Vodafone's chief engineer slams proposals in several countries to reserve spectrum for industrial use.

Iain Morris, International Editor

February 26, 2019

4 Min Read
Hands off our 5G spectrum – Vodafone's message for verticals

BARCELONA -- MWC19 -- A clash between operators and the industries they see as future 5G customers could be brewing after one of Vodafone's senior technology executives slammed proposals to reserve chunks of 5G spectrum for industrial use.Luke Ibbetson, Vodafone's chief engineer and a senior figure within the GSM Association, said the plans would have an impact on 5G services for all users, warning regulators to expect opposition from the telecom sector."There are some consultations in certain countries regarding ringfencing mobile spectrum for industrial use cases and for operators this is not the correct approach because you end up reducing the trunking efficiency by locking up spectrum in a way that doesn't allow us to get the full benefits," he said during a press conference organized by the NGMN Alliance at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona."I would advocate continued mobile spectrum use in a way where we can get the benefits of 5G and allow factory systems to use the same spectrum but have it controlled in a seamless way by operator partners," he continued.The proposals have already moved forward in Germany, whose regulators intend to reserve 100MHz of mid-band spectrum for so-called "local use." Any such move, said the GSMA in a fiercely worded statement issued in late 2018, would drive up spectrum costs and limit the amount of spectrum available for nationwide usage.Ibbetson's remarks today point to concern that other countries will adopt a similar approach. The possibility of car makers or other types of organization participating in a 5G auction would be an even bigger worry for operators than mere restrictions on the way spectrum is used.As far-fetched as that might seem, Chinese equipment giant Huawei Technologies has been in talks about developing 5G products it would sell directly to the enterprise market, bypassing the operators it serves through its carrier division. With a "private" 5G network and its own spectrum resources, a company like BMW could theoretically cut the carrier out of the equation and deal directly with an equipment vendor playing a managed services role.But the vendor options may be limited. While Huawei is eager to sell to enterprise customers, Ericsson has changed its enterprise strategy to avoid upsetting its telco partners. "We are working with service providers and you will see when we provide connectivity to enterprises we do it together with service providers," said Börje Ekholm, Ericsson's CEO, during a press conference this week. "We don't think it is a good idea to compete with customers but much better to find a win-win solution."The NGMN press conference featured a panel of senior technology executives from some of the world's biggest telcos, including AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone. Most of those operators see 5G as a way of expanding connectivity offerings into the enterprise market.You're invited to attend Light Reading’s Big 5G Event! Formerly the Big Communications Event and 5G North America, Big 5G is where telecom's brightest minds deliver the critical insight needed to piece together the 5G puzzle. We'll see you May 6-8 in Denver -- communications service providers get in free!Germany's Deutsche Telekom this week announced a partnership with Osram, a German maker of lighting technologies, to develop what it claims is the world's first 5G campus network. Osram could potentially use 5G technology to control robots on the factory floor.That could make any spectrum restrictions a major concern for the German incumbent, although it has objected to the auction proposals mainly because of rules on coverage obligations and national roaming, allowing new entrants to cover areas where they do not have infrastructure by using the existing operator networks.Vodafone CEO Nick Read this week took aim at the same rules. "What we don't support is if someone can get spectrum and build a little bit of network in cities and then ride off the rest of the industry on national roaming agreements," he told reporters during a press conference. "It undermines the investment we do."Ibbetson today warned that reserving frequencies for specific services could hinder technology adoption. "It is important to bring this back to using the same spectrum assets and not fragmenting by having industrial devices somehow requiring different frequency ranges to those components developed for smartphones," he said. "Otherwise we will lose the benefits of trying to scale the technology for those environments."Related posts:Deutsche Telekom Desperate to Impress in 5GEricsson CEO Slams 5G Test Plans as 'Tax Burden,' Economic ThreatHuawei's Non-Carrier Biz Fuels Growth, but for How Long?Ericsson Denies Ditching the Enterprise Market5G Stuck in Slow Lane Beyond Consumer Biz— Iain Morris, International Editor, Light Reading

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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).

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