An investment of €2 billion in systems and infrastructure since 2005 has helped Three to offer Ireland’s fastest and most reliable 5G network. “The Three network is built for data,” says Karl Duffy, head of enterprise and public sector with Three Ireland. “The Three brand comes from us having the first 3G licence in Ireland. We were the first data network with all-you-can-eat data and we now have 98 per cent 4G population coverage and 85 per cent 5G coverage and growing. That coverage was really significant during the pandemic with the surge in data use that it brought about.”
That surge amplified an overall trend. “Since 2017 data traffic on our network has increased by 275 per cent,” he points out. “We carry more data than all the other networks combined. We have the fastest 5G network in Ireland and fastest mobile network in Ireland according to Ookla. We continue to invest €100 million a year in the network. That’s a pretty massive investment and with other cost increases it’s challenging but we are committed to it.”
The surge in data usage wasn’t the only impact of the pandemic. “There was also a shift in demand from urban to rural areas,” he explains. “We redimensioned our investment plans from an urban to a rural focus. We ensured that people could access our service when it was needed and where it was needed without any issues. Interestingly, demand has started to pare back somewhat since the public-health restrictions were lifted. But the lasting legacy has been an increased appreciation for the critical nature of communications technology and connectivity.”
That has seen large enterprise and government customers of Three place an increased emphasis on quality of service, he notes. “Nobody wants to be on an inferior network.”
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5G connectivity will be increasingly important for the Irish economy in the coming years, Duffy points out. “We launched our 5G service in 2020,” he says. “It brings a lot of new opportunities and Ireland needs to be seen as a global leader in it. Businesses require high-quality, reliable and consistent connectivity. 5G gives them that. It’s easier to deploy and, in many cases, can outperform fibre connection. Average speeds on our network are around 200mbs but I have seen 1.2gbs at times and 600mbs is certainly not unusual. It’s the difference between night and day for businesses which have had slow or no broadband coverage previously.
“There are headwinds like the energy crisis and inflation, of course, but 5G is seen as essential component of our national infrastructure for future economic growth. Amárach puts its economic potential is €12 billion by 2030.”
He points to a number of areas including industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, supply-chain digitalisation, health and safety and asset tracking, where 5G is already having practical applications for business and society.
“In relation to industry 4.0 we are talking to several companies about the concept of a 5G campus,” he says. “That involves lighting up a site with 5G connectivity. This allows organisations to deploy internet of things [IoT] solutions to connect thousands of devices at the same time, each performing a specific task. They can be sensors on pieces of equipment, cameras or control devices and they all send data back to a centralised location. That enables greater process efficiency and can also deliver other benefits like predictive maintenance where production flows don’t have to be disrupted.”
Standard wifi or older-generation networks are not capable of delivering the connectivity required for these applications. 5G delivers both the bandwidth and the capability of working indoors and outdoors.
“The World Economic Forum introduced the Global Lighthouse Network, which is community of companies around the world that are capturing maximum value from industry 4.0 technologies,” Duffy notes. “A lot of our customers are interested in achieving Lighthouse status. One of our customers is looking at deploying a 5G campus to how to digitalise their CCTV to improve site security and efficiency. At the moment they have routers all over the place and they are going down all the time. This will solve that problem.”
In the safety area, he mentions plans by local authorities in Europe to set up portals for cyclists to upload GoPro video in real time when they are cycling. “All those devices will need to be connected to a network and only 5G can do that,” he says.
“We are talking to two significant companies in the consumer goods area about tracking assets,” he adds. “Beer kegs is an example. They are very valuable and if you put a tag on them to monitor each one you can reduce losses. You can also get data insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of the distribution system.”
5G will quickly become the only option for many applications, he believes. “It is very interesting; we are probably still at a point where 4G still works for most applications like social media and email. But developers are designing applications that are pushing the limits of the existing networks.
“The limits of 4G are being reached. We all know what it’s like if we are on the move and our phone switches from 4G to 3G in certain areas. Everything slows down badly. In a couple of years’ time 4G will be like that. There will be a point in time when 5G really is the only option. Choosing 5G now will make businesses future ready. We are investing in 5G to ensure that when our customers need it, it will be there for them, and we will continue to offer them the best service in the market.”