption, operators will need to have resilient 4G networks for years to come. While it owns far less 1800MHz and 2.6GHz than BT, Vodafone insists that its 10MHz license in the 800MHz range gives it a big 4G advantage over the incumbent and smaller rival Three UK, both of which have thinner holdings. Such low frequency bands provide better in-building and wide-area coverage than higher ranges, and Vodafone is using them to bolster its 4G service. In more densely populated areas, it has combined 800MHz with 2100Mzh for a bandwidth boost. It can also bring 2.6GHz into play, in a three-way carrier aggregation, for an even more serious injection of speed.

Next page: The rocky shoals of 5G

The rocky shoals of 5G
But that final leap from 4G to 5G is not without challenges. It will be accompanied by a partial unwinding of the network-sharing deal with Telefónica, for one thing. Congestion on the mobile data network means Vodafone will start to install its own basestations in the north of London, where it had previously used its partner's. Telefónica will do the same in the south of the city, having relied on Vodafone's assets until now. The two operators are trying to figure out whether active network sharing will make sense in other parts of the UK as they start to roll out 5G. (See Vodafone, Telefónica End Network Sharing in London.)

Vodafone has a list of regulatory grievances, too. While happy with its recent 3.5GHz award, it worries like other European operators about high spectrum charges in future auctions. "The more we spend on spectrum the longer it will take to roll out 5G because the less we have for capital expenditure," warned Petty. On a more positive note, Vodafone could realize efficiencies from switching off its 3G network -- a move it plans to make in 2025 -- and then "re-farming" 2100MHz airwaves for use with 5G services.

A more prosaic concern is about the planning permissions that operators need to build out 5G networks. With its spectrum holdings and objectives, Vodafone believes it can stick heavily to its current network "grid." But it desperately wants to build higher towers than regulations allow. Without these, and the improvement they would bring, service quality may suffer unless Vodafone puts in more towers at additional expense. (See Vodafone Grills Authorities for UK's 5G Lag.)

Perhaps the biggest gripe is about access to BT's fiber network, though. The launch of higher-speed mobile services is bound to put further pressure on "backhaul," the connection between basestations and the core network. Operators without the requisite fixed-line infrastructure have either used microwave technology for backhaul or relied on wholesale agreements with fiber-rich incumbents. But microwave might not measure up when it comes to 5G, and there is growing unhappiness about the fiber services available from BT.

Ideally, operators including Vodafone want access to BT's "dark fiber." This would give them more control over backhaul connections and be more economically viable, they have argued. But UK regulator Ofcom has done a "cack-handed" job of opening up BT's fiber network, in the words of Barney Lane, the director of regulatory affairs for the UK's Colt Technology Services. As a result, dark fiber is still not available from BT. (See Europe's Backhaul Black Hole Looms Above 5G.)

"We have to buy fiber products that are expensive and, worse, we have to put their network equipment on that fiber to get it connected to our basestations," said Petty. "That creates power issues that are difficult to solve." Through RedStream and a tie-up with CityFibre, a small wholesale rival to BT, Vodafone is ramping up investments in its own fiber networks. But there is a long way to go.

Want to know more about 5G? Check out our dedicated 5G content channel here on
Light Reading.

Equipment suppliers have also taken flak from Petty. While mobile network vendors like Ericsson are busy trumpeting the "5G upgradability" of the latest baseband gear, their software will not be available until "way into 2019," he reckons. "That gives us a very, very short window to test, validate, put this into place and run critical services on those elements," he said. "General availability is a critical milestone."

As for the supposedly transformative "virtualization" of networks, Petty echoes the concerns of other service providers about the gap between hype and reality. "Vendors make it sound so simple, but it really isn't," he said. "It is a massive change to the operating model, and that means we have to become more like an IT player and systems integrator. It means bringing back skills we had previously outsourced because we could rely on vendor partners." (See NFV Is Down but Not Out.)

While Vodafone has now virtualized "large portions of its estate," including GGSN (gateway GPRS support node) and VoLTE (voice-over-LTE) functions, it has hit a roadblock on instrumentation and management tools, like so many others. "These are not where they are on legacy platforms and so the business case doesn't always work," said Petty. "Yes, it is cheaper to run on cost-effective hardware, but if the work on your operating model offsets that you end up cost-neutral."

Only with progress in these areas can 5G live up to its full promise, delivering low-latency and ultra-fast services over different network slices. But any virtualization anxiety should not stop Vodafone from using 5G as a fat pipe for bandwidth-thirsty customers. With BT also hoping to launch its first services in 2019, the UK may be home to multiple 5G networks sooner than anyone could have imagined this time last year. Get ready to see that 5G icon turn up on your phone. (See BT Kicks Off 5G Campaign With Plans for 2019 Launch.)

— Iain Morris, International Editor, Light Reading

Read more about:

Europe

About the Author(s)

Iain Morris

International Editor, Light Reading

Iain Morris joined Light Reading as News Editor at the start of 2015 -- and we mean, right at the start. His friends and family were still singing Auld Lang Syne as Iain started sourcing New Year's Eve UK mobile network congestion statistics. Prior to boosting Light Reading's UK-based editorial team numbers (he is based in London, south of the river), Iain was a successful freelance writer and editor who had been covering the telecoms sector for the past 15 years. His work has appeared in publications including The Economist (classy!) and The Observer, besides a variety of trade and business journals. He was previously the lead telecoms analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, and before that worked as a features editor at Telecommunications magazine. Iain started out in telecoms as an editor at consulting and market-research company Analysys (now Analysys Mason).

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like