Delivering the full benefits of 5G communications

Three has become the first Irish mobile network operator to launch the next evolution of 5G, 5G Standalone, which offers enhanced speeds and minimal latency, and enables higher device density and capacity than the current service.

“With 5G Standalone, businesses can harness the full potential of 5G technology,” says Three head of ICT and 3IOT Karl McDermott. “5G Standalone technology facilitates an array of possibilities including the remote operation of autonomous mobile vehicles and equipment, logistics inventory robots, enhanced augmented reality and virtual reality, and real-time manufacturing process controls.”

The fundamental difference between 5G Standalone and the current service is the core networks underpinning them; 5G Standalone operates with a 5G dedicated core network, while the existing 5G service relies on a 4G radio coverage footprint. Although speeds are quicker and latency has improved, there is still a reliance on 4G.

“A good analogy is an old motorway which is blocked up all the time with traffic,” McDermott explains. “If you put in an express lane, it allows people to get to and from where they are going much quicker. That’s the equivalent of current 5G services. It offers users much higher speeds once they are on it, but overall speed is limited by the fact that you have to use the older networks to get on and off the express lane. 5G Standalone is like a brand new highway and speeds are no longer constrained by reliance on older infrastructure.”

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According to McDermott the three main benefits of 5G connectivity are very, very high speeds; very low latency of one millisecond or less and high density with the ability to support millions of devices.

The current service delivers improved speed but only slightly improved latency and increased device density. “If you want all of the benefits, it needs to be on a 5G core network. We are delighted to be the first to deliver this service to Ireland.”

He points to self-driving cars as an example of a use case for the technology. “The cars can communicate with each other while they are moving around so that they can avoid crashing into each other. You need really low latency for that.”

Another example is the use of the internet of things (IoT) to connect thousands of devices to run autonomous factories. “These devices are able to tell engineers when machines need maintenance. In the 5G world, the systems will be able to instruct robots to carry out repairs precisely when they are needed. Factories of the future will be self-healing.

“5G Standalone offers very high device density,” he continues. “You can have literally millions of devices in factories, cities, sports stadiums, airports and so on. In time we could have a digital twin of the water system which would monitor it in real time. It will be able to predict events and trigger mitigating actions to prevent floods or reduce their impact.”

Another capability is “network slicing”, which will enable Three to build virtual networks tailored to specific business requirements. This makes it possible to offer guaranteed service performance for mission-critical applications such as the Garda and emergency services.

“The ambulance service is a case in point,” McDermott notes. “Ambulances need guaranteed bandwidth if they want to maintain a constant connection to the hospital and do things like video calls with doctors while they are on the move. You don’t want people playing games on their PlayStations affecting their bandwidth. Network slicing means we can dedicate a portion of the network to the ambulance service, and it is not sharing it with anyone else.”

In addition, network exposure functions which are unique to 5G Standalone technology will provide new business capabilities and drive innovation. “This will enable us to share the network with commercial partners who can develop applications to run on it,” he explains. “In Asia, one company is offering a service to Formula One fans who can pay for an app which will give them access to footage from cameras located around the course and drones flying above it for the duration of the race they are attending. The possibilities are almost endless. We can’t imagine all that the technology will be able to do at this stage. It will require collaboration between the device manufactures, the service providers, and the application developers to unlock its full potential.”

The new service is initially being made available on a trial basis to several Three corporate customers. “We are running the trial in conjunction with Ericsson,” says McDermott. “We are working with a number of customers looking at a variety of use cases in areas like medicine, sports science, and manufacturing. 5G standalone has the potential to change how we live, work, play, and how we make things.”