Systems integrator NEC XON, part of Japanese multinational NEC, is looking to drive 5G connectivity in South Africa and the rest of the African continent using open radio access network (OpenRAN) technology.
The company is forging alliances with local mobile operators and internet service providers (ISPs) in a move it believes will result in 5G becoming mainstream.
According to NEC XON, 5G OpenRAN technology, which enables mobile operators to open the RAN network and use multi-vendor solutions, holds huge promise for business growth in Africa.
It means network operators can focus capital expenditure on competitively priced open-standards equipment rather than proprietary gear, it explains.
According to industry body GSMA, the shift towards open RAN and open architecture mobile networks is gaining momentum, in part to spur supply chain diversification in an uncertain world.
For this reason, it says, a number of operators have supported its advancement. However, open RAN is likely to play out as a phased process, says GSMA.
GSMA Intelligence survey data indicates that while it remains relatively small compared to the existing range of mobile networks, 5G will be a major catalyst, with 75% of operators likely to use 5G as the entry point for introducing open networking – including OpenRAN – into their networks.
Growing market
Research firm Markets and Markets says the size of the global OpenRAN market is anticipated to increase from $1.1 billion in 2022, to $15.6 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 70.5% over the forecast period.
It says vendors in this market include NEC, Ericsson, Samsung, VMware, HP Enterprise and Huawei.
In an interview with ITWeb, Willem Wentzel, head of wireless at NEC XON, says 5G will be mainstream in South Africa in the next 12 to 18 months, but OpenRAN technology is the basis to solidify the 5G application and can be started on 4G already.
South African mobile network operators recently launched 5G services across the country after acquiring high-demand spectrum.
However, 5G is still mostly concentrated in the big cities.
“The uptake of 5G in massive deployments is mainly driven by the user end devices and chipsets used to produce them – this will be for lower 6GHz and millimetric wave access. Technology matures faster and faster, so the timeframe [12 to 18 months] could even be reduced. There are proprietary 5G-based platforms but they will be redundant as soon as chipset designs are available in the market.”
Wentzel points out that OpenRAN tech enables attractive savings of about 40% on capital expenditure and 30% on operating expenditure.
“It can also be deployed in a matter of two to three days instead of up to nine months. But the realities of Africa mean 5G OpenRAN will initially be limited to private corporate networks in industries like mining, manufacturing and industrial, where large campuses are common.
“Public OpenRAN networks are likely to remain on 4G for the moment, given the level of investment in existing infrastructure and the prohibitive cost of 5G handsets for consumers.”
Wentzel says in South Africa, NEC XON has built its own 5G OpenRAN experience centre where it houses all the components of an OpenRAN stack, and the company is assisting original equipment manufacturers and mobile network operators to build a 5G lab in Johannesburg.
“We have several market approaches in Southern Africa. They involve mainly private networks and machine-to-machine communication in the form of proofs of concept at tier one mobile network operators.
“In West Africa, we are also engaging with tier one operators in 4G and 5G ORAN proofs of concept. Unfortunately, we are bound by NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] to safeguard the customers’ go-to-market strategies and cannot name the ISPs or operators.”
Paving the way
Wentzel explains that 5G networks can be deployed in two ways – as a standalone (SA) network, or as a non-standalone (NSA) network.
In an NSA network, he notes, 5G is deployed alongside an existing 4G network, which serves as the anchor for the 5G network.
“This means the 5G network uses the 4G infrastructure for certain functions, such as signalling and initial network access, while 5G is used for data transmission. In contrast, in an SA network, the 5G network operates independently of any other network, including 4G.”
Private 5G OpenRAN networks will break the ice and help to bring down unit costs for the public market, and Wentzel says NEC XON is currently bringing proof-of-concept kits into Africa for three clients in these industries.
“The ability to privatise 5G ORAN will enable machine-to-machine (M2M), business-to-business (B2B) and push-to-talk communication on campus, or anywhere in the country (or the world) on a company site using a phone app.”
To date, he says, most of these campus applications use WiFi simply because it is the only tech feasible to use given that all 4G spectrum has been allocated on a national level to monopolistic MNO players.
“The shortfall with WiFi is industrial-scientific noise, which limits the guaranteed throughput and customer experience. As such, it is a ‘best effort’ service,” Wentzel notes.
“That creates a lot of latency in the network, which means the signal isn’t reliable enough for B2B and M2M services. Due to its reliability in design, 5G OpenRAN guarantees low latency and enables remote operation of both B2B and M2M processes.”
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