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As the sun sets over 2G, what’s next?
As the sun sets over 2G, what’s next?
The next project SABRE The answer is improved efficiency and lower costs, issues close to most business owners’ hearts and now an increasing reality in South Africa’s security industry.
That’s according to tech fundi Terry van Zyl, Chairman of the Technical Committee of SAIDSA (South African Intruder Detection Services Association). Addressing the recent SAIDSA AGM, he focused on the technology and developments within the context of the South African Band Re-planning Exercise (SABRE) in a presentation titled: “The 2G sunset: real or not?”.
Why the need to migrate from 2G? Charting the progress of the country’s migration from 2G to 3G and 4G, with 5G now a reality. Mr Van Zyl said 2G technology was more than 20 years old and has some challenges and restrictions, including ongoing maintenance requirements and the reduction in numbers of 2G towers. The country’s networks are under increasing pressure by consumers demanding more efficiency and lower data costs, he noted, hence the need for the old technology (2G and 3G) to give way to LTE (also known as 4G) and 5G.
“Reduced tower numbers will also lead to signal deterioration, which is a serious risk for security applications,” he warned, emphasising the importance of embracing new technology, uncomfortable though it might initially be.
Consumer demand is also driving the move from 2G. They want better quality networks, higher data speeds and more stable connections, he says, as well as:
• More reliability.
• Tighter security.
• Improved video streaming and online gaming.
• Better access to remote banking.
• A wireless alternative to fibre.
• Fewer dropped calls.
• Smoother handovers and less retries.
• Clearer voice quality.
• Better support of hi-fi-quality music.
• Less data speed fluctuations.
• More reliable data packets.
• Improved alarm functionality.
• In-store cash and pay points (POS).
• Access to ATM machines.
• Guard and vehicle tracking capabilities.
• IoT (Internet-of-Things) compatibility and connectivity.
• Access to new multi-connect technology such as VoLTE 4G LTE, which is widely deployed by SA networks, and 5G fixed point-to-point, started by RAIN and currently only available in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Mr Van Zyl says LTE-Cat M1 and LTE NB-IoT systems are in the preparation phase by Vodacom and MTN and set to provide 2-way, no-signal limit,s while 5G ultra high mmWave or Millimeter-Wave technology is expected to be introduced in the next five years or so.
The future Peeking into the future, Mr Van Zyl says 5G technology could spell the demise of the traditional banking model. And it will allow for widespread water and electricity payments and metering.
With 5G, video streaming will secure its place as the one of the world’s new big Internet connectivity is a nonnegotiable business imperative – customers expect it, and your brand and reputation require it businesses. Mr Van Zyl said this extended beyond Netflix, Showmax, Apple-TV and DSTV Now to streaming from private security cameras and cloud cameras as well as recording, video alarm verification and increased megapixel detail in IP cameras.
• The Internet of Things is going to be huge. • On-line shopping is gaining in popularity on the back of tried and tested models such as Amazon and Takealot.
• Cutting-edge alarm technology will vastly improve personal security.
• Wireless data and a wireless alternative to fibre is already a big drive by Telkom in its quest to replace ADSL copper connections with LTE wireless internet.
• Consumers will be able to enjoy an improved internet experience, with 5G earmarked for high density cities and LTE for lower income suburbs, townships and informal settlements, and small towns.
• Best-ever real-time guard monitoring and vehicle tracking will greatly benefit consumers and service providers.
• Home and factory automation will continue its upward growth with more (IR) Industrial Revolution 4 technology being implemented.
• App-based remote control is already widely used, but 5G will open up many new applications which demand lower latency able to deliver real-time responses.
• Autonomous driving vehicles are on the cards.
• Best-in-class technologies, which currently include SigFox, LoRa, LTE Cat M1, LTE NB-IoT and 5G, will gain popularity.
The digital dividend ICASA’s (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) Final Radio Frequency Migration Plan 2019 is in layman’s terms the roadmap to the country’s move to highspeed mobile communication. Mr Van Zyl says the state considers spectrum management (including the transition from analogue to digital) to be its domain, with ICASA in the position of regulator. To this end, it has been tasked with ensuring effective and efficient spectrum usage and compliance with international standards.
Since Mr Van Zyl’s address to the SAIDSA AGM, ICASA has released guidelines for the licensing of spectrum, according to ENCA. According to ENCA, spectrum has been limited in South Africa because of “delays and court battles between ICASA and the communication ministry.”
What exactly is spectrum migration? In a nutshell, explains Mr Van Zyl, this is the migration of users of radio frequency spectrum within the same band or other radio frequency bands in accordance with the radio frequency plan. It incorporates issues such as spectrum refarming, technical and application changes and allocations (licensed, open or auction).
How is this going to happen? According to Mr Van Zyl, the migration from 2G will occur through additional spectrum being made available via various means, including:
• New allocations of previously unused frequencies in the higher bands for 5G.
• Re-farming of existing spectrum including frequencies previously used for: – UHF Television channels will be allocated for 4G LTE. – Older technologies such as radio trunking.
• Improved efficiencies of existing bands subdivided to include LTE Cat M1 and LTE NB-IoT.
What’s likely to be the impact of the new technology on cellular networks: Consumers can look forward to a host of benefits, says Mr Van Zyl:
• It will reduce the total costs of ownership since operators can do more with less.
• It will improve spectral efficiency.
• Carriers will be able to support more customers and more devices with existing towers. •
The spectrum can be repurposed to allow for more efficient LTE data traffic. •
It will be far more cost-effective for a carrier to operate an LTE network than a 2G or 3G network. •
It comes with longevity – the result of which is that more and more companies are viewing either 4G or 5G as their strategic platform for the next decade.
The next big migration “Over the next few years, millions of 2G M2M and IoT devices will need to migrate to LTE networks,” believes Mr Van Zyl. “In the USA, the 3G sunset has already started with the first network due for shutdown in Dec 2019.”
In the consumer market, 4G / LTE and 5G standards are gaining favour as the preferred networks for phones and tablets, thanks to increased data speeds, he continues.
Local consumers might not be giving too much thought to the differences between the generations of cellular technology at this point in time, he suggests, but the migration is already well underway in North America, Western and Northern Europe, Australia, Japan and South Korea, driven by the pursuit of three fundamental benefits, namely speed, cost-efficiency and new technologies.
Following his SAIDSA AGM presentation, Mr Van Zyl says that Telkom
“As technologies move from GPRS to LTE and 5G, Mr Van Zyl says companies can look forward to vastly better reporting and guard tracking capabilities” South Africa has announced that it could switch off its 2G network in the next twelve months.
An article on TechCentral says: “Telkom Group CEO Sipho Maseko said the company has only 250 000 2G-only customers left on its network out of a base of more than 6.5 million. Maseko said he is keen to switch off the 2G network as soon as possible so that the spectrum can be redeployed for 3G and 4G/LTE services: ‘My intention is to use the next 12 months to migrate and then optimise the network for 3G and 4G.”
Also, since his address, IOL published an article in which it reported that Vodacom intends reducing the amount of spectrum required for its 2G network and repurposing it in smaller batches to aid its 5G network rollout.
Speaking on the sidelines of the AfricaCom conference in Cape Town, chief technical officer Andries Delport said: “Vodacom wants to turn off its legacy 2G network for consumer handsets, as this would greatly improve its ability to roll out 4G and other modern services.”
The effect on security companies As technologies move from GPRS to LTE and 5G, Mr Van Zyl says companies can look forward to vastly better reporting and guard tracking capabilities. Vehicle monitoring systems are also poised to become far more accurate in terms of fleet management, real-time status and recovery.
Concerns going forward One of Mr Van Zyl’s concerns is that the lack of maintenance on towers will lead to service degradation.
And, he adds, ICASA needs to answer some important questions. “How many 2G devices are currently active in the field? And how much is it going to cost to transition these services? Only once the number of devices and migration costs have been identified can you successfully map out a transition timeline,” he asserts.
What do companies need to consider before making the decision to move? They need to look at specifications such as battery life, power consumption, data usage, bandwidth, mobility, geographic coverage and recurring fees, recommends Mr Van Zyl. “And downtime is a critical issue. Internet connectivity is a non-negotiable business imperative – customers expect it, and your brand and reputation require it. Downtime carries a high cost – think damage to your brand and reputation as well as customer loyalty, which are hard to quantify but cannot be ignored.”
These include cutting through a LAN line, faulty equipment, severe weather or human error, cybercrime and natural disasters such as electric storms or flooding.
Limitations Today’s cellular networks are overlaid with macro cells on macro networks, explains Mr Van Zyl. 4G LTE typically operates in the low band frequencies between 1 and 2 GHz – or even below 1 GHz and 2 GHz, so it penetrates walls very well.
New spectrum bands cover a shorter range with small cells that typically operate at ultra-high frequencies, with the result that building penetration is either very limited or impossible. 5G covers a much smaller area, sometimes limited to a mere 50 square metre radius.
Also, while most wireline/broadband connections can provide 99.5 per cent uptime, even that level of reliability can translate to dozens of hours of unplanned outages annually that disrupt your ability to provide a service, protect your customers or perform other mission-critical office or tasks, warns Mr Van Zyl.
“It’s therefore critical that they backup their primary connections with redundant connections using a second technology – although that said, backup lines tend to be as vulnerable to the same risks because they run mostly on the same conduits, or are strung on the same poles, with the same termination points, and in most instances, even connect to the same service providers.”
New standards According to Mr Van Zyl, the NB-IoT & LTE-M mobile data standards are the cellular versions of IoT connectionsbased data packets and not applicable to streaming as required for video. The standards provide for:
• Low power requirements over a wide area (LPWA) connectivity.
• Lower bandwidth applications using devices that sleep and report data periodically.
• Multi-year battery life with extended ranges and better penetration of buildings and obstacles.
• Devices that can be deployed in hard-toreach places.
• This technology is ideal for remote or low-density industrial sensors, automated commercial meters for water and gas systems as well as connected healthcare devices and even intelligent industrial lighting systems.
