VIEWPOINT

Microwave transmission is emerging as an important part of 5G deployment, especially so in European and Middle East markets, according to Huawei’s Perry Yang, President of Huawei’s microwave product line.

“Since the beginning of 5G deployment Microwave transmission has become a must for 5G deployment. It has been proven around the world that microwave has accelerated 5G deployment especially in markets such as Europe and the Middle East. It has become one of the most mainstream technologies for 5G backhaul in countries in these regions. And now the performance of Microwave has reached the same level as optical fiber cable,” said Perry Yang in an exclusive interaction with Total Telecom at Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Spain.

Factors driving wide adoption of microwave transmission

There are several reasons for the growing relevance of microwave transmission. A key reason is that Microwave has evolved and is much more flexible technology now helping the service providers to address several new-age challenges. “The Microwave industry has witnessed several changes. For instance, it has evolved from single-band to multi-bands and also from single carrier component to multiple carrier components, thus helping service providers to increase capacity and improve network performance,” explains Perry Yang.

Further, microwave backhaul is able to meet the growing demand for capacity and low latency. It is also allowing service providers to provide services in areas where service providers are unable to deploy fiber. “Using Microwave for 5G deployment will help reduce the digital divide. For instance, in areas where fiber might be difficult to deploy Microwave will be the best and the most reliable way for people to access 5G connectivity,” says Perry Yang.

Further, microwave transmission is helping telcos bring down the power consumption. Huawei’s microwave range of solutions are empowering telcos in bringing down their power expenses while improving the efficiency of their network.

Even so, the most crucial reason for the growing adoption of microwave transmission in 5G is the use of E-band (71GHz–76GHz and 81GHz–86GHz) which has now emerged as the most crucial band for microwave deployment.

“5G demands almost 10 times the capacity as compared with LTE and that means that the operators need technology that helps in smooth evolution from 4G to 5G. We know that E band spectrum is as large as 10GHz which allows service providers to provide the required speed, capacity and coverage of 5G. Further, E-band adopts single band architecture and because of low power consumption it is very crucial for 5G,” explains Perry Yang.

He further highlighted the deployment Huawei LR E-band in Germany which demonstrated that Microwave transmission was able to cover a long distance of 7 km, thus helping the service provider in bringing down investment in fiber cable, which can now be used in some other areas. “The next generation of technologies will help telcos enjoy longer distance transmission and reduce cost because now they don’t need to pay that much for power,” said Perry Yang.

The traditional way to increase capacity for microwave transmission is to add more bands. However, that also leads to a more complex architecture and increased power consumption. Telcos also end up paying more for additional band licenses. However, now with the use of E-band for microwave transmission can truly empower the telcos.

Huawei recently introduced MAGICSwave range of solutions which is designed to help service providers address several challenges related to backhaul. Multi-T and multi-R construct with 50Gbps cross-band bandwidth capability ensures that the performance is similar to optical fiber. Further, Perry Yang elaborated that Huawei is also announcing the launch of MAGICSwave which will support the next ten years of evolution for service providers.

“These solutions are not just designed for 5G evolution but they are designed for 5G, 5.5G and will support the service providers with smooth evolution from 4G to 5G and then to 5.5G and even beyond,” says Perry Yang.

Helping Telcos Reduce Power Consumption

Huawei has taken a lead in helping service providers bring down power consumption without impacting the performance. “When the consumption is high microwave will need to provide more capacity but during idle time or at night microwave will not need to provide high capacity. We have technology that can dynamically sense the amount of traffic so during idle time or during night our solutions are able to shut down while ensuring that the services are not interrupted,” says Perry Yang.

“We are also innovating in the architecture of our hardware. These are the kind of innovation we have brought to the market to reduce overall power consumption,” he added.

Huawei hopes that with the launch of truly innovative microwave transmission solutions, it is giving confidence to the industry that microwave transmission technology will help them evolve seamlessly from 4G to 5G to 5.5G and even 6G.

News

The proposed guidance would only allow internet providers to use the terms ‘fibre’ and ‘full fibre’ to indicate fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), not the inferior fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC)

You only have to spend a short time in the world of telecoms to realise that the sector loves an acronym.

From relatively benign terms like CSP (communications service provider) to the more arcane, such as FDD (frequency division duplexing), navigating telecoms’ linguistic landscape can be a minefield for even the most seasoned professional.

But while all this represents a relatively minor stumbling block for those within the industry, for the broader public the challenge is far greater.

For years now, various surveys had drawn attention to the fact that UK customers typically have a relatively low understanding of what their broadband package actually contains. In more recent studies by Ofcom itself, the regulator found that 27% of broadband customers lacked confidence in understanding the language used by their provider. Indeed, this fact was borne out by related research that showed 46% of customers believed they were connected to full fibre (i.e., FTTH), while actually living in areas where FTTH was unavailable.

Clearly, there is a communications breakdown here between broadband providers and their customers, and this is exactly what Ofcom is today attempting to remedy with the launch of a new consultation.

Under the newly proposed rules, broadband providers would be forced to use the term ‘full fibre’ only for FTTH, as well as providing a more detailed explanation of terminology where appropriate.

The broadband industry is being invited to share its thoughts on the proposed rules, with a deadline for comments on May 3.

“It’s vital that customers are provided with the right information to help them choose the best broadband service for them. But some of the industry jargon used to describe the underlying technology supporting their broadband service can be unclear and inconsistent, meaning customers are left confused,” explained Selina Chadha, Ofcom’s Director of Connectivity. “So today we’re proposing to introduce new guidance to ensure that broadband firms give clearer, straightforward information about their services – making it easier for people to take advantage of more reliable, and potentially higher speed technology, as it becomes available.”

Are ISPs doing enough to communicate clearly with their customers? Join the telecoms ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected North conference live in Manchester

Also in the news:
Viasat–Inmarsat merger gets provisional greenlight from CMA
Verizon shuffles executive team in search of growth
Ericsson to pay DoJ $206.7m over bribery scandal

News

The deal will see the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company provide connectivity across Orange’s international footprint

Today, Orange has announced a new partnership with UK-based LEO satellite player OneWeb, seeking to use the burgeoning constellation to provide front- and backhaul connectivity to customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

The operator says the deal will allow them to extend connectivity services to customers in hard-to-reach areas, particularly in cases where reaching the customer with traditional terrestrial connectivity would be impractical or prohibitively expensive.

The satellite constellation will also serve to bolster Orange’s existing network, providing additional resilience and backhaul capacity.

“At Orange, we believe that satellite is a promising and complementary technology showcasing many recent innovations that will benefit enterprises all around the word and will accelerate the digital inclusion of populations within our subsidiaries in Africa and the Middle East,” said Jean-Louis Le Roux, Executive Vice President, of Orange International Networks Infrastructures & Services. “We are therefore delighted to partner with OneWeb as it will allow us to continue deploying high quality networks in all underserved parts of the world.”

With this deal, Orange becomes the latest in a growing list of major operator clients for OneWeb, with the UK satellite operator having already scored similar deals with AT&T, BT, Telefonica, Bharti Airtel, and others.

Orange currently offers telecoms services in 26 countries, over half of which are in Africa, a market where almost a billion people remain unconnected to the internet.

However, OneWeb’s services will not be available in all of Orange’s markets immediately. Following the company’s latest launch in January this year, OneWeb will soon have 542 satellites in orbit, with the constellation already able to provide services to Alaska, Canada, the UK, Greenland, and the wider Arctic area.

The latest batch of 40 satellites, which take around 100 days to reach orbit and become operational, will increase this reach to Southern Europe, the US, North Africa, the Middle East, Japan, Australia, and India.

To achieve global coverage, the OneWeb says it will require 588 satellites, a feat that will be achieved after the next batch of satellites is launched later this year.

An additional 60 satellites will also be constructed to provide a mix of in-orbit and ground spares, bringing the OneWeb constellation’s final number to 648.

Somewhat ironically, these launches are being facilitated by OneWeb’s rival, SpaceX, after the company lost access to Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft as a result of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

SpaceX’s own LEO constellation, Starlink, already has over 3,580 devices in orbit.

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Also in the news:
Viasat–Inmarsat merger gets provisional greenlight from CMA
Verizon shuffles executive team in search of growth
Ericsson to pay DoJ $206.7m over bribery scandal

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