MWC23 Las Vegas – 5G Futures Summit

Time: 14:30 – 15:25

Moderator: Henry Calvert

Session overview:

In the 5G era, mobile operators have a tremendous opportunity to capitalise on the full potential of their networks. The GSMA Open Gateway initiative has captured widespread attention and received strong backing from more than 60% of global mobile operators, all united in their effort to create universal access to operator networks for developers and streamline data services for consumers. However, as the initiative advances, a crucial aspect to consider is how value will be created for operators in their go-to-market strategies. In this discussion, we will delve into potential profitable Open Gateway business models, the business justifications for this, and projected future value.

Speakers: 

Time: 15:30 – 16:25

Moderator: Barbara Pareglio

Session overview:

The second phase of the 3GPP 5G standardisation process is set to unleash a new era of innovations with the advent of 5G Advanced. This revolutionary advancement will empower operators to create a more conducive environment for the widespread adoption of 5G SA services. These services encompass an array of transformative features, including network slicing, edge computing, and the vast realm of massive IoT.

As these new capabilities are added to those enabled since 4G and 5G NSA, we need practical ways to tap into and monetize them. This session will test that notion with a few working examples shedding light on avenues for monetisation of the full array of capabilities in our modern networks from 4G to 5G NSA and the emerging new realm of 5G Advanced and its standalone capabilities.

Speakers: 

Time: 16:30 – 17:30

Session overview:

In the past three years, 5G adoption has accelerated, covering over a third of the world’s population. While most networks are non-standalone, there’s a growing trend of deploying standalone 5G networks for new revenue possibilities and emerging capabilities like XR and AR.

However, realizing the full potential of use-cases and automation requires 5G NR SA, resulting in significant capital expenditure. Open RAN standards bring flexibility and efficiency by disaggregating hardware and software.

Despite potential benefits, Open RAN faces challenges in TCO, power efficiency, performance, integration complexity, and maintenance with multi-vendor solutions.

Nonetheless, the industry believes Open RAN is the way forward, requiring collaboration, network automation using AI/ML, and digital-twin technologies to overcome challenges.

As the Open RAN ecosystem evolves, TCO is expected to decrease with cloud-based infrastructure and a separation of hardware and software supply chains. System Integrators play a role in reducing TCO with integration test labs and AI/ML automation solutions. Join this session as we explore how a new world of opportunities can be unlocked with Open RAN.

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