Deployment Realities that Companies Face with 5G
Network Infrastructure

Deployment Realities that Companies Face with 5G

Network Infrastructure Magazine | Wednesday, May 25, 2022

With the advancement in technology, companies’ demand for higher bandwidth is constantly on the rise.

Fremont, CA: The transformative potential of 5G is undeniable: it will enable a diverse set of IoT applications while also bridging the broadband divide, especially in less densely populated areas. The business economics problem for service providers is defining a path that avoids betting the farm on the future while leaving present customers underserved and revenue unrealized along the way.

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With governments around the world promoting investment in gigabit services, let's look at how fixed wireless 5G can help consumers get high-speed broadband faster, especially those who live outside of densely populated areas.

The number of towers and their density must both increase dramatically for 5G, and each tower must be fed with a multi-gigabit fiber cable. While signal strength will continue to grow, a single tower's reach will remain more easily measured in hundreds rather than tens of thousands of feet for the foreseeable future. The economic difficulty is mitigated in markets with high fiber content, such as South Korea. Integrity of plans anchored in good business justifications and ROI will play a crucial part in determining success for those in less fiber-rich countries, such as the United States.

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The rapid evolution of technology makes deployment planning much more difficult. 5G is not a one-size-fits-all solution; many of the technologies are in the early stages of development, and standards are continually evolving. Network providers must plan with integrity, particularly in terms of cost-to-revenue analysis and the capacity to compare multiple architectures/options, guided by clear milestones and business objectives. That brings us to the first good practice. Begin with the end in mind, as with any effective plan: the company objectives—the customers and the products and services required to win and delight them.

The target network must then be modeled. You're launching a new technology that has a wide range of deployment possibilities. Expect to run numerous rounds with various architecture criteria to gain insight into the ideal end-state architecture, technology, and economic return for your business. You can start modeling possibilities for the fiber to serve those towers now that you have the target network established, including the quantity and location of antennas to satisfy the coverage and service goals.

Finally, overlay your existing fiber network on top of the necessary fiber network, and you've got a workable architecture model—the framework—to help you plan your network evolution.

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