Luca D’Antonio, Director of Strategy and Innovation at JMA Wireless, on the occasion of 5G Italy: “Private investments in networks, as is happening in the United States, are driving the spread of 5G”.
How is it possible to return to the ARPU that allows for the return of the huge investments needed for the full development of 5G networks? This is one of the main topics he covered Luke D’AntonioJMA Wireless’ Director of Strategy and Innovation 5G Italythe conference organized by CNIT.
JMA Wireless manufactures and develops 4G and 5G cellular systems entirely in-house. Its main offices are in the USA and Italy. It is a company that I do not hesitate to introduce as Atlantic – He said Luke D’Antonio in his speech – With a somewhat privileged view of what is the situation in the United States and Europe.”
5G, comparing the situation in the United States and Europe
“5G is now established as a factor in global economic development D’Antonio said. We’ve been saying this to each other for 4 or 5 years now, but it’s something that needs to be reaffirmed, because 5G takes on a different aspect than previous networks. 5G is a B2B service enabler, so the investment leverage is much stronger. This is the first time this has happened in the field of mobile communications.”
By 2030, 5G and the resulting economy will account for 1% of global GDP
Despite this awareness, the level of 5G development in Europe is lagging far behind.D’Antonio adds. On the other hand, in the US there is talk of a 5G user share of 20%, compared to 19% in Japan while in Europe we are stuck at 6%.
From an economic point of view, it is clear that the largest benefits from 5G by 2030 will be for US citizens with a total of $484 billion, followed by China and Japan. If we add the European countries (Germany, UK, France, Italy) we get to 150 billion. He says.
But why is Europe lagging behind in the fifth generation?
“It’s a matter of Arbo- He says – In Europe, the average Arpu is €14.4 per month. In the United States, the average price of Arpu for operators is 38 euros per month, 31 dollars in Japan and 25 euros in South Korea. And in Italy we are less than 10 euros a month.
data traffic
For traffic, in the US it averages 10.60Gb per month, while in Europe we do 8.52Gb per month. In short, you earn less in Europe from your customer network than in the United States.He adds, recalling instead that in terms of frequencies, Italy is the fourth country in the world in terms of the cost of licenses, yet it has the lowest Arpu of all..
power knot
Then there is the old power problem: Tlc companies struggle to be recognized as energy-intensive – says D’Antonio – But if I remember correctly, Tim is the second largest company in terms of energy consumption in the country after the state railway. In general, telecom operators consume a lot, but Italy ranks second in the world after Greece in terms of kWh cost for industries.
In the US, the average cost per kilowatt-hour of energy is 10 cents, compared to 25 cents here.
Finally, there are electromagnetic limits that are among the lowest in Europe: “In Italy the 5G network costs two and three times as much because we have to put more sites with less power,” he said. Add.
How can the trend be reversed? USA example
JMA Wireless specializes, among other things, in wireless coverage of spaces such as stadiums. In the United States, for example, they cover two, one in Los Angeles, where this year’s American football SuperBawl final was played, and in one evening during the last 30.2 terabytes of data were exchanged by customers of one operator present at the stadium. The capacity of a stadium in Los Angeles is equivalent to 500 – says Luca D’Antonio – The investment was made by the NFL and the Los Angeles Football Team”. This is because it is now customary in the United States for those who build any infrastructure at their own expense to also build a communication system for this infrastructure, and then rent it out to operators who use it to provide services to their customers.
Private interests of non-telecom companies
In addition to, NFL teams have asked the JMA to create a private network on CBRS frequencies, which is currently still 4G but will soon be supplemented by 5G, a private network for communication between coaches and teams. A private network and cellular and mobile radio on CBRS frequencies, which were made available by the FCC in the United States for Private Networks.
Therefore, there is potential in the United States to create private networks and those who have the money to invest, and American football teams are known to invest. American hotel chains are doing the same thing, paying to have 5G networks inside hotels for their customers. All this allows for a faster development of networks, because operators create the public network, and the extranet thanks to their higher returns. Wherever there is an area with a landowner, or owner, a private network will be set up and then agreed to be used.
food for thought
- How is it possible to return to the ARPU that allows for the return of the huge investments needed for the full development of 5G networks?
- Could non-public (“vertical”) 5G networks be developed more easily by non-traditional stakeholders, who currently have greater financial resources? And how do they contribute to the effective availability of 5G to users?
- Technological leverage: simplifying the mobile network cost structure for operators
- Shifting to 5G network solutions based on virtual access networks allows telecom operators to exploit the economies of scale of cloud computing
- Using network architectures based on Open RAN standards gives operators greater freedom of choice and control over their network
- The synergy of the two approaches also offers the potential for significant energy savings
- JMA’s 5G XRAN product line is fully virtualized and compliant with the Open RAN specification
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