Author: Desmond Dallen

5G Market Reality Check: 211 operators are investing in 5G in 87 countries (Hadden Telecoms) March 25, 2019 According to new research by consultancy company Hadden Telecoms, at least 211 operators are investing in various 5G programs in 87 countries. Their investments encompass a wide range of practical activities, depending on the individual operator, covering network deployments, studies, technology testing, demonstrations, pilot trials etc., and include 15 operators that have now commercially launched 5G service. The full list of 211 operators investing in 5G is available (PDF file) for free download from www.haddentelecoms.com and may be used subject to referencing Hadden Telecoms as the source. Alan Hadden, Director, Hadden Telecoms Ltd said: “Operators globally are preparing for the large-scale introduction of 5G, the first services have launched, and the devices ecosystem is rapidly building and poised for the imminent scale availability of a range of smartphone models. Dozens more operators are expected to launch their respective 5G services in the coming 12 months.” Regular updates of this status report will be published. Earlier this month Hadden Telecoms published its list of 22 announced 5G user devices, which can also be downloaded from www.haddentelecoms.com     ABOUT HADDEN TELECOMS LTD The Company assists clients to optimise their strategies to gain competitive advantages in evolving mobile services markets. We also monitor and research mobile network and technology deployments and trends, and...

Ericsson Industry Connect: accelerating Industry 4.0 through reliable wireless connectivity Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has launched Ericsson Industry Connect, an easy-to-use cellular connectivity solution to accelerate Industry 4.0 digital transformation. Ericsson Industry Connect enables communication service providers to offer dedicated cellular networks at factories and warehouses starting with 4G/LTE, with a clear path to 5G. The offering strengthens Ericsson’s private networks and IoT portfolios by making 4G and 5G technologies accessible to new industrial markets. Purpose-built for industrial environments such as factories and warehouses, the dedicated cellular connectivity solution enables secure, reliable coverage with high device density and predictable latency. With a network management experience designed to be easy to use and manage for information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) professionals, the solution aims to make cellular technology rapidly deployable for factory and warehouse staff. With industrial-grade wireless connectivity, Ericsson Industry Connect can enable innovative Industry 4.0 use cases such as: digital twin inspection (a real-time digital replica of a physical entity) with massive amounts of sensors; mobility for human machine interface (HMI) instructions for workers; collision avoidance and remote control for autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs); and collaborative robotics for automated operations. Åsa Tamsons, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Area Technologies and New Businesses, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson Industry Connect is built on design thinking to meet industrial customers’ requirements on speed, reliability and security, while being easy to...

As the backbone of developing economies, agriculture not only serves to feed a nation but creates employment and, often, contributes significantly to the GDP. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), feeding a world population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 will require a 70% increase in overall food production, highlighting the need for increased, and more efficient, agricultural activities globally. Additionally, the FAO states that 80% of farmland in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa is managed by smallholders working on 10 hectares or less. According to Thomas Fuerst, WING Marketing at Nokia, while research clearly shows that technology can add tremendous value to South African farmers, the uptake has not been what it should be, particularly among subsistence and small-scale farmers. “This is likely due to the perceived costs associated with technology,” he says. The adoption of technology in agriculture also requires that various stakeholders work together. In a report done by the University of Stellenbosch for the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, while agricultural technology will result in higher yields, reduced costs and improved nutritional value of foods, it needs the farming sector, government and education institutions to work together. “Crop disease, pests, and drought are some of the biggest issues facing agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa,” says Fuerst. According to CAB International crop pests and disease account for close to half of the...

Nokia’s revolutionary 5G virtual testing speeds deployment     Mixing physical and virtual worlds with patent-pending virtual reality, Nokia’s unique test facility simulates and accelerates real-world deployment of 5G mMIMO antennas Validates AI/ML algorithms that optimize beamforming and spectrum efficiency and authenticates capabilities of Nokia ReefShark chipset family   23 April 2019   Espoo, Finland – Nokia is making 5G deployments faster and more cost-efficient with its patent-pending 5G virtual testing environment. In its over-the-air validation area in Oulu, Finland, Nokia works with operators to simulate massive MIMO antenna beamforming performance by combining physical testing with a leading edge virtual environment.   5G increases the complexity of physical antennas, the algorithms necessary to deliver optimal efficiency, as well as the sheer number of site deployments. In the 5G test lab, Nokia combines a unique physical over-the-air test environment with virtual reality (VR) to test and verify the optimal site locations of the antennas for operators. Using Nokia’s patent-pending approach, the test lab simulates a multitude of different physical environments to improve both the accuracy and performance of 5G mMIMO beamforming antennas in the real world.   The lab is also used to verify ReefShark chipset massive performance gains and test ReefShark components in complete radio systems as ReefShark based deployments are continuing to accelerate. Furthermore, the test lab is instrumental in the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorthms,...

MediaKind solutions power NASCAR Productions and PSSI Global Services to Emmy Award success   NASCAR Productions and PSSI Global Services honored with Technology & Engineering EmmyÒ Awards for ‘Large Scale “At-Home” Production for Live Sports with Minimal On-Site Production Assets’ Cutting-edge production workflow enabled through range of market-leading MediaKind media processing solutions, including encoders, modulators and integrated receiver-decoders The Technology & Engineering EmmyÒ Award will be presented during an awards ceremony at NAB Show 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, April 7, 2019   MediaKind, a global media technology leader, today announces that its industry-leading media processing solutions helped to play an integral role in enabling NASCAR Productions and PSSI Global Services to win a Technology & Engineering EmmyÒ  Award for ‘Large Scale “At-Home” Production for Live Sports with Minimal On-Site Production Assets.’ The award, which will be presented at NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 7, 2019, came in recognition of NASCAR Productions and PSSI Global Services’ ability to deliver larger, more complex at-home productions through a range of technological advancements which remove the need for entire production teams to be located at the event itself. Traditional productions of large-scale live sporting events have been challenged by the limitations of technology and reduced resources. Productions teams have often been required to be present on-site in order to receive and process a multitude of live camera, audio...