Carriers Focused on Maximizing Networks for 5G: Commscope

Carriers will focus this year on finding ways to maximize the use of their existing infrastructure, as they deploy 5G, blogged CommScope Senior Vice President Farid Firouzbakht Tuesday. “The race to 5G has become as much about civil engineering as it is about technology,” he said: “One of our customers said 5G is the biggest civil engineering program of all Gs. With 5G there are new frequencies, meaning new equipment will have to be deployed on top of already crowded towers. Operators face significant challenges as this combination of heavier 4G and 5G equipment puts phone masts under additional strain.” Firouzbakht said another big focus in 2022 will be on strategies to simplify deployments. “We’ll see the first layer of 5G gain traction mainly in cities,” he said. “In addition to faster mobile speeds, the industry will test new use cases such as customised fan experiences, 5G connected collars on farms and remote-controlled ultrasound scans over public 5G networks. The spectrum used for these new services will require densification and operators will seek technology that enables local coverage.” Expect continued focus on open radio access networks, he said. “There is still plenty of work to be done around interoperability between vendors,” he said: “The focus will be on long term planning with specific emphasis on O-RAN as a concept for 4G as operators consider new strategies on how new standards will play out in 5G rollouts, especially in Europe.”