The provision of 5G services continues to expand worldwide with the USA amongst the leaders in terms of availability. In 2022 13% of mobile connections in the USA were over a 5G system and this is expected to increase to beyond 30% by the end of this year, matching the percentage of 5G connections in South Korea.

On average 62% of the population in the European Union have access to 5G services though there are wide variations between EU countries: the Netherlands has 80% coverage while Switzerland leads the field with 99% of the population having the opportunity to connect by 5G. In the UK 70% of the population are covered.

The expansion of 5G will necessarily lead to the retirement of earlier generations with 3G the first to be withdrawn. 2G services will continue for a while longer due to the reliance of certain industries and IoT devices on 2G services: smart meters and automobile eCall (emergency call) devices rely on GSM circuit switching. LTE will of course provide high broadband speeds for many years.

Despite the growth of 5G availability, less sparsely populated areas will be the last to gain access to 5G. BT has announced trials of an airborne solution. The ultimate goal is to use High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) aircraft which fly above the flight paths of commercial aircraft to provide 5G coverage with broadband speeds of up to 150 Mbit/s.
HAPS aircraft will use phased array antennae to produce 500 individually steerable beams providing a range of 140 kilometres matching the footprint of 450 terrestrial masts.
Initially, the BT trial will use antennae on a high building followed by tests using hydrogen fuelled drones.

For a more down to earth treatment of 5G, PTT’s two new online courses cover 5G systems and services.

The rollout of full-fibre broadband continues to accelerate. The availability of fibre to the home (FTTH) in the UK has surged from under 2% of premises in 2016 to 43% last year. With the current growth rate, it seems likely that 2023 will see that number go far past 50%.

Full-fibre provision will continue be a priority for broadband providers for some years yet. Many households are continuing to require the most they can get out of their broadband connections with multiple devices for work, streaming, gaming and video calling.

While most providers don’t currently offer full-fibre connections beyond 1 Gbps, technology companies are already anticipating future speed demands. Telefonica has recently successfully trialled 25G PON technology using Nokia equipment. With this technology offering a theoretical symmetrical speed of 25 Gbps, consumers can look forward to even more capable speeds in the years to come. Nokia are not resting on their laurels however, and are now even trialling technologies which will allow for a 100 Gbps connection.

Not to be outdone, mobile providers are surging ahead with their rollout of faster networks. Some 70% of UK households now have access to a 5G service from at least one network, providing healthy competition to traditional fixed-line broadband providers as to who can get a reliable, fast internet connection into homes first.

PTT has a number of courses that cover full-fibre broadband access such as “Optical access networks” and “Next generation access networks“. Two new PTT courses covering 5G technology and services will be available soon.

2023 marks the 30th anniversary of PTT’s formation and the start of its provision of e-learning for the telecommunications sector.

Back in 1993 commercial access to the Internet was in its infancy, Nokia had just launched its first hand portable GSM phone, fax machines were in every office, and PTT launched its first e-learning course on floppy disks (remember those?).

Thirty years later, fibre to the premises and fifth generation mobile services provide ever faster access to the online services we all depend on. And PTT provides an ever-expanding catalogue of online courses covering technical aspects of modern telecommunications.

The deregulation of the telecoms sector that began in the 1980s saw more companies joining the sector with cable TV providers in the UK allowed to also provide telephony services in 1991. In the 2020s, competition is very high with new entrants contributing to the dramatic expansion of the availability of fibre broadband services.

So, what does the future hold? The retirement of second and third generation of mobile services with the expansion of availability of 5G is likely to continue in 2023. 5G has been designed to support innovative new cloud-based services including those involving the Internet of Things, private 5G networks, and mobile edge computing. Perhaps the most important task for telecoms operators in the years to come will be advising their business customers on the benefits these new ways of working can provide.

PTT’s mission throughout the last thirty years has been to ensure those working in the telecoms and ICT sectors are kept informed of the new technologies that have transformed the sector.

We continue this in 2023 with the release of two new online courses providing a comprehensive and detailed treatment of LTE and 5G mobile networks.