LONDON � U.K. RF infrastructure company Arqiva believes there is a �strong commercial case for using 5G technology to address broadband demand in London,� according to lightreading.com.
However, instead of serving consumers directly, Arqiva would provide wholesale services to retail service providers, potentially including MVNOs it already counts as wholesale customers. Nicolas Ott, Arqiva’s managing director for telecom and M2M, estimates that less than 1% of UK premises are connected to FTTP/H (fiber to the premises) networks today and says penetration in London is not believed to be much greater.�
He also thinks that 5G as a fixed wireless access technology will offer �comparable performance� to FTTP/H �with a much easier rollout,� and that it will be superior to the G.fast technology in which fixed-line incumbent British Telecom is currently investing, according to the same article.
Earlier this year Arqiva said it would carry out 5G-based FWA trials in the 28 GHz band in partnership with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
The very first 5G standard is due to be finalized by March 2018 as part of the 3GPP’s Release 15 update, and the first commercial services based on that standard should appear in 2019.�
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