tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/mobile-network-37933/articlesMobile network – The Conversation2021-05-10T13:40:51Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1603162021-05-10T13:40:51Z2021-05-10T13:40:51ZHuawei’s ability to eavesdrop on Dutch mobile users is a wake-up call for the telecoms industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399429/original/file-20210507-21-1xvdf6c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3994%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-mobile-phone-headphones-walks-1289685550">viewimage/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Chinese technology provider Huawei was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/19/huawei-may-have-eavesdropped-on-dutch-mobile-networks-calls">recently accused</a> of being able to monitor all calls made using Dutch mobile operator KPN. The revelations are from a <a href="https://www.silicon.co.uk/5g/dutch-report-huawei-kpn-monitoring-393727">secret 2010 report</a> made by consultancy firm Capgemini, which KPN commissioned to evaluate the risks of working with Huawei infrastructure.</p>
<p>While the full report on the issue has not been made public, <a href="https://nltimes.nl/2021/04/17/huawei-able-eavesdrop-dutch-mobile-network-kpn-report">journalists reporting on the story</a> have outlined specific concerns that Huawei personnel in the Netherlands and China had access to security-essential parts of KPN’s network – including the call data of millions of Dutch citizens – and that a lack of records meant KPN couldn’t establish how often this happened.</p>
<p>Both KPN and Huawei have denied any impropriety, though in the years since the 2010 report, Huawei has increasingly found itself labelled a <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-huawei-survive-the-us-sanctions-144810">high-risk vendor</a> for telecoms companies to work with, including by the UK’s <a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Advice-on-use-equipment-from-high-risk-vendors-in-UK-telecoms.pdf">National Cyber Security Centre</a>.</p>
<p>To better understand this story, and to consider whether other telecoms networks may have had similar security vulnerabilities to KPN’s, we need to look at how complex mobile networks are run. KPN essentially granted Huawei “<a href="https://www.telecomtv.com/content/security/kpn-shaken-to-the-core-by-huawei-espionage-allegations-41287/">administrator rights</a>” to its mobile network by outsourcing work to the Chinese firm. Legislation is only now catching up to prevent similar vulnerabilities in telecoms security.</p>
<h2>Commercial pressures</h2>
<p>Huawei is one of the <a href="https://cntechpost.com/2021/03/09/huaweis-share-of-global-telecoms-equipment-market-increases-to-31/">three dominant radio equipment providers</a> in the world, alongside Ericsson and Nokia. These giant technology companies provide the base stations and equipment that deliver mobile phone signals. Operators like KPN increasingly pay these companies not only to buy the equipment, but also for them to support and maintain it.</p>
<p>The telecoms market in which KPN operates is one of the most price-competitive in the world. European mobile operators saw <a>average revenues per user in 2019</a> of €14.90 (£12.85) a month, compared with €36.90 a month in the USA. European spend on telecoms services are also <a href="https://technews.tmcnet.com/channels/mobile-voip/articles/230239-european-mobile-service-providers-face-arpu-issues.htm">reducing</a> <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/105074/cmr-2017-uk.pdf">year-on-year</a> as operators compete to offer the best deals to consumers.</p>
<p>Lower revenues force operators to carefully manage costs. This means that operators have been keen to outsource parts of their businesses to third parties, <a>especially since the late 2000s</a>. </p>
<p>Large numbers of highly skilled engineers are an expensive liability to have on the balance sheet, and can often appear underused when things are running smoothly. Such jobs are often outsourced, with <a href="https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/optus-to-cut-jobs-after-outsourcing-to-nokia">personnel transferring</a> to the outsourced provider, to help operators to cut their payroll costs.</p>
<h2>Outsourcing gone too far</h2>
<p>When everything is working, very few people notice outsourcing. But when things go wrong, outsourcing can often significantly complicate recovery, or create a large “single point of failure” or security issue. </p>
<p>In the UK, for instance, mobile operator O2 has seen <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2012/07/13/o2_outage_cause/">at least one outage</a> which has been linked to the use of outsourced functions. Where large numbers of operators <a href="https://telecoms.com/491082/inside-ericsson/">rely on the same outsourcing partner</a>, any issue or security breach affecting the outsourced provider can have a widespread impact.</p>
<p>Still, outsourcing by mobile operators is widespread. And firms in the UK and across Europe have often turned to Huawei to provide <a href="https://www.mobileeurope.co.uk/press-wire/9588-three-uk-joins-telefonica-by-outsourcing-core-management-to-huawei">IT services</a> and to help build <a href="https://www.information-age.com/o2-outsources-core-network-management-to-huawei-2103318/">core networks</a>. In 2010, Huawei was managing security-critical functions of KPN’s core network.</p>
<h2>Administrator access</h2>
<p>At the same time, equipment suppliers like Huawei are trying to move away from merely selling equipment and towards providing a <a href="https://www.thefastmode.com/expert-opinion/18162-the-ultimate-guide-to-open-ran-openran-integration-part-2-integration-stages-and-models">managed service</a>, including installation, maintenance and support. This helps them create recurring revenue in an industry that has generally been dominated by large five-year or ten-year purchasing cycles.</p>
<p>But as these vendors add services to their repertoire, they gain wider access to the mobile networks they work with. This could include <a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Advice-on-use-equipment-from-high-risk-vendors-in-UK-telecoms.pdf">certain security-critical parts</a> of telecoms networks, which are often designed to work in trusted, secure environments. </p>
<p>In the scenario where a vendor like Huawei also provides a managed service, they find themselves sitting in a uniquely privileged position, with inside knowledge of their own equipment, and with direct access to trusted management interfaces.</p>
<p>This creates the high-tech equivalent of putting all your eggs in one basket. It’s akin to giving the combinations of the bank vault to the same security guard in charge of the CCTV camera footage. It’s difficult to reliably monitor operations carried out by the vendor without relying on that vendor’s own software.</p>
<p>In cases where a vendor has been designated as high-risk as a result of their <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/923309/Huawei_Cyber_Security_Evaluation_Centre__HCSEC__Oversight_Board-_annual_report_2020.pdf">own product security practices</a>, it’s very difficult to know whether that vendor didn’t do anything untoward. This is the situation KPN apparently found themselves in with Huawei back in 2010.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man on the phone walking in front of a Huawei store" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399428/original/file-20210507-13-ze5g4u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399428/original/file-20210507-13-ze5g4u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399428/original/file-20210507-13-ze5g4u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399428/original/file-20210507-13-ze5g4u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399428/original/file-20210507-13-ze5g4u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399428/original/file-20210507-13-ze5g4u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399428/original/file-20210507-13-ze5g4u.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Huawei’s privileged access to KPN’s network could have allowed the Chinese firm to listen to calls made by Dutch citizens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-talking-on-mobile-phone-he-1208284561">viewimage/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Are changes needed?</h2>
<p>With at least one operator aiming to reduce European operating expenditure by <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8d2287ad-d0a3-4972-9b0d-9e32846f3164">€1.2 billion</a>, and 5G deployments bringing new opportunities for managed services and software-based solutions to be used in networks, decisions around outsourcing will continue to play an important role for mobile operators going forwards. </p>
<p>But legislation is rapidly catching up. The UK has proposed a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/telecommunications-security-bill">telecoms security bill</a>, and associated <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-electronic-communications-security-measures-regulations">draft secondary legislation</a> includes requirements for network operators to monitor all activity carried out by third party providers, to identify and manage the risks of using them, and to have a plan in place to maintain normal network operations if their supplier’s service is disrupted. </p>
<p>For some operators, it’s conceivable this might mean bringing key skills back in-house to ensure there’s someone watching the (outsourced) watchmen. In the case of KPN, these measures would likely have prevented Huawei from having seemingly unchecked and privileged access to its customers’ mobile data.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greig is a member of the UK 5G security group, depute chair of the UK Telecoms Data Taskforce, and is involved in the delivery of 5G Testbeds & Trials projects, funded by DCMS.</span></em></p>Dutch mobile operator KPN was warned in 2010 that Huawei could snoop on millions of its customers’ calls.Greig Paul, Lead Mobile Networks and Security Engineer, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1481022020-10-15T05:44:19Z2020-10-15T05:44:19ZApple releases fast 5G iPhones, but not for Australia. And we’re lagging behind in getting there<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363599/original/file-20201015-21-1tqph2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following in the footsteps of Samsung, Apple has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-14/apple-iphone-12-launch-5g-charger-headphone-cost-australia/12764668">released</a> its first high-spectrum 5G smartphone, the iPhone 12. But only US customers will benefit.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020L01016">High-spectrum 5G</a> uses millimetre-wave frequencies in the 26GHz range (25.1GHz to 27.5GHz). But Australia’s mobile phone networks, although they can access the mid-range 5G spectrum, don’t have access to these high frequencies. </p>
<p>Unlike the US version, the iPhone 12 model for Australia <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/apple-unveils-four-iphone-12-models-with-5g-capability/news-story/00b2f77c5f9b41f4807b83ba6d053f45">lacks</a> the distinct millimetre-wave antenna necessary to access them. In other words, Australians who purchase an iPhone 12 wouldn’t be able to access high-spectrum 5G even if it was available here.</p>
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<p>This is another stark reminder of the effort needed to enable Australia’s “<a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/funding-and-incentives/industry-40">fourth industrial revolution</a>”. Not having high-spectrum 5G available for the public and businesses right now is a letdown and will set the country back as it struggles to recover from a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53994318">recession</a>.</p>
<h2>How did we fall so far behind?</h2>
<p>Using millimetre waves such as the 26GHz frequency range allows massive data transfer capacity over short <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/weve-smashed-another-speed-record/">distances</a>. </p>
<p>Millimetre waves are what will help US iPhone 12 users reach speeds of up to 4Gbps (gigabits per second). The extra bandwidth will be especially useful in public spaces that require higher data capacity <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/newsroom/2020/10/apple-announces-iphone-12-and-iphone-12-mini-a-new-era-for-iphone-with-5g/">throughput</a>, such as shopping centres and sport stadiums.</p>
<p>In the US, Samsung’s Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/02/samsung-galaxy-s20-ultra-review-5g-100x-zoom-camera-120hz-display.html">launched</a> in March, both support millimetre-wave frequencies. But telcos AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile had rolled out the network even before the millimetre wave 5G-capable smartphones were released. Meanwhile, individual customers and businesses in Australia are still limited to 5G in the sub‑6 GHz range.</p>
<p>The higher-frequency 5G technology is currently only available in the US, but has also been assigned in Italy and Finland. Several other <a href="https://www.rcrwireless.com/20200430/5g/global-outlook-mmwave-5g-2020">countries are planning</a> to upgrade soon, including Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Local licenses are also available in the UK. </p>
<p>According to a European Commission report, 15 of the European Union member states, as well as the UK, have already completed at least one <a href="http://5gobservatory.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/90013-5G-Observatory-Quarterly-report-8_1507.pdf">26GHz spectrum auction</a>. And at least one spectrum auction was scheduled for this year for 25 countries, as well as the UK. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the Australian government is planning to <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/spectrum-allocation-limits-released-5g">auction off</a> the use of the 26GHz frequencies in March next year, for the first time ever. </p>
<p>This leaves us trailing behind. The longer the delays in bringing the millimetre wave spectrum to Australia, the longer we’ll have to wait before benefiting from it.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-5g-radiation-doesnt-cause-or-spread-the-coronavirus-saying-it-does-is-destructive-135695">No, 5G radiation doesn't cause or spread the coronavirus. Saying it does is destructive</a>
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<h2>Sold to the highest bidder</h2>
<p>Following next year’s scheduled auction, Australians may not be able to experience any 5G millimetre wave connectivity until late 2021, or even <a href="https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/5g-in-australia-what-you-need-to-know">early</a> <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/weve-smashed-another-speed-record/">2022</a>.</p>
<p>The result will depend on the best business cases put forth by mobile companies during the auction, as well as how they allocate the bandwidth between individuals and business customers. The spectrum will likely be prioritised for industrial use first, before it’s rolled out to residential customers. </p>
<p>That said, if businesses such as manufacturers, sports stadiums, shopping malls, offices and high-rise residential buildings benefit, then individual customers are likely to benefit as well. This is because costs would likely drop and prices would follow. </p>
<p>This was the strategy followed in the US and which Optus has indicated it’s also <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Optus_31.pdf">likely to follow</a>.</p>
<h2>What speed tests in Australia reveal</h2>
<p>During isolated tests in Australia, non-millimetre wave 5G speeds were recorded to be at least 3.9 to 4.6 times faster than 4G, for Optus and Telstra. But this is still slower than the 1Gbps speeds usually associated with <a href="https://www.opensignal.com/reports/2020/08/australia/mobile-network-experience-5g">5G</a>.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/world-first-5g-trial-data-call-over-26ghz-mmwave-spectrum/">Telstra report</a> from last month, millimetre-wave tests conducted by the company promised speeds of 4.2Gbps. While this was for a <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/weve-smashed-another-speed-record/">data call</a>, as opposed to wifi access, these results are positive and on par with what Apple is promising for new iPhone 12 users in the US (but not <a href="https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2020/10/13/21515128/iphone-12-mini-pro-max-mmwave-5g-antenna-window">yet</a> the UK). </p>
<p>Telstra claims it already has live mobile sites that can support millimetre-wave frequencies on its network, ready for deployment. It says it has spent the past 18 months laying the foundations for a millimetre-wave 5G <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/weve-smashed-another-speed-record/">network</a> to come into use once the frequencies become available.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Apple iPhone 12 promo photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363596/original/file-20201015-23-mdloc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Apple’s iPhone 12 allows super-fast 5G capability, but so far only in the US.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Apple</span></span>
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<h2>We’re letting ourselves down</h2>
<p>In today’s age, compounded by a global pandemic and severe economic downturns the world over, it matters whether or not a nation has millimetre-wave 5G. </p>
<p>This technology has been available in the US <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/09/what-is-5g-heres-what-verizon-att-sprint-and-t-mobile-offer.html">since 2019</a> and its adoption is separating the world’s trailblazers from those trailing behind.</p>
<p>Millimetre-wave frequencies are important for advanced <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308274354_Industrial_wireless_communications_over_the_millimeter_wave_spectrum_Opportunities_and_challenges">manufacturing</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/millimeter-wave">processes</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/robot-take-the-wheel-waymo-has-launched-a-self-driving-taxi-service-147908">self-driving vehicles</a>, factory automation and reliable <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/millimeter-wave">communications</a> across hospitals and the (now heavily remotely-operated) educational sector. These are just some areas in which high data capacity is a necessity. </p>
<p>Once millimetre wave-enabled industrial applications are rolled out, we should see customers in high-density public places prioritised for such services, before this trickles down to individuals at home. A focus on boosting business will likely underpin this sequence. </p>
<p>Australia wants to upscale its emerging technologies, research and <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/manufacturing-vision-drives-scott-morrisons-blueprint-for-future/news-story/a877d47e2e39768e48fdc5de15f52765">manufacturing</a> capacity, with a focus on the COVID-19 bounce back. But to do this, we’ll need an even speedier resolution than under normal circumstances. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-5g-the-next-generation-of-wireless-explained-96165">What is 5G? The next generation of wireless, explained</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148102/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stanley Shanapinda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Next year’s ‘spectrum auction’ will give telcos a chance to bid for access to high speed, millimetre-wave 5G. But big businesses are likely to be prioritised, not you.Stanley Shanapinda, Research Fellow, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1393742020-06-02T17:59:22Z2020-06-02T17:59:22ZConspiracy theories about 5G networks have skyrocketed since COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338921/original/file-20200601-95054-ngsue6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4985%2C3330&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A telecommunications tower with a 5G cellular network antenna looms over the skyline. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The advent of 5G has raised many concerns among people, to the extent that <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/5g-health-risks-concerns">anti-5G movements have emerged in various countries in recent months</a>.</p>
<p>Some extreme right-wing groups have even developed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-conspiracy-5g-masts-fire-2020-4">conspiracy theories linking 5G to the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. Some activists have gone as far as setting fire to telecommunications towers in Belgium, the Netherlands and <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/police-investigate-another-cell-tower-fire-in-montreal-1.4952925">recently in Québec</a>. A couple from Sainte-Adèle <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-5g-fires-quebec-1.5560570">has been formally accused of setting fire to two cellphone towers</a>; allegedly, they are behind a wave of fires that damaged at least seven towers in the northern suburbs of Montréal.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/01/5g-conspiracy-theory-coronavirus-misinformation/">false news concerning 5G spread at lightning speed on social networks</a>, relayed by influencers and celebrities and reinforcing the fears of people who were already suspicious of 5G’s potential health effects.</p>
<p>These conspiracy theories argue, for example, that the spread of the virus from the epicentre of the pandemic in Wuhan, China, is linked to the large number of 5G towers in the city. In reality, a 5G network is not even fully deployed there. Other theories falsely claim that the waves emitted by the 5G infrastructure would weaken our immune system.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has had to warn the public about misinformation related to 5G telephone networks, insisting that <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters">the networks do not spread COVID-19 and that viruses do not circulate over radio waves or mobile networks</a>. Moreover, COVID-19 is spreading in many countries that do not even have a 5G mobile network.</p>
<h2>A revolutionary technology?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-5g">fifth generation of wireless communication technologies</a>, 5G is expected to better cope with the explosion of global data traffic predicted in the coming years. In addition to improving the technical capabilities of the 4G network, this new standard crosses the ultimate frontier essential for massive and simultaneous communications between machines.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338924/original/file-20200601-95036-1ci6hb2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How 5G compares to 4G networks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.statista.com/chart/17506/5g-and-4g-comparison/">(Statista)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among its impacts, 5G will accelerate the automation of industries, the introduction of autonomous vehicles, the development of smart cities, telehealth and remote surgery. All this will be made possible by three main factors: increased connection speeds through improved use of high frequency bands, reduced latency and the use of next generation infrastructure such as small directional antennas. These antennae with signal relay devices can be integrated into street fixtures, buildings, transport and utilities to support targeted signal distribution.</p>
<p>Taking into account the potential and real risks and effects on human health, what is the social cost of these new ultra-connected devices?</p>
<h2>Deployment in Canada</h2>
<p>Regarded by the Information and Communications Technology Council of Canada (ICTC) as “<a href="https://www.ictc-ctic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ICTC_5G-THE-LAST-BEACH-FRONT-PROPERTY_ENG_June-5-2018.pdf">the last beachfront property</a>,” the deployment of 5G in Canada is in the pre-commercialization phase. It will take several more months before Canadians can truly benefit from the innovative services and uses associated with this technology.</p>
<p>Since the end of 2019, major telecommunications companies have announced the construction of their networks and the selection of their equipment manufacturers. Rogers has teamed up with Swedish giant Ericsson, Vidéotron with South Korea’s Samsung, Bell has chosen Finland’s Nokia, and Telus has entered into a partnership with China’s Huawei. It should be noted that the federal government has still not authorized Canadian suppliers to use Huawei’s equipment. This is a sensitive issue, given the allegations of espionage against Huawei, which is suspected of having ties with the Chinese government.</p>
<p>The detention in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, and the escalation of diplomatic tensions between Canada and China put Ottawa in an embarrassing situation. The results of the national security threat investigation are still pending to determine whether Huawei will be allowed to participate in 5G’s operations in Canada. </p>
<p>A poll released by the Angus Reid Institute in late <a href="http://angusreid.org/huawei-meng-wanzhou-canada-china-relations/">December 2019</a>, indicated that a majority of Canadians (69 per cent) want the Chinese telecom giant to play no role in the deployment of 5G mobile technology in Canada. That divide was maintained in <a href="http://angusreid.org/5g-divide-huawei/">another survey released in February</a>.</p>
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<strong>
À lire aussi :
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-arrest-of-huawei-executive-has-put-canada-in-tight-spot-109539">The arrest of Huawei executive has put Canada in tight spot</a>
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<p>In addition, delays can be expected in the allocation of frequencies and the establishment of 5G networks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest <a href="https://www.ericsson.com/en/mobility-report">Ericsson Mobility Report</a> estimates that the 5G market will not really take off until 2021, and forecasts more than one billion subscriptions worldwide by 2023.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338964/original/file-20200601-95049-nktmiw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A map showing current and planned 5G networks globally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GSMA_MobileEconomy2020_Global.pdf">(GSMA Intelligence)</a></span>
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<h2>No danger to human health</h2>
<p>Several scientists are concerned about the possible effects of exposure to <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-have-no-reason-to-believe-5g-is-safe/">electromagnetic fields generated by devices connected to the 5G network</a>.</p>
<p>Some studies report <a href="http://www.radiofrequences.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/ap2011sa0150ra-24.pdf">symptoms observed in “electrosensitive” people such as stress, headaches, heart problems and impaired cognitive functions (memory, attention, co-ordination) in children</a>. Nevertheless, there is <a href="https://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs296/en/">no scientifically proven diagnosis</a> and no causal link can be established today between these symptoms, which remain inexplicable, and exposure to electromagnetic fields.</p>
<p>Research validated by the <a href="https://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs304/en/">WHO</a> and health authorities in several countries — <a href="https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/069.nsf/eng/00083.html">including Canada</a> — conclude at this time that 5G does not pose a danger to human health, given national and international standards that limit exposure to radio frequencies</p>
<p>It is already an established fact that electromagnetic waves, such as those emitted by microwave ovens, household appliances, computers, wireless routers, cell phones and other wireless devices, are non-ionizing. Unlike X-rays or ultraviolet rays, they are not powerful enough to reach the cells of the human body and affect our immune system.</p>
<h2>The object of all fears</h2>
<p>The use of 5G has become a controversial issue, crystallizing society’s concerns. It is not the first time (and won’t be the last) that technological progress has been challenged by irrational fear generated by uncertainty about the risks of a technology perceived as invasive.</p>
<p>However, the overwhelming enthusiasm of technophiles and other “early adopters” of technological innovations should not lead us into the “<a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2014/10/06/contre-le-solutionnisme-numerique_4501225_1650684.html">technological solutionism</a>” that would present 5G as the new life-saving technology. On the other hand, the skepticism of technophobes and the opposition of anti-5G activists and conspiracy seekers must not lead us into collective paranoia.</p>
<p>Between these two extremes — and in the current context of a paradigm shift — we recommend a third way: reinventing society’s relationship with technology in a rational way. The time has come for businesses, public authorities and citizens to question the challenges, opportunities, vices and virtues of the widespread digitization of society. The deployment of 5G is part of this process and represents both a new challenge and an opportunity for societal progress.</p>
<p>It is possible to embrace the promises of the digital transformation without neglecting to take the necessary precautions for health and the environment. We must not fall into <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHThMTFNsIk">technological determinism</a> and believe that we have no power over these technologies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139374/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tchéhouali Destiny is is president of the Société Internet du Québec (ISOC Québec). </span></em></p>False news about 5G spread at breakneck speed on social networks, reinforcing the fears of people who already had suspicions about its effects on health.Tchéhouali Destiny, Professeur en communication internationale, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1259462019-12-01T18:59:59Z2019-12-01T18:59:59ZBanning Huawei could cut off our nose to spite our face. Good 5G matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304379/original/file-20191129-45171-11g9tr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=498%2C321%2C2133%2C1206&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An absolute ban on Huawei might stunt the next technological revolution.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Productivity growth matters. In advanced economies over the past 15 years it has <a href="https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/reports/Productivity_Paradox.pdf">fallen by half</a>.</p>
<p>Which is why it doesn’t make much sense to risk damaging one of the <a href="https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/what-5g-means-for-productivity-and-growth-20190918-p52snc">most important</a> potential sources for future growth in productivity: the rollout of 5G. </p>
<p>5G is the next generation of wireless technology. Download speeds will be many times faster than what is possible under 4G. </p>
<p>And it’s not just speed. It’ll cut latency, which is the time it takes for signals to start travelling – something that will be critically important for the Internet of Things.</p>
<hr>
<iframe src="https://players.brightcove.net/2097119709001/HkGIdDTwWg_default/index.html?videoId=4609490745001" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><em><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#159c275f1d09">Forbes magazine</a></em></p>
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<p>Nurtured well, 5G has the potential to become a “general-purpose technology”, analogous to electricity. </p>
<p>It holds open he possibility of creating new markets for goods and services that we can’t yet imagine.</p>
<p>The best suppliers of the gear required for 5G are in China, most notably <a href="https://consumer.huawei.com/en/campaign/5g/">Huawei</a>, which has made the heaviest <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/huawei-says-it-will-increase-its-5g-investment/">investments</a> in the relevant technology but the problem is that Huawei caught up in security concerns.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-mobile-network-anyway-this-is-5g-boiled-down-102199">What is a mobile network, anyway? This is 5G, boiled down</a>
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<p>It has been banned from work on Australia’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/huawei-extremely-disappointed-with-nbn-ban-20131101-2wrkd.html">national broadband network</a> and from helping build Australia’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-01/huawei-pleads-for-federal-government-to-lift-5g-network-ban/11661778">5G networks</a>.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/huawei-coping-fine-with-us-trade-ban-but-urges-need-for-open-collaboration/">US</a> the president issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-securing-information-communications-technology-services-supply-chain/">executive order</a> last May prohibiting transactions with providers subject to direction by foreign adversaries. </p>
<p>Britain has the matter <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/10/5g_security_review_parliament_submissions/">under consideration</a>, although there are signs it might allow Huawei in to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-huawei-idUSKBN1X600T">some parts</a> of the network.</p>
<h2>Huawei is setting standards</h2>
<p>Industry experts rank Huawei <a href="https://www.globaldata.com/telecom-industrys-first-5g-ran-competitive-analysis-published-by-globaldata-reveals-huawei-leadership/">highly</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304398/original/file-20191129-95207-cuqp0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304398/original/file-20191129-95207-cuqp0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304398/original/file-20191129-95207-cuqp0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304398/original/file-20191129-95207-cuqp0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=970&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304398/original/file-20191129-95207-cuqp0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304398/original/file-20191129-95207-cuqp0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304398/original/file-20191129-95207-cuqp0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1219&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hauwei’s Zhao Ming with new 5G phones in Beijing, Tuesday.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ma Peiyao/Imaginechina/AP</span></span>
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<p>Its competitors are China’s <a href="https://www.zte.com.cn/china/topics/zte-5g-en/index.html">ZTE</a>, the Swedish multinational <a href="https://www.ericsson.com/en/5g">Ericsson</a>, Korea’s <a href="https://www.samsung.com/au/smartphones/galaxy-s10-5g/">Samsung</a> and Finland’s <a href="https://www.nokia.com/networks/5g/">Nokia</a>. </p>
<p>There are none yet from the United States, although reports say <a href="https://telecoms.com/500954/apple-forecast-to-dominate-the-5g-smartphone-market-next-year/">Apple</a> will release 5G phones next year. </p>
<p>But the main issues are in the 5G infrastructure where Huawei holds more of the <a href="https://telecoms.com/496956/huawei-forecast-to-have-narrow-advantage-in-5g-ran-race/">critical patents</a> than others. Globally, it appears to be <a href="https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/huaweis-5g-ran-portfolio-wins-top-rating-globaldata-says/2019/06/">winning the most contracts</a>.</p>
<p>There is a risk that the rejection of Huawei by some will end up, in the longer term, dividing the world into zones committed to different standards, limiting interconnection.</p>
<p>Standard-setting bodies have <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/news/regulation/2019/huawei-5g-standards-body-blacklist-risk/">expressed</a> <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/7e510cc0-88ea-11e9-97ea-05ac2431f453">concern</a>. </p>
<p>Different standards could constrain the development of global supply chains, pushing up prices. They could impede <a href="https://cama.crawford.anu.edu.au/publication/cama-working-paper-series/13982/stagnation-vs-singularity-global-implications">the scale of application and diffusion of new technologies</a>, limiting what 5G is capable of achieving.</p>
<p>One estimate suggests that banning Huawei could push up costs <a href="https://www.itwire.com/government-tech-policy/86232-huawei-5g-ban-could-lead-to-30-higher-costs-in-australia.html">30%</a>.</p>
<h2>Huawei poses risks…</h2>
<p>In announcing what amounted to bans on Huawei (and also China’s ZTE), the Australian government said 5G required a change in the way the networks operate compared to previous mobile technologies. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>These changes will increase the potential for threats to our telecommunications networks, and these threats will increase over time as more services come online.</p>
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<p>The government had found “no combination of technical security controls that sufficiently mitigate the risks”.</p>
<p>Vendors likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from foreign governments risked <a href="https://www.minister.communications.gov.au/minister/mitch-fifield/news/government-provides-5g-security-guidance-australian-carriers">failure to adequately protect</a> 5G networks from unauthorised access or interference.</p>
<p>Huawei said those security concerns <a href="https://huaweihub.com.au/media-statement-huawei-technologies-global-hq/">could be managed</a>, as do <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47274643">British</a> cyber-security chiefs.</p>
<h2>…which can be mitigated</h2>
<p>Europe has noted the risks and is developing a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/eu-wide-coordinated-risk-assessment-5g-networks-security">risk mitigation strategy</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/cybersecurity-and-geopolitics-why-southeast-asia-is-wary-of-a-huawei-ban/">Southeast Asian</a> economies are considering degrees of engagement with Huawei.</p>
<p>Worth continuing attention by Australia is what former US defence secretary Robert Gates calls the “<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-10-23/right-way-protect-americas-innovation-advantage">small yard, high fence</a>” approach. </p>
<p>It means defining exactly where the risks lie and intervening directly to manage them, something <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/cybersecurity-5g-networks">Europe</a> is working on.</p>
<p>The US appeared to be struggling after Trump’s May order. The Commerce Department was given <a href="https://apnews.com/97e72ba36d814c63ad0325688963a9d9">150 days</a> to come up with regulations to implement it. It released a draft only <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/11/27/2019-25554/securing-the-information-and-communications-technology-and-services-supply-chain">last week</a>.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-ban-on-huawei-likely-following-trump-cybersecurity-crackdown-and-australia-is-on-board-117250">US ban on Huawei likely following Trump cybersecurity crackdown – and Australia is on board</a>
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<p>There were reports of tension in the US between those who would take the risk-based approach and others who would simply keep Huawei on the banned provider list.</p>
<p>Commerce has, finally, proposed a case by case approach, and has not named any particular provider. But the Federal Communications Commission has <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-bars-subsidies-equipment-posing-national-security-threats">banned Huawei</a> from access to its universal services subsidies. </p>
<p>International cooperation could give us room to solve the problem. It could include cooperation with China. China and Australia share concerns about cybersecurity and could together in the same way as we do over other standards to facilitate trade.</p>
<p>Attempting to completely eliminate risk could lumber us with big costs. Some would be financial, others might come from stunting the next technological revolution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125946/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Findlay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Introduced properly, 5G could have an enormous impact. We are placing it at risk.Christopher Findlay, Honorary Professor of Economics, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1268272019-11-13T02:14:55Z2019-11-13T02:14:55ZAs flames encroach, those at risk may lose phone signal when they need it most<p>Yesterday, New South Wales and Queensland issued fire warnings classified as either “catastrophic”, “severe” or “extreme” - and these conditions will <a href="https://www.ruralfire.qld.gov.au/Pages/FDR.aspx">remain</a> in the coming days.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301226/original/file-20191112-178502-1b0bha2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Bureau of Meteorology’s fire danger rating for Wednesday, November 13.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RFS QLD</span></span>
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<p>Areas under threat include the greater Sydney area, northern New South Wales, the Northern Goldfields, and the Central Highlands. The declared state of emergency means human life is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-12/nsw-bushfires-burn-amid-catastrophic-conditions-as-it-happened/11694646">at great risk</a>. </p>
<p>Those at risk should evacuate ahead of <a href="https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/news-and-media/general-news/dangerous-fire-conditions">time</a>, as mobile phone services may not be <a href="https://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2019/11/optus-update-tuesday-12-november-bushfires-network-update-plus-disaster-assistance-support-activated-mid-north-coast1">reliable</a> when needed the most. </p>
<h2>Service outages</h2>
<p>People in dangerous bushfire situations often have the added burden of service outages. This can happen following fire damage to infrastructure (such as signal towers) that connects base stations that relay communications within the <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/understanding-telecommunications-networks/oclc/1004191902">network</a>. A break in this connection means no signal, or weak signal, for those on the ground. </p>
<p>Generally, radio waves used for mobile communication behave differently as <a href="https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1276321#">they travel</a>, based on various factors that affect signal strength. One factor is land geography, such as the height of hills. The signal may not be able to penetrate sand hills. Gum trees may also reflect, obstruct and absorb radio signals. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-to-take-refuge-in-your-home-during-a-bushfire-72370">Where to take refuge in your home during a bushfire</a>
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<p>The scenarios described above can be made worse by fire environments, based on the <a href="https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/8967/5.1.3-Communication-Systems.pdf">frequencies</a> used. Flames can produce “plasma”, which reacts with the surrounding magnetic field, and this degrades signal strength.</p>
<p>Rural fire service operations may use frequencies in the 400-450MHz range to communicate, but these signals are weakened during fire, in which case they may use frequencies in the 100-180MHz range. At this wavelength, signal strength doesn’t degrade as badly and can sustain better <a href="https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/58684/8/02whole.pdf">communication</a>.</p>
<p>Being <a href="https://mobilenetworkguide.com.au/pdf/Mobile-Network-Guide-Improving-Mobile-Signal.pdf">far away from a mobile phone tower</a>, often in rural areas, also results in degraded communication. Rural areas don’t receive as much coverage because installing cell towers in these areas is not particularly profitable, and towers are built based on revenue estimates. There is little incentive to build networks with additional capacity in rural areas.</p>
<h2>Get out while you can</h2>
<p>In bushfire situations, it’s crucial to leave affected areas early to avoid becoming stuck in <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/phone/mobile-services-and-coverage/mobile-black-spot-program">mobile black spots</a>. These are regional and remote areas that have been identified as not having mobile phone <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/phone/mobile-services-and-coverage/mobile-black-spot-program">coverage</a>.</p>
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<p>Some mobile black spots where fire danger warnings have been issued include Mount Seaview and Yarras, not far from the Oxley Highway in NSW. The status of the fires there was reported “out of control” <a href="https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me">on Tuesday morning</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-has-australia-learned-from-black-saturday-111245">What has Australia learned from Black Saturday?</a>
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<p>Optus is planning to <a href="https://www.optus.com.au/shop/mobile/network/mobile-black-spot-program">roll out macrocells</a> at these locations to expand coverage between the end of this year and the middle of next year. These are base stations that cover a wide area and are typically deployed in rural regions or along highways.</p>
<p>Until the macrocells are deployed, people living in mobile black spots, or who may be forced to pass through these areas due to fire, continue to be at risk. When passing through a fire-affected black spot, you are virtually <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/phone/mobile-services-and-coverage/mobile-phone-towers">unreachable</a>.</p>
<p>Also, although the mobile black spot program will help to increase 4G coverage in rural areas, most rural areas, including many at high risk of bushfires, rely largely on 3G. When people need extra data capacity during emergencies, the network is incapable of handling the increased traffic load, as every device is trying to connect and download data at the minimum 3G capacity of 550Kbps. </p>
<h2>Network overload</h2>
<p>The network gets congested at times of catastrophe due to the high volume of mobile phone traffic experienced, which exceeds the available network capacity. The mobile network in Billy’s Creek in NSW, and the areas connected to it, experienced an outage <a href="https://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2019/11/optus-update-tuesday-12-november-bushfires-network-update-plus-disaster-assistance-support-activated-mid-north-coast1">yesterday</a>. </p>
<p>Telstra’s services have also been <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/providing-bushfire-relief-to-our-customers-affected-in-new-south-wales/">affected</a>. As of Monday, people in Billy’s Creek, Yarras and Nimbin (among other locations) were unable to send or receive messages, make calls or access the internet, and may not have been up to date with the latest fire information, unless through radio or television.</p>
<p>During bushfires last year, for every three calls attempted under Telstra’s network, one was eventually <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-20/mobile-phone-blackspots-put-lives-at-risk-during-fires/9566338">answered</a>. Everyone trying to call at once is referred to as a “mass call event”. This creates “congestive collapse” in parts of the internet-based network, blocking new connections from being made. </p>
<p>During congestion, the performance of the network decreases because the internet packets that carry the calls or messages are dropped, or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1550147719829960">delayed</a>, before they reach their destination. One solution is for operators to have signal boosters installed for the affected part of the network.</p>
<h2>There’s an app for that, if you have good connection</h2>
<p>In the same way, the “Fires Near Me Australia” <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.nsw.rfs.firesnearme.national&hl=en">web application</a> is likely to suffer from internet packet deliveries being delayed. </p>
<p>The app may be overwhelmed if too many people try to access it at once, and may crash. In such scenarios, people should reboot their phones and keep trying to connect. </p>
<p>Some people have made complaints of not being able to download the app, and others of the app crashing, because their phone’s model was not new enough to support it.</p>
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<p>If the fires spread to densely populated areas, available 4G capacities may be exhausted by the sheer volume of the traffic. And congestion is made worse by more incoming traffic from across the country, from concerned family and friends.</p>
<p>Preventative measures may no longer be an option for many. But in the future, people in fire-prone areas may benefit from buying a personal 4G or 3G mobile signal booster ahead of time.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-keep-your-mobile-phone-connected-when-the-network-is-down-75301">How to keep your mobile phone connected when the network is down</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stanley Shanapinda is affiliated with the Optus La Trobe Cyber Security Research Hub. </span></em></p>Service outages, network congestion and infrastructure at risk of being destroyed by fire are some of the issues worsening an already devastating situation.Stanley Shanapinda, Research Fellow, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/994422018-08-07T19:44:17Z2018-08-07T19:44:17ZOnly with urgent change can Australia’s mobile networks meet our voracious demand for data<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227943/original/file-20180717-44097-ygqjzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Current wireless networks are unequipped to service the extraordinary amount of information the Internet of Things market will require.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are currently experiencing the most dynamic period the telecommunications industry has ever faced.</p>
<p>The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming the world into an extension of ourselves. Beyond our smartphones and tablets, the number of Australian adults using wearable devices has <a href="https://wearesocial.com/au/blog/2018/02/2018-digital-report-australia">increased from 7% in 2017 to 12% in 2018</a>. By 2023, there could be more than 50 billion <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/471264/iot-number-of-connected-devices-worldwide/">connected devices worldwide</a>. In dollar value, the IoT market is expected to grow from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2017/12/10/2017-roundup-of-internet-of-things-forecasts/#34e3bb7e1480">US$157 billion in 2016 to US$457 billion by 2020</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-5g-38489">Explainer: what is 5G?</a>
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<p>Mobile providers are competing to increase their share of this ever growing market. But the current wireless networks are unequipped to service the extraordinary amount of information the IoT market will require. While 5G – the next generation mobile standard – could solve this problem, the question of how effective 5G will be in the future remains unanswered. </p>
<p>Networks must find new ways to respond this tremendous demand for data, using technologies that allow them to allocate bandwidth where it’s needed. </p>
<h2>Recent network outages</h2>
<p>Currently almost 96% of Australian adults use mobile phones, and <a href="https://wearesocial.com/au/blog/2018/02/2018-digital-report-australia">87% of those are using smartphones</a>. </p>
<p>Recent incidents involving Australia’s largest mobile networks, Telstra and Optus, are prompting questions about how Australian networks will cope with increasing data demand, exacerbated by the emergence of IoT. </p>
<p>Telstra went through several major service outages in <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/mobile-phones/telstra-suffers-another-outage-on-its-mobile-network/news-story/1236aa3f1b04a56f158fcf14054c7d3c">April and May</a> that affected many Australians. The outage could have been catastrophic as the emergency number, 000, was also affected. The reason wasn’t thoroughly explained to the public. </p>
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<p>In July, Optus was unable to provide the service that was promised to both new and existing costumers who signed up to the network to watch the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/">2018 FIFA World Cup</a>. </p>
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<p>While the former incident shows core network problems, the latter is due to network planning issues and insufficient bandwidth being allocated to service customers. </p>
<h2>Network capacity: the limiting factor</h2>
<p>All generations of mobile communication standards, including the current 4G and the future 5G, operate over a licensed <a href="https://theconversation.com/wireless-spectrum-is-for-sale-but-what-is-it-11794">spectrum</a> – a frequency band which is predominantly used for this purpose.</p>
<p>But the spectrum is limited. Only a limited number of concurrent users can receive data at the rate promised by the operator. The more people using the network, the slower it gets. That’s why most of our mobile plans come with limited data allowance. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-left-to-monitor-their-own-nbn-broadband-speeds-81334">Australians left to monitor their own NBN broadband speeds</a>
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<p>Offering unlimited data plans without proper network planning means slow speeds during peak congestion times, service interruptions and service failure. </p>
<p>Optus’ recent trial of unlimited data plans could only provide a very limited speed at peak hours, about <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/optus-rereleases-unleashed-plan-with-unlimited-data-allowance/news-story/96ff7252242681b9145ab1e336b12b63">30 times less than the speed of 4G</a>.</p>
<p>Considering demand for data is likely to increase, what can service providers do?</p>
<h2>Dynamic data plans</h2>
<p>Mobile broadband networks sell fixed amounts of data to users on a monthly basis, and allocate more bandwidth to users who request it when their original allocation is used up.</p>
<p>But most people do not use their entire data allowance. This should be taken into account when allocating bandwidth and billing customers.</p>
<p>Networks could offer dynamic data plans that are priced according to network demand. </p>
<p>A dynamic service would use advanced machine learning techniques to predict data demand. This could be used to allocate network bandwidth where it’s needed, leading to a more reliable service overall. People should pay only for what they are using according to the time of their use, overall network traffic and user demand. This is how Uber’s surge pricing works, where users pay more to use the service during peak periods.</p>
<p>Mobile providers could also consider offering plans that can be shared across devices. Relying on the conventional plans, such as pre-paid plans with a fixed allowance, is not efficient for many IoT devices. People may carry up to six smart devices in the future, and having a separate plan for each device will be frustrating. </p>
<p>On top of that, some devices use only a small fraction of the spectrum, so why pay for large bills? A smart meter at the basement of an apartment, for example, needs to send only few kilobytes of data per day to fulfil its function reporting daily energy usage.</p>
<p>New business models developed around dynamic network planning will ensure people receive reliable speeds at reasonable prices. </p>
<h2>Won’t 5G fix this?</h2>
<p>5G is expected to launch in Australia by 2020 and increase data speeds tenfold. It will operate over a wider spectrum, meaning more users can be serviced and possibly more bandwidth can be allocated to each user.</p>
<p>The service is designed to cater to mobile broadband users, as well as the potentially massive number of IoT applications. 5G has promised to provide connectivity for a large number of ultra-low power devices, such as smart home monitoring, and for applications that demand almost real-time, error-free communication, such as <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/5g-not-just-speed-fifth-generation-wireless-tech-lets-you-do-vr-self-driving-cars-drones-remote/">remote surgery</a>.</p>
<p>The main question is how to fully unleash its potential. It’s not clear if 5G can service the data demand across such a diverse range of applications with the promised level of quality. Network providers have never experienced such diversity.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marketers-claim-5g-will-support-the-internet-of-things-but-is-that-really-a-thing-55490">Marketers claim 5G will support the Internet of Things but is that really a thing?</a>
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<p>Without proper network planning, most of the 5G spectrum will be wasted. We will get higher data rate on average, but not all the time.</p>
<p>What’s at stake here? Without urgent change, users will be left with frustratingly slow data speeds and possibly more frequent network outages. As IoT technologies become more integrated into our lives, outages and failures are no longer tolerable and even a few seconds of service outage could be devastating.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahyar Shirvanimoghaddam receives funding from Australian Research Council under the Discovery Program (2018-2020).</span></em></p>Mobile networks will soon go through a significant change due to the roll out of 5G. But the service we will receive depends on the providers. Are they ready?Mahyar Shirvanimoghaddam, Academic Fellow, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/961652018-05-17T10:42:27Z2018-05-17T10:42:27ZWhat is 5G? The next generation of wireless, explained<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218509/original/file-20180510-184630-pu4bgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How fast will mobile data get?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businessman-surfing-internet-tablet-263740583">alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every decade or so, <a href="http://www.3gpp.org/">the wireless industry</a> rolls out a new cellular <a href="https://www.itu.int/">communications standard</a> that can transmit more data more quickly. <a href="http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1929-nsa_nr_5g">Already under development</a> is the <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/study-groups/rsg5/rwp5d/imt-2020/Pages/default.aspx">next round</a>, called “5G” because it’s the fifth major generation of these standards for encoding and transmitting data over radio waves.</p>
<p>The first generation, retroactively called 1G, was a <a href="http://ijmcr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Paper11100-1103.pdf">fully analog system for transmitting voice</a>. In contrast, 2G phones transmitted voice and data digitally. Subsequent generations, <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/imt-2000/Pages/default.aspx">3G in 2000</a> and <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-R/study-groups/rsg5/rwp5d/imt-adv/Pages/submission-eval.aspx">4G in 2010</a>, made technical improvements that brought data rates up from 200 kilobits per second to <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/starhub-increases-4g-mobile-broadband-peak-speeds-to-1gbps-in-selected-parts-of-singapore">hundreds of megabits per second</a>. With 2020 approaching, 5G is expected to transmit 1 gigabit per second – and perhaps <a href="https://5g.co.uk/guides/how-fast-is-5g/">as many as 10</a>.</p>
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<p>Being able to send and receive that much data so quickly opens new opportunities for augmented and virtual reality systems, as well as automation. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/saving-lives-by-letting-cars-talk-to-each-other-59221">self-driving cars could communicate with each other</a>, road signs, traffic signals, guard rails and other elements human drivers simply see. That would require an additional technical leap – reducing what is called “latency,” or the <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1708.02562.pdf">delay between when a signal is sent</a> and when it’s received, to 1 millisecond. (If a network’s data rate is how wide a garden hose is, latency is how long it takes from the moment the spigot is turned on until water comes out the end.)</p>
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<p>Achieving high data rates with low latency requires a number of technical changes, including sending data <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/invention/technologies/5g-nr/mmwave">using higher radio frequencies</a> and designing arrays of antennas to reduce interference between <a href="https://5g.co.uk/guides/what-is-massive-mimo-technology/">many devices all communicating at the same time</a>. Together these add up to a 5G network with <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/video/telecom/wireless/5g-bytes-small-cells-explained">many more base stations</a> – each of which is physically smaller than a current cellular tower and placed much more closely together. 5G base stations could be placed <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/video/telecom/wireless/5g-bytes-small-cells-explained">every 250 meters</a>, rather than the every 1 to 5 km needed for 4G.</p>
<p>In addition, 5G systems offer the possibility of providing reliable connections to massive numbers of wireless devices simultaneously. This could enable a huge expansion of the number of “internet of things” devices in use, monitoring nutrients in soil for farmers, package locations for shipping companies and vital signs for hospital patients, for instance.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/at-t-to-provide-5g-to-12-markets-by-end-of-2018-fibre-to-82-metros-by-mid-2019/">Early 5G networks</a> are <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/verizon-5g-to-launch-in-sacramento-in-2018/">being rolled out now</a> in some U.S. cities. The Tokyo Olympics in 2020 are supposed to present the very <a href="https://qz.com/1215328/mwc-2018-5gs-coming-out-party-will-be-the-tokyo-2020-olympics-according-to-intel/">first showcase of the full range of what 5G technology</a> can offer. Between now and then – and even beyond – companies rolling out 5G networks will deploy a new technology while it’s still evolving, as they did with earlier generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96165/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Rabaey receives funding from government agencies such as DARPA. Many of the wireless companies such as Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Alcatel/Lucent, Huawei, Apple, and others have been contributing member companies of the Berkeley Wireless Research Center, of which Prof. Rabaey is a founding director.</span></em></p>In this Speed Read, learn the difference between 3G, 4G and 5G, and why it matters.Jan Rabaey, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/825612017-09-29T02:35:23Z2017-09-29T02:35:23ZWhy the FCC’s proposed internet rules may spell trouble ahead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186052/original/file-20170914-24296-1yz229k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How fast is that video really coming in?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/hand-holds-smartphone-video-player-application-383521630">hvostik/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-pai-proposes-restore-internet-freedom">Federal Communications Commission takes up a formal proposal</a> to reverse the Obama-era <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-releases-open-internet-order">Open Internet Order</a>, a key question consumers and policymakers alike are asking is: What difference do these rules make?</p>
<p>My research team has been studying one key element of the regulations – called “throttling,” the practice of limiting download speeds – for several years, spanning a period both before the 2015 Open Internet Order was issued and after it took effect. Our <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2815675.2815691">findings</a> reveal not only the state of internet openness before the Obama initiative but also the measurable results of the policy’s effect.</p>
<p>The methods we used and the tools we developed investigate how internet service providers manage your traffic and demonstrate how open the internet really is – or isn’t – as a result of evolving internet service plans, as well as political and regulatory changes. Regular people can explore their own services with our <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.meddle.wehe">mobile app for Android</a>, which is out now; an iOS version is coming soon. We’re working with the <a href="https://www.arcep.fr/">French equivalent of the FCC</a> to promote our measurement tools in France to help audit whether French ISPs are compliant with local net neutrality protections. Other countries, including the U.S., could follow the French lead, using our tools to evaluate their internet service quality.</p>
<h2>Rules take effect</h2>
<p>Before the Open Internet Order took effect in 2015, companies running cellular networks were allowed to use throttling to manage how much data their networks needed to handle at any given time. To do this, some companies capped users’ download speeds, which could cause video to stream at lower quality, with less-sharp images that were blurry during action sequences.</p>
<p>But there were limited rules governing how the mobile companies enforced those caps: We found some providers <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2815675.2815691">slowing down YouTube videos but not Netflix or other video services</a>. This is an example of a major concern net neutrality supporters have: that internet providers might give preference to traffic from one site or another – perhaps making video providers <a href="https://www.benton.org/node/197702">pay extra to have their material delivered at high speed</a>. If the speed or quality consumers can get from an online service depends on how much providers can afford to pay, that can put startups and innovators at a disadvantage to existing internet giants.</p>
<p>When it took effect, the Open Internet Order allowed internet providers to use throttling in only a limited way, under the so-called “<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/12/8116237/net-neutrality-rules-open-internet-order-released">reasonable network management</a>” provision. Instead of singling out specific types of data for throttling, mobile companies – and wired internet providers as well – were required to do so in a way that treats all traffic equally. We <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2815675.2815691">observed</a> the companies that had slowed down YouTube but not Netflix shifting their policies to reflect this new requirement.</p>
<h2>The return of throttling</h2>
<p>In late 2015, though, T-Mobile announced a program it called “<a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/offer/binge-on-streaming-video.html">Binge On</a>,” <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobiles-video-free-for-all-everything-you-need-to-know-about-binge-on-faq/">departing from its competitors</a> by offering its customers “free” video streaming – the ability to watch some video services on their devices without counting against monthly high-speed data limits. The trade-off was that their video quality from those providers would be limited in the best case to the <a href="https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-24291">equivalent of a regular DVD</a> – not the high-definition video most people have come to expect, and which mobile data networks are capable of carrying. Some video sites would come in at higher quality, but their data would count against users’ monthly caps. Other sites’ videos, strangely enough, would come in at low quality, though the data would still count against users’ monthly caps.</p>
<p>When my team heard the announcement, we were perplexed. It seemed clear T-Mobile was throttling, perhaps even <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/offer/binge-on-streaming-video.html">preferentially</a>, choosing a handful of services to exempt from users’ monthly data caps, while continuing to count data from other video providers. And many users were <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/landing/binge-on-letter.html">opted in by default</a>, potentially never knowing that T-Mobile had decided for them whether they could stream high-quality video. But most confounding, how did T-Mobile know what “video” was, as distinct from other data flowing through its networks? </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rYodcvhh7b8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">What are ‘packets,’ and how do they travel around the internet?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Internet traffic is broken up into small chunks of data called “<a href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question525.htm">packets</a>” that travel through the wires separately and then are reassembled by the computer or mobile device that’s receiving them. Think of these as small messages in individual envelopes traveling through the mail. In both cases, the packets and envelopes reach their destination according to the address written on the outside – not what is contained inside.</p>
<p>It would be strange if the U.S. Postal Service looked at the envelopes, guessed what was inside, and decided your credit card bill should be delivered first, but delayed your paycheck. Unlike some envelopes, packets coming from YouTube or Spotify don’t carry information on the outside declaring what’s inside – say, “video” or “music streaming” or “web.” To the internet, they all look the same. And under the principles of net neutrality, they should all be treated the same.</p>
<h2>Unequal handling</h2>
<p>Through a <a href="http://dd.meddle.mobi/bingeon.html">set of rigorous experiments</a>, we were able to find out how T-Mobile and other internet companies tried to tell the difference between video packets and packets containing other types of data: They were looking inside the packets – inside the envelopes – for particular <a href="http://dd.meddle.mobi/bingeon.html">words or terms</a>, like “netflix.com” or “googlevideo.” </p>
<p>Someone had come up with a list of hints that indicated a particular piece of network traffic was in fact part of an online video. But of course there are countless video streaming platforms – and old ones die off and new ones are started every day. T-Mobile’s list couldn’t possibly cover them all.</p>
<p>We found that the popular video service <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a> was not throttled by T-Mobile or Verizon. This meant that people who streamed Vimeo content used up some of their monthly data cap, but got better video quality than people watching YouTube or Netflix. This decision by T-Mobile – though it <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/01/tom-wheeler-accuses-att-and-verizon-of-violating-net-neutrality/">passed</a> a <a href="https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0111/DOC-342982A1.pdf">review by the FCC</a> – affected how well YouTube and Netflix could compete with Vimeo, which raises a specter of more problems to come if the FCC scraps the Open Internet Order (which, for all these reasons, <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filing/10829966722377">I have urged them not to</a>). What, for example, would stop AT&T from giving its DirecTV subsidiary faster and better-quality traffic than it gave competitors Netflix and Hulu? </p>
<h2>Protecting consumers</h2>
<p>One way to ensure users get the service they’re expecting – and paying for – is to require more transparency from internet providers. Specifically, they should disclose how much they slow down video and what that does to video quality, but also what hints or techniques they use to detect video traffic in the first place. </p>
<p>In addition, those methods must ensure that internet companies treat all content providers equally – so users don’t get better or worse performance from different sites based on corporate interests <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-reaches-streaming-traffic-agreement-with-comcast/">or disputes</a>. And regulators need to enforce these basic rules, <a href="http://dd.meddle.mobi/codeanddata.html">using auditing tools</a> like the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.meddle.wehe">open-source ones</a> my research team has developed.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article originally published Sept. 29, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82561/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Choffnes receives funding from the National Science Foundation, Google, Data Transparency Lab, Amazon, and the Department of Homeland Security. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of his sponsors.</span></em></p>How do internet companies decide which network traffic to slow down and which to charge against users’ data plans? And what can we learn about net neutrality from the answers?David Choffnes, Assistant Professor of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/822022017-08-17T01:27:38Z2017-08-17T01:27:38ZFirstNet for emergency communications: 6 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181830/original/file-20170811-13459-zr7tw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">FirstNet could relieve emergency workers of having to carry multiple radios and other communications devices.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Finance-amp-Business-Louisia-/4af76d8a48e1da11af9f0014c2589dfb/14/0">AP Photo/Ric Francis</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: In the aftermath of 9/11, public safety officials in New York City and around the country realized that firefighters, police officers and ambulance workers needed to be able to <a href="https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/visuals/DOD-LSN-Final-2017.pdf">talk to each other at an emergency scene</a> – not just to their <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-3995.2010.00785.x">supervisors and dispatchers</a>. The solution was nearly 16 years in coming, but on March 30, the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet, was created. It’s one of the largest public-private partnership agreements ever, between the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (part of the U.S. Department of Commerce) and a group of companies led by AT&T. AT&T and its partners will develop and manage a nationwide wireless broadband network for use by first responders. Each U.S. state and territory is in the process of deciding whether it wants to <a href="https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/sapp_opt_out_process_02162017_0.pdf">build its own towers and wired connections</a> or <a href="https://www.firstnet.gov/sites/default/files/factors-governor-decision.pdf">let the AT&T group do the construction</a>. Ladimer Nagurney and Anna Nagurney, scholars of communications and network systems, respectively, explain what this multi-billion-dollar effort is, and what it means.</em></p>
<h2>1. What is FirstNet?</h2>
<p>The system nicknamed FirstNet was created by Congress in the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/3630">Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012</a>. Under the contract with the government, the <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2017/03/firstnet-partners-att-build-465-billion-wireless-broadband-network">group led by AT&T</a> will build, operate and maintain a new nationwide communications network, providing high-speed wireless communications for public safety agencies and personnel. The network will be protected against unauthorized intrusion and <a href="https://theconversation.com/creating-a-high-speed-internet-lane-for-emergency-situations-79151">strong enough to withstand disasters</a> that might damage other communications systems. Emergency workers will be able to preempt other users’ traffic on the network, and will be able to send and receive as much data as they need to during their emergency work.</p>
<h2>2. Why do we need it?</h2>
<p>In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, public safety agencies found that the first responders had a hard time sharing critical information throughout their agencies, or between different responding organizations. In just one tragic instance, after the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, the Fire Department of New York ordered all firefighters to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/communication-breakdown-on-9-11/">evacuate the north tower</a>. But many firefighters didn’t hear the order over their radios – and city and Port Authority police officers didn’t communicate on the same frequencies, so they never had a chance to hear the warning.</p>
<p>Four years later, the <a href="https://m.csmonitor.com/2005/0915/p04s01-usmb.html">same problems weakened officials’ response</a> to Hurricane Katrina. Most of the early efforts to solve this problem focused on making sure emergency workers’ radios could communicate with each other properly. In the intervening years, though, first responders have increasingly used smartphones, tablets and computers. They need to do more than talk; they need to share data among those devices – such as building layouts, possible environmental hazards, information about who and where victims might be and even basic details like local weather conditions. </p>
<p>Another change over time is our understanding of who first responders are. It’s not just police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel. <a href="http://www.nfro.org/who.html">Other public agencies</a> also are involved from the very early stages of a crisis, including transit agencies and environmental protection workers. Private companies are needed too, handling <a href="https://www.epa.gov/waterutilityresponse">damage or interruptions to utilities services</a> such as electricity, water, gas, telephone, cable TV and cellular service. </p>
<p>All of those groups need wireless communications at or near a disaster site. At the moment, they must compete with the general public: People inside the disaster area are often trying to seek help by calling 911 or texting friends or relatives. They may even post videos and photos of what is happening to social media sites. Loved ones elsewhere also flood communications networks, checking in as “safe” and trying to contact people they know who might be affected, to make sure they’re OK too. After the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, for example, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3008458/why-your-phone-doesnt-work-during-disasters-and-how-fix-it">all the major cellular networks got overloaded</a> by the number of people trying to make calls and send texts at the same time. (This even happens during nonemergency situations, such as concerts and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/features/2012/08/why-your-smart-device-cant-get-wifi-in-the-home-teams-stadium/">sporting events</a>.)</p>
<p>What’s more, many mobile broadband companies <a href="https://www.cnet.com/g00/how-to/how-to-tell-if-your-wireless-carrier-is-throttling-data/">limit the amount of high-speed data</a> a user can consume in a given month, either cutting off traffic or slowing it down significantly. But a first responder using a camera-equipped drone to inspect, say, a dam that might be breached needs unlimited high-speed communications to get real-time information that can protect both first responders and the public. </p>
<h2>3. Who will pay for it?</h2>
<p>The Federal Communications Commission has been rearranging the frequencies television channels use to broadcast their signals, making room in the electromagnetic spectrum for additional wireless broadband services. The agency recently <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/fcc-initiatives/incentive-auctions">auctioned off the rights</a> to use some of those frequencies to <a href="http://www.commlawmonitor.com/2017/04/articles/internet/fcc-announces-the-results-of-the-19-8-billion-broadcast-incentive-auction/">50 winning bidders including T-Mobile, Dish and Comcast</a>, raising US$19.8 billion.</p>
<p>Of that, $6 billion will be paid to the AT&T group, which will spend that money, plus an <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-firstnet-at-t-contract-idUSKBN171209">additional $40 billion</a>, to build and operate the network.</p>
<p>Money will also come from payments from emergency response agencies, which will have to <a href="https://www.firstnet.com/plans">buy a FirstNet service plan</a> for each device, at prices expected to be similar to today’s mobile pricing. That revenue will also help fund the network, cover the companies’ investments and help generate enough of a profit that the AT&T group has promised to repay the $6 billion to the U.S. Treasury after the FirstNet contract expires in 25 years.</p>
<h2>4. What will happen when there’s not an emergency?</h2>
<p>When there is no emergency in an area, the bandwidth on the FirstNet network in that area will be available to AT&T to sell to private or corporate customers. This revenue, in addition to that from the first responder users themselves, is expected to pay for FirstNet.</p>
<h2>5. What do other countries do about this problem?</h2>
<p>Because of the close relationship between the U.S. and Canadian broadband services, Canada is creating <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/mrgnc-mngmnt/psbn-en.aspx">a Public Safety Broadband Network</a> using the same frequency spectrum and protocols as the U.S. so that agencies on both sides of the border can connect to each other easily.</p>
<p>The U.K. is building an Emergency Services Network, expected to <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d7981bf4-5730-11e7-80b6-9bfa4c1f83d2">begin partial operation near the end of 2017</a>. South Korea expects to complete its public safety wireless network in time to be <a href="https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/482">used during the 2018 Winter Olympics</a>. Several other countries have networks that are in <a href="http://e.huawei.com/us/publications/global/ict_insights/201608271037/focus/201608271435">various stages of design and construction</a>.</p>
<h2>6. FirstNet is supposed to last 25 years. What does that mean, and how will it happen?</h2>
<p>As <a href="http://www.electronicdesign.com/4g/wireless-companies-follow-roadmap-past-4g-and-5g">broadband wireless technology improves</a>, our devices and networks will too, including FirstNet.</p>
<p>The effort is also expected to promote technological innovations. Already, some of the technical solutions that serve first responders, such as the ability for <a href="https://resources.ext.nokia.com/asset/200168">devices to connect directly to each other</a>, have been incorporated into LTE standards. Some <a href="https://www.firstnet.com/apps">apps developed for first responders</a> may also release versions useful to others.</p>
<p>It’s hard to know what we’ll need in 25 years – just as 25 years ago, it would have been very hard to envision the technical details of today’s interconnected world. But building FirstNet will help protect and serve both first responders and the public during emergencies – and it will enhance communications in times of peace and prosperity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ladimer Nagurney, in an inherited IRA, owns approximately $1200 of AT&T stock. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Nagurney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A multibillion-dollar effort is just beginning to build an all-new nationwide wireless broadband network for emergency responders. How will it work, why do we need it and how will it last 25 years?Ladimer Nagurney, Professor of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of HartfordAnna Nagurney, John F. Smith Memorial Professor of Operations Management, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/791512017-08-01T00:17:48Z2017-08-01T00:17:48ZCreating a high-speed internet lane for emergency situations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178515/original/file-20170717-6091-1kdisv4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In an emergency, responders' telecommunications could get delayed by overloaded networks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.hampton.gov/691/Recruiting">City of Hampton, Virginia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During large disasters, like hurricanes, wildfires and terrorist attacks, people want emergency responders to arrive quickly and help people deal with the crisis. In order to do their best, police, medics, firefighters and those who manage them need lots of information: Who is located where, needing what help? And what equipment and which rescuers are available to intervene? With all of the technology we have, it might seem that gathering and sharing lots of information would be pretty simple. But communicating through a disaster is much more challenging than it appears.</p>
<p>The event itself can make communications worse, damaging networks and phone systems or cutting electricity to an area. And regular people often add to the problem as they <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/04/16/cellphone-networks-overwhelmed-blast-aftermath/wq7AX6AvnEemM35XTH152K/story.html">overload mobile networks</a> with calls, texts and other electronic messages checking on loved ones or seeking help.</p>
<p>As researchers about digital networks and emergency communications, we are developing a faster and more reliable way to send and receive large amounts of data through the internet in times of crisis. Working with actual responders and emergency managers, we have created a method for giving urgent information priority over other internet traffic, effectively creating a high-speed lane on the internet for use in emergencies. While a national emergency responder network initiative called <a href="https://www.firstnet.gov/">FirstNet</a> is beginning to get going, it requires <a href="https://www.firstnet.gov/network">building an all-new wireless network</a> just for emergency services to use. By contrast, our system uses existing internet connections, while giving priority to rescue workers’ data.</p>
<h2>Connecting networks</h2>
<p>At the moment, it’s reasonably common for <a href="http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/NY-Computer-Network-Sandy.html">communication networks to become overloaded</a> when disaster strikes. When lots of people try to make cellphone calls or use mobile data, the <a href="https://boingboing.net/2013/04/17/why-is-it-so-hard-to-make-a-ph.html#more-224850">networks get too busy</a> for calls to connect and messages to go through.</p>
<p>The problem is that standard methods for routing traffic through the internet aren’t always able to handle all those connections at one time. In technical terms, the internet is a <a href="http://www.cidr-report.org/as2.0/">collection of more than 54,000 smaller networks</a>. Some of the networks that make up the internet are quite large, like those belonging to major internet service providers or large corporations, but many of them are fairly small. No matter their size, each of these networks has equipment that lets it route traffic to each of the others. </p>
<p>Computer networks don’t all connect directly to each other. And their digital addresses don’t help much – we humans assume 12 Main Street and 14 Main Street are next door, but computers with similar numeric addresses <a href="https://www.vox.com/a/internet-maps">may not be physical neighbors</a> to each other.</p>
<p>As a result, the router connecting each of these 54,000 networks to the rest of the internet must keep a list of every one of its counterparts, and the most efficient way to reach each of them. This is like needing a list of written directions for every place in the world you might want to go.</p>
<p>This system, governed by the rules set out in the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Gateway_Protocol">border gateway protocol</a>,” works well most of the time. But when it fails, there can be long delays in communications. In fact, on average, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ICC.2006.254830">150 seconds</a> (two and a half minutes) can go by before a failure is identified. In that time, the data just wait in an information traffic jam, not moving. Online, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297686724/on-a-rigged-wall-street-milliseconds-make-all-the-difference">milliseconds matter</a> – hundreds of seconds are effectively an eternity.</p>
<p>When one router detects a network failure, it has to let all the others know what’s happened, and how to reroute their traffic. This is like having just one traffic cop try to coordinate rush hour around a major bottleneck. The process takes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/ICC.2006.254830">at least several minutes</a>, and sometimes several hours. Until then, data in transit can be delayed or lost entirely. In an emergency, that could mean the difference between life and death. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=245&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=245&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=245&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179054/original/file-20170720-15106-rv08qe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When a link fails, the network system must find a new connection between two communicating devices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rochester Institute of Technology</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Developing the emergency protocol</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dCWUVcXS9QM?wmode=transparent&start=1110" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A demonstration of the authors’ network routing system.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Working with students from Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, we have created a new traffic control system tailored specifically to emergency response networks. It runs without affecting other protocols on the internet. We call it the <a href="http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=61939">multi-node label routing protocol</a>.</p>
<p>Rather than requiring every router to keep track of the best directions to every other one, we divide possible routes for internet traffic into hierarchies. These mirror <a href="https://www.fema.gov/national-incident-management-system">existing emergency response plans</a>: An individual responder sends information to a local commander, who combines several responders’ data and passes the data on to regional managers, who assemble a wider picture they pass on to state or federal response coordinators.</p>
<p>Our routing plan makes direct network connections mirror this real-world emergency response hierarchy. When routers are allowed to connect only with their immediate neighbors in the hierarchy, they can notice when links fail and reroute traffic much more quickly.</p>
<h2>Testing in the real world</h2>
<p>Our system is designed to operate over the same internet as everyone else, and without affecting other traffic. We tested our system on the National Science Foundation’s Global Environment for Network Innovations, a collaborative effort among many universities around the U.S. that allows researchers to develop networking protocols and systems using real computers and networking equipment located across the country. In our case, we connected 27 computers together for our tests, devised by
<a href="http://www.rit.edu/cast/crr/">RIT environmental, health and safety students</a>, many of whom are volunteer emergency responders.</p>
<p>Our test – which we did in front of real emergency commanders and personnel – compared our system to the standard border gateway protocol. When we broke links in the 27-node network, multi-node label routing communications resumed within 12.5 seconds, which is 12 times faster than the regular border gateway protocol’s recovery speed. We can shorten that delay even more by changing settings in our protocol’s configuration.</p>
<p><iframe id="8yjDe" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8yjDe/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Our system can easily be installed across a much wider area than just 27 test machines, specifically because of how it simplifies the paths information takes between routers. This means incident commanders and managers get information more quickly, and are better able to allocate responders and equipment to meet needs as they develop. In this way, our work supports the efforts of those who support us in our hour of need.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nirmala Shenoy received funding for this work from NSF and US Ignite.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erik Golen receives funding from the National Science Foundation US Ignite program <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1450854">https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1450854</a></span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Schneider receives funding from NSF, NIST, DHS; these are all federal agencies that fund grants for my research.</span></em></p>A new data management system can give emergency responders a fast lane on the internet to help speed rescue efforts after a disaster.Nirmala Shenoy, Professor of Information Sciences and Technologies, Rochester Institute of TechnologyErik Golen, Visiting Assistant Professor of Information Sciences and Technologies, Rochester Institute of TechnologyJennifer Schneider, Eugene H. Fram Chair in Applied Critical Thinking; Principal of the Collaboratory for Resiliency & Recovery @ RIT & Professor of Civil Engineering Technology, Environmental Management and Safety, Rochester Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/762152017-04-19T06:33:45Z2017-04-19T06:33:45ZHere’s what Australia’s cellular network scene could look like by 2020<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165772/original/image-20170419-6360-h4tle8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We'll probably see 4G as the dominant cellular network technology for some time to come in Australia. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/114134854?src=N75KQkXHR6kz-vyZrQhEdQ-1-17&size=huge_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>TPG Telecom Ltd <a href="https://www.crn.com.au/news/tpg-takes-on-telstra-optus-vodafone-as-australias-fourth-mobile-network-operator-with-126b-spectrum-acquisition-458101">has announced</a> it intends to become Australia’s fourth mobile network operator, along with Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. </p>
<p>TPG Telecom Ltd has purchased spectrum licenses for A$1.26 billion and will spend another A$600 million building the network infrastructure. However, it has emphasised it will not be competing across the whole Australian market, <a href="https://www.crn.com.au/news/tpg-takes-on-telstra-optus-vodafone-as-australias-fourth-mobile-network-operator-with-126b-spectrum-acquisition-458101">just 80% of the population</a>. </p>
<p>So what will the mobile network environment look like in a few years time? It is reasonable to make some informed forecasts. </p>
<p>If the market can indeed support a fourth network, the network scene is likely to be dominated by four carriers whose main offering is 4G mobile communications standard. However, significant inroads by Wi-Fi based services can be expected. Also, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-internet-of-things-16542">Internet of Things</a>” devices may constitute a revenue stream to the four main operators, but that may well be undermined by emerging linked technologies. </p>
<h2>Economic factors</h2>
<p>Whether Australia can support a fourth operator is an open question. Consumers are certainly benefiting already, as the major operators find themselves having to <a href="http://www.itwire.com/open-sauce/77668-tpg-shows-it-want-to-play-with-the-big-boys.html">cut margins</a> as a result of competition.</p>
<p>In 2016 service revenue dropped 1% in the first six months and a further 3% in the second six months. </p>
<p>The effect of TPG’s announcement on the profitability of the companies is an open question. However, <a href="http://www.afr.com/brand/chanticleer/david-teohs-tpg-spectrum-splurge-scares-telstra-investors-20170412-gvjars">investors responded</a> by selling off shares of all the major mobile operators following the announcement, suggesting they suspect it will have a negative effect on profits throughout the industry. </p>
<h2>New and old networks</h2>
<p>TPG make the point that one advantage it will have over existing operators is it will have <a href="http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/617634/tpg-announces-1-9bn-national-4g-network-plan/">no legacy 3G networks to support</a>. Existing networks tend to be quite difficult to shut down. Typically a substantial number of customers will be happy with their existing service and see no reason to go through the expense and effort of purchasing a new handset and possibly changing plans to connect to a network that provides services they are not interested in. </p>
<p>Telstra only shut down its twenty year old 2G GSM network <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-says-goodbye-to-2g-443018">last year</a>. By only running a 4G network, TPG will have a substantial advantage over other operators through not having to operate unprofitable legacy networks. </p>
<p>However, 4G itself may well become a legacy network in the not too distant future.</p>
<p>There has been a great deal of work on the next generation (5G) of cellular network, which is expected to start being deployed <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-g-in-5g-how-mobile-generations-have-evolved-53102">in the next few years</a>. </p>
<p>Will 5G cellular make TPG’s 4G network a “legacy” network? It is unlikely. 5G cellular is still in the early stages of standardisation, and appears to be facing some political challenges that will take time to resolve. Even when standards have been finalised it will be some time before it can be deployed in Australia. </p>
<p>Chinese telecommunications companies and manufacturers <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f84f968c-b45c-11e6-961e-a1acd97f622d">have taken a leading role in 5G standardisation</a>, and technology choices are likely to be influenced by Chinese requirements, in particular those related to frequencies used.</p>
<p>One of the goals of 5G is that it uses higher frequencies of radio spectrum than has been accessed in the past. Higher frequencies generally propagate shorter distances than lower frequencies. For densely populated countries this is less of a problem than for countries like Australia with much lower population densities. It may be necessary to use lower frequencies in Australia than in other countries. Resolving this and other issues may delay 5G introduction into Australia. </p>
<p>Consequently we are likely to see 4G as the dominant cellular network technology for some time to come. </p>
<h2>Challenges to be met</h2>
<p>5G is not the only technology that poses challenges to TPG and the existing carriers. </p>
<p>A very interesting recent development has been the proliferation of Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) <a href="https://www.cnet.com/au/news/telstra-switches-on-first-150-public-wi-fi-hotspots/">hotspots offered by Telstra</a>. Access points are deployed in sufficient numbers so as to provide significant coverage. Because Wi-Fi operates in the lightly regulated ISM bands and the technology is lower cost than cellular, there are far fewer barriers to entry for Wi-Fi based service operators. Businesses deploying Wi-Fi hotspots may well pose a threat to traditional cellular operators.</p>
<p>One of the areas of considerable growth in 4G is likely to be the “Internet of Things”. However, this area may well be undermined by technologies such as LoRaWAN specifically designed for such applications. LoRaWAN is a low power, low bitrate wireless technology able to transmit over distances of a few kilometres, designed to provide connectivity for Internet of Things devices. Significantly, like Wi-Fi, LoRaWAN operates in lightly regulated spectrum, meaning barriers to entry are low. </p>
<h2>City dwellers win again</h2>
<p>So will the consumer be better off as a consequence of TPG’s move to become a mobile operator? For consumers in the larger cities, almost certainly. </p>
<p>City dwellers are spoilt for choice when it comes to which mobile operator they do business with, and consequently there is a great deal of competition for subscriber business. </p>
<p>For consumers outside major population areas, perhaps not so much. This does lead to the question as to whether consumers could be served better if mobile infrastructure were treated as a natural monopoly with infrastructure built once, and licenses issued to operators to use it. </p>
<p>It seems wasteful that in the suburbs of the capital cities there are typically three, soon to be four, mobile base stations within a few hundred metres of each other. In rural and remote areas there is typically one or no service. </p>
<p>An interesting development in this area is that competition regulator the ACCC has recently proposed that Telstra might be obliged to <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/telstra-faces-546m-loss-from-acccs-mobile-roaming-decision/news-story/d2898d4b1732a0b4191a091e0aa2db00">share its infrastructure in rural areas with other carriers</a>. We may be seeing a de-facto move towards a utility model of mobile infrastructure. Perhaps consumers overall would be better served if mobile infrastructure were provided by a single, regulated entity. </p>
<p>As ever in telecommunications, we live in interesting times.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76215/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Branch has received industry funding to support his research. </span></em></p>Consumers who live in Australian cities will most likely benefit from the entry of a fourth player in the mobile network scene.Philip Branch, Associate Professor in Telecommunications Engineering, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.