The 5G race is a pivotal moment in the history of technology. Until now, tech developments, be it the Internet or mobility, have largely been private initiatives. But technology has grown to assume a central role in people’s lives. Nothing exemplifies it better than the cloud-5G combo, which is critical to next-gen developments. 

Developments in IoT, edge, autonomous vehicles, and hyper-efficient supply chains depend on it. Such increasing stakes make nation-states take proactive approaches to ensure tech supremacy. They are scrambling to ramp up their 5G and cloud computing infrastructure to get a head-start on the technology of the future.

Chris Krebs, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, opines that the existing cloud-based infrastructure gives the U.S.A. a dominant advantage over other countries in the 5G arena. 

Such an assertion comes with the assumption of 5G being moving data fast and efficiently. 5G entails building the next generation of technology atop the existing cloud infrastructure. The US is the undisputed leader in the cloud space. Giants such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft dominate the global cloud market. Such a ready-made cloud infrastructure makes delivering fast communications at scale easy.  

But the reality of 5G dominance is not that straightforward or clear-cut.

China leads in commercial 5G network deployment, with domestic 5G networks covering over 80% of its population. Chinese equipment vendors such as Huawei and Z.T.E. established global dominance in the last decade. Their success was due to the lack of a dominant U.S. competitor capable of offering the full stack of 5G equipment. Since then, other Chinese telecom giants such as Tencent and Alibaba have spearheaded the push. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. alleged Huawei’s 5G equipment collected sensitive information. Using Huawei risks intellectual property, trade secrets and other sensitive information. China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law mandates service providers to obey all government requests. Such a clause heightened such apprehensions.  

The U.S. concerns also stem from the potential exclusion of U.S. companies for decades, if not forever. Once Huawei sets up 5G networks, operators would likely choose the same company for upgrades.

The U.S. leveraged its dominance in advanced semiconductors to counter Huawei’s reach. The Trump administration barred sales of semiconductors to Huawei without a specific license. Semiconductors keep the 5G networks running. It enables indispensable tasks such as wireless communications, network management, and data storage.

Following U.S. concerns, many close allies such as the U.K., Australia and Japan have banned Huawei products outright. More countries have taken measures that equate to a de facto ban without a formal ban. For example, countries such as France and India are phasing out Huawei equipment. Many European countries opted for Huawei’s competitors, such as Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson. US-based companies such as Qualcomm and Cisco are also investing heavily in 5G.

But many countries, such as Hungary, Iceland, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and the U.A.E., continue using Huawei.

Meanwhile, other countries and blocks, such as South Korea and the E.U., aim for technological sovereignty. They promote the development of open technologies to lessen dependence on the U.S. and China.

In such a new arms-race-like scenario, telecom operators and groups who can get the following right will succeed. 

1. Innovation

Ultimately, winning the 5G race will depend on innovations to unlock use cases.

The U.S. military is promoting innovation in a big way to counter these threats. The Pentagon is experimenting with testbeds to support different 5G use cases. Other federal agencies are busy building technology into next-generation I.T. contracting vehicles.

2. Coping with uncertainty

The 5G journey is not smooth sailing. Operators have discovered that the pandemic-driven ups and downs were not a one-off aberration. Rather, it represented the beginning of the permanent flux and uncertainty associated with 5G. 

The political and commercial battles, as the case with Huawei exemplifies, will only aggravate in the coming days. 

5G stakeholders who understand the permanent nature of uncertainty will gain competitive dominance. 

3. Delivering reliable service assurance fast

Over the last couple of years, telecom operators have scrambled to accelerate 5G network rollouts. But they have discovered that only rolling out 5G compatible networks will not deliver traction. Customers need assurance of reliable service. 

Automated active testing and assurance systems have become the gold standard of success. These tests use realistic traffic to emulate and validate the resilience of the 5G network. 

Delivering reliable service assurance is not enough either. Speedy delivery has become indispensable in today’s hyper-competitive and fast-paced business environment.  

The cloud enables rapid acceleration of 5G services. One major use case is testing. Moving testing to the cloud can shorten software life cycles from months to weeks or even days. Operators deploying cloud-native continuous tests can gain a significant advantage in the 5G race.

4. Striking partnerships

Until not too long ago, 5G operators considered hypercontrol a virtue. The realisation has now struck that no one can do everything by themselves. Growth in today’s complex landscape comes only with strategic partnerships and alliances. 

5G makes huge demands on infrastructure and resources. Success depends on competency in network engineering, cloud technologies and edge. Partnering with infrastructure providers and other specialists offers operators better resource access. They can plug knowledge gaps and accelerate innovation. They can also reduce costs and deliver competitive pricing.

5G’s game-changing ability comes through cutting-edge applications. Partnerships with developers and technology providers lead to a thriving ecosystem that delivers innovative solutions. 

Successful operators place trust outside their organisations. They seek partners who can deliver targeted expertise that they lack in-house.  

Several partnerships at the international level have already made headlines. For instance, Vodafone and Ericsson collaborate to develop 5G-enabled industrial solutions. AT&T and Microsoft have partnered to offer enterprises cloud-based 5G edge computing services. Deutsche Telekom and Nokia work together on network automation and digital transformation initiatives.

5. Patronising Open RAN 

The evolution of Open RAN architecture for 5G will significantly impact 5G dominance.

The traditional Radio Access Network (RAN) is a closed ecosystem. A few big vendors dominate the ecosystem with their proprietary hardware and software. Such a setup made it difficult for 5G operators to choose the best components for their needs. It limited innovation and drove up costs.

The new Open RAN approach promotes disaggregation, virtualisation, and open interfaces. It breaks down the RAN into smaller, interoperable components. Operators can source different components from different vendors. The increased flexibility allows operators to configure RAN to specific use cases. Network performance and agility improve. Increased competition reduces costs and boosts innovation.

Open RAN is still in its early development stages but is evolving rapidly. It is only a matter of time before the technology will integrate with other emerging technologies to enable new use cases. An Open RAN-AI combo will automate tasks such as network slicing and fault management. Cloud-native RAN will further improve scalability and flexibility.

Telecom operators and even nation-states that further OpenRAN can roll out hyper-resilient and flexible 5G networks and reap the benefits that come with it.

Conclusion

There is no clear winner in the 5G race as of now. Nation states and telecom operators who can develop resilient 5G business models to cope with uncertainties and shocks, deliver service assurance, strike strategic partnerships, and embrace OpenRAM will gain significant one-upmanship over their rivals and competitors.