About Parallel Wireless 5G Rural First Project

This is a press unloosen virtually Parallel Wireless 5G RuralFirst project.

How Parallel Wireless is helping to include rural communities inwards the economical in addition to sustainable evolution conversation

Despite pregnant strides inwards the telecom industry, which own got been made inwards terms of applied scientific discipline in addition to reach, the spread of network connectedness inwards rural areas about the world, stay the final frontier for the telecom industry.

When it comes to Africa, the continent has a relatively depression teledensity, roughly 44% inwards sub-Saharan Africa – good below the global average of 66% every bit per the GSMA Global Mobile Economy Report 2019.

While the numbers of mobile subscriptions volition cash inwards one's chips along to grow, the charge per unit of measurement of uptake has slowed. There are a reveal of factors influencing this decline, including a high proportion of Africa’s people who cash inwards one's chips along to alive in addition to piece of work inwards rural areas where telecom providers own got scarce coverage or, the coverage they practise provide, own got express capability to run services required to portion inwards today’s world. Secondly, much of the continent’s population is below xvi years of age, alongside fifty-fifty farther express powerfulness to afford the access to mobile applied scientific discipline or to the Internet.

Herein lies both the challenge in addition to the opportunity.

With trigger-happy contest inwards the telecom market, telcos own got seen their Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) continuously falling. This also holds truthful for Africa, although, the continent’s futurity telecom penetration revenue growth volition come upward from rural areas in addition to tomorrow’s workforce (provided they tin give the axe gain access to the services in addition to tools they necessitate to propel them into the digital era).

Low population density in addition to hard terrain add together to the challenge of providing a robust communications network across the continent. It is in addition to thus non surprising that, typically, the mental attitude towards rural expansion is that people inwards those areas necessitate the basic services first, which might, hold upward upgraded later, depending on the returns, to furnish amend technologies. Telecom service providers volition typically run the oldest generation applied scientific discipline available to expand inwards rural areas first, rather than expending upper-case missive of the alphabet on newer generation technologies.

This approach is fundamentally flawed, every bit it way investing inwards the older generation technology, which volition cash inwards one's chips obsolete – faster in addition to sooner every bit the digital moving ridge continues to roll. When it comes to newer generation technologies similar 4G in addition to 5G, urban areas tend to acquire priority at present, to a greater extent than oft than non because customers inwards these areas are believed to own got a better-paying capability. Yet, yesteryear providing a amend solution to the rural areas, it volition opened upward up novel avenues of economical in addition to social growth.

So, what are the solutions to telco technological in addition to commercial challenges every bit they consider network expansion?

Several reports demo that when at that topographic point is access to services/education/finance/banking etc through mobile, at that topographic point is a correlating growth in addition to sustainability inwards social in addition to economical development. So, practise nosotros necessitate to explore a example of person world participation inwards fellowship to include Africa’s out-of-mobile into the mobile conversation?

One possible solution is a recent first yesteryear the British regime inwards association alongside telecom players in addition to other applied scientific discipline solution providers in addition to 1 that tin give the axe hold upward emulated in addition to perfected for Africa. Named 5G RuralFirst, the first explores novel network deployment strategies for rural areas in addition to promises to furnish novel trouble concern models for rural communities.

It is an endeavour at re-imagining the mobile or cellular infrastructure in addition to demonstrating that 5G network capability tin give the axe hold upward deployed easily in addition to cost-effectively to serve a gain of enterprises, community or fifty-fifty person networks beyond cities. The 5G RuralFirst projection is also an endeavour at realizing that 5G is non but an evolution of 4G. It is a novel in addition to unlike generation alongside novel ideas, novel technologies, novel strategies, in addition to novel trouble concern models.

The Technology:

The projection is using Parallel Wireless’ All G approach, which demonstrates that Telcos tin give the axe deploy all generation networks (2G, 3G, 4G in addition to 5G) on the same telecom network infrastructure helping the telcos to hold upward futurity cook without having to pass a fortune inwards shifting from older generation to newer generation technology. Parallel Wireless is 1 of the partners inwards the RuralFirst project.

Using Parallel Wireless’ HetNet software platform to disaggregate hardware in addition to software, the projection is able to practise a unified architecture that tin give the axe operate alongside 2G, 3G, 4G, and, 5G systems.

The mind strategy of the applied scientific discipline is to run the abstraction of RAN in addition to meat network to run on a commercial off-the-shelf server, resulting inwards an embedded network that allows interoperability alongside RAN equipment from other vendors. This farther enables a managed evolution in addition to continuous upgrade of the network.

The trial:

As portion of the 5G RuralFirst project, this applied scientific discipline is beingness used to demonstrate a cost-effective way to furnish high-speed connectivity inwards low-ARPU regions. Trials are currently beingness conducted inwards 3 locations – North Scotland inwards the Orkney Islands, in addition to Harper Adams in addition to Somerset, inwards rural England.

For the trials, HetNet Gateway was get-go gear upward inwards the Orkney Islands. Once the initial gear upward was completed, a connectedness was made to the Datavita meat cloud centre on mainland Scotland. After that, the HetNet Gateway was unplugged in addition to driven 200 miles to Glasgow in addition to reconnected to the novel housing at the Datavita information centre at Glasgow. The trial established that inwards rural in addition to remote areas, a dynamic in addition to shared spectrum tin give the axe brand a existent difference.

A reveal of run cases, including Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity inwards fish farms; supporting tourism alongside mobile connectivity on double-decker routes; augmented reality apps at World Heritage sites similar the 4,000-year former Ring Brodgar standing stones, are currently beingness tested every bit portion of the trial. All these are certain to increase jobs in addition to opened upward novel revenue-generating options for people inwards rural areas.

When it comes to expanding the network or deploying a novel generation applied scientific discipline inwards rural areas, terms becomes a large hindrance. The 5G RuralFirst projection busts a reveal of myths virtually rural telecom expansion, every bit good every bit throws upward solutions, which hope to cash inwards one's chips far easier for service providers to furnish novel in addition to latest technologies inwards difficult-to-reach areas.

Imagine the possibilities for Africa including rolling out comprehensive e-learning platforms that volition encounter the youth beingness tomorrow’s trouble concern leaders.

This word on parallel wireless 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G network services volition involvement you.

For media enquiries, delight contact: Kaz Henderson kaz@networxpr.co.za or telephone outcry upward on +27 21 201 1522