A new report from Britain’s National Infrastructure Commission concluded the infrastructure needed to support future “5G” networks is lacking – and the government should take an active role in both ensuring basic mobility as well as 5G readiness.
The NIC was formed last year to look at the United Kingdom’s long-term infrastructure needs and make recommendations to maintain the country’s international competitiveness. Its recent “Connected Future” report says 93% of adults in the United Kingdom own a mobile phone, but also notes the country has lagged behind others in “4G” coverage and that 5G is an opportunity for technology leadership.
The NIC report concluded that U.K. regulators should focus on both basic coverage as well as preparing city centers and transportation systems for 5G coverage. It said 5G roadside networks should be in place by 2025, and the government should come up with a plan for roadside networks by the end of 2017. Railway network connectivity needs to be vastly improved, NIC added, and ought to have a track-side network in place by 2025.
Additionally, the NIC recommended local authorities work with mobile network providers to help enable the deployment of tens of thousands of small cells to support better coverage in urban areas – which it says are frequently plagued by “not spots,” coverage gaps where there is either no LTE coverage, or “partial not spots” where the area is not served by all of the country’s main mobile network operators.
The report said it expects gradual deployment of 5G starting in 2020, but that full deployment is “unlikely until the 2030s.”
The NIC recommended the creation of a director general role, with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to serve as a “digital champion” cabinet member to ensure transportation projects and other government telecom initiatives take into account future digital infrastructure needs.
“Given the increasing importance of connectivity across all parts of the economy, digital infrastructure should sit at the core of the government’s industrial strategy, ensuring that the U.K. can take full advantage of technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality and the needs of new industries to improve productivity and develop the businesses of the future,” the report said.
The NIC report also said while the U.K. doesn’t have the infrastructure manufacturing for wireless technologies that some countries do, it “has the potential to be amongst the leaders in growth industries developing around internet- and cloud-based applications and services, and around the “internet of things” that depend on the widespread deployment of advanced mobile connectivity like 5G.
But this potential will only be fully realized if the relatively slow roll out and availability of 4G networks is not repeated. The NIC’s analysis suggests, however, that mobile network operators will struggle to deliver these networks in the locations and at the speed needed without government assistance supporting and coordinating the investments made by the private sector. A lack of government action risks the U.K. finding itself once again near the bottom of the league tables for connectivity as 5G is rolled out.
The NIC report was developed in conjunction with InterDigital.
