The Internet has emerged as a critical lifeline for people and businesses across the world in 2020 as the COVID-19 crisis led to the rise in remote working, virtual schooling, online socializing, and at-home digital entertainment, placing an unprecedented burden on the existing communication networks. Against this backdrop, telecom companies are using the opportunity to fast-track standalone (SA) 5G deployments by swiftly scaling their existing non-standalone (NSA) 5G assets, says GlobalData, a leading data, and analytics company.
Venkata Naveen, Senior Disruptive Tech Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “All the 5G rollouts by telecom companies pre-COVID have been NSA deployments with enhanced data-bandwidth and reliable connectivity through the existing 4G network infrastructure. However, COVID-19 has forced them to rapidly shift from NSA 5G networks to standalone 5G to meet the increasing demand.”
An analysis of GlobalData’s Disruptor Intelligence Center reveals how major telecom companies have fared with SA 5G rollouts in response to COVID-19.
T-Mobile rolled out the world’s first nationwide SA 5G network in the US. Though the company rolled out 600 MHz 5G networks last year, it was based on the non-standalone architecture. With the shift to SA 5G, the operator expanded its network coverage to over 250 million population and reduced latency by 40%.
AT&T made its SA 5G network available nationwide in the US, making it the country’s second major carrier after T-Mobile to achieve the milestone. The network is now available to 205 million consumers in 395 regions across the US.
Verizon completed its first trial for end-to-end data transmission successfully over its SA 5G network. It plans to start shifting mobile traffic from the NSA by the end of 2020 with full commercialization in 2021.
Vodafone launched the UK’s first live SA 5G deployment at Coventry University. The network will initially be used to boost the training outcomes of student nurses using virtual reality. The move comes a year after the operator launched commercial 5G based on non-standalone (NSA) network technology.
In the rest of the world, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom have started upgrading their existing network infrastructure to SA 5G; Ericsson in Europe plans to switch to SA 5G in 2021.
Naveen concludes: “Bandwidth usage per average customer has increased since the COVID-19 outbreak. The need for high-speed Internet connectivity is becoming quintessential now more than ever with an intertwined virtual and physical presence, where demand for remote work, education, healthcare and e-commerce is increasing. The COVID-19 era can be seen as an early beneficiary of the SA 5G, which is essential to unleash the best of 5G. Looking forward, the SA 5G networks have the potential to unveil many direct-to-consumer use cases that have never been possible before.”
