5G in Supply Chain Management

  

5G in Supply Chain Management

 

5G networks is now 1,336 globally, a 350 percent increase during the past year despite an ongoing global pandemic, as of January 2021, more than 30 percent of the world’s countries now have 5G availability.

The top three countries that have the most cities with 5G are China at 341, the United States at 279, and South Korea with 85. The U.K. now has 5G in 54 cities, followed closely by Spain with 53. An additional 27 countries added commercial 5G deployments last year, including three countries that have already reached the top ten in terms of cities covered — Canada with 49 cities, as well as France and Thailand tied at 24.

The next-generation of mobile technology is revolutionizing the way we connect, and the government wants the majority of the Bangladesh population to be covered by a 5G signal by 2023. So that the entire country can benefit from its social and economic advantages. That decision is the right one, but it also risks leaving us overly reliant on too few suppliers. That is a dilemma faced by countries across the globe - and it is one the government is confronting head-on through the publication of this Strategy.

 

This 5G Diversification Strategy is a clear and ambitious plan to grow our telecoms supply chain while ensuring it is resilient to future trends and threats. It has three core strands: supporting incumbent suppliers; attracting new suppliers into the Bangladesh market; and accelerating the development and deployment of open-interface solutions.

 

The Bangladesh government has pledged to have 5G introduced in the country by 2021. However, the debate rages on over whether the dreams of the utopia promised by this technology is coherent with the realities of a market that could still be struggling to adopt the existing benefits of mobile bandwidth. The question of whether it should be adopted may rely on realistic use cases, availability of the technology to the masses and its relevance to the nation’s context.

 

Generation History

The previous generations of mobile networks have been 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G respectively. The first generation (1G) delivered analog voice in the 1980s. 2G or Second generation introduced digital voice in the early 1990s. The Early 2000s saw third generation or 3G bring mobile data in the hands of the masses. Then, the fourth generation, better known as 4G LTE, became available in the 2010s 4G LTE and welcomed the age of mobile broadband. 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G all have steered the way for 5G. 5G, as the 5th generation mobile network, it is designed to provide more connectivity than ever available in all past eras. 5G allows a new class of network that is intended to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices. The higher performance and improved efficiency is intended to empower new user experiences and connect new industries.

 

The 5th Generation Advantage

While 4G LTE focused on providing quicker mobile broadband services than its predecessor 3G, 5G is designed to be a unified, more efficient. 5G can also natively support all spectrum types (licensed, shared, unlicensed) and bands (low, mid, high), a wide range of deployment models (from traditional macro-cells to hotspots), and new ways to interconnect (such as device-to-device and multi-hop mesh). Qualcomm states the following reasons why making the jump from 4G to 5G would make sense:

• 5G is significantly faster than 4G
• 5G has more capacity than 4G
• 5G has significantly lower latency than 4G
• 5G is a unified platform that is more capable than 4G
• 5G uses spectrum better than 4G

 

The Next Generation

5G can improve economic growth, enhance citizen experiences and expedite commercial prospects. However, the implementation of 5G in Bangladesh is unique compared to other countries as the South Asian nation is leap-frogging from a complete analog to a digital economy (bypassing many intermediary steps). Moreover, though there may exist potential benefits, without a proper plan, market players have shown significant skepticism regarding the investment case of 5G. This can be improved if carefully crafted with realistic spectrum, infrastructure, taxation and cloud hosting policies. If addressed, this can reduce business doubts and create a promising investment climate for the beneficiaries of this technology. Joining the 5G bandwagon without a proper consumer and business friendly roadmap would most definitely not be in Bangladesh’s best interest. However, not treading onto the 5G wave at all would inhibit at least a generation of citizens and institutions from building a vibrant 5G based ecosystem.

 

The value of 5G networks

Significant economic and social value can be gained from the widespread deployment of 5G networks. These networks will deliver faster, more reliable and flexible networks that have the potential to transform key sectors across the economy.

That is why the widespread availability of both 5G and gigabit capable networks is a priority for this government. 5G is already available in over 30% of the world's countries and the next few years will see increased investment in these networks as we deliver against our targets for the majority of the population to have 5G coverage by 2023.

 

The case for diversification

The Telecoms Supply Chain Review identified that the greatest risk of national dependence in our networks is in the ‘access’ network. As the characteristics and potential of 5G mean that 5G networks are likely to play a significant role in our critical national infrastructure it is critical that the supply market for these networks is diverse and resilient.

 

The global telecoms supply market has undergone a sustained period of consolidation due to a range of commercial factors including low profit margins, high R&D costs and high economies of scale. Technical factors that raise the barrier to entry or solidify the position of incumbents have also been a factor.

Therefore, it is essential that we create a more diverse and competitive supply base for telecoms networks. A more competitive and diverse supply market will increase quality, innovation and the resilience of our networks.