The brave new 5G world

Bhat explaining how 4G infrastructure differs from 5G.

Mobile network providers are transitioning from closed, proprietary mobile networks to 5G, facing new challenges in the process, says A10 Networks.

5G requires open cloud infrastructure, for example, as well as the ability to manage large volumes of data. Edge computing, virtualisation and microservices come into play, together with rearchitected software. According to the company, telcos need to focus on enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (MMTC) solutions or risk losing subscribers and new revenue opportunities.

“Rearchitecting all of the software to go from a monolith design to microservices design is a very daunting challenge. Only a few companies are providing this – Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia,” Ravi Raj Bhat, SVP, Global Field Sales CTO, A10 Networks said.

The telco infrastructure vendor market is becoming increasingly complex as well, with Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia facing competition from cloud-native startups as well as cloud-based service providers like Amazon, Facebook and Google, Bhat added.

Vendors aside, Bhat said that telcos have to completely rethink security for 5G while investing in much more bandwidth to handle 5G. Machine learning-based threat detection and mitigation at scale are now critical components of an effective 5G threat response strategy, Bhat said.

There must be dynamic capability to detect attacks because hacking takes place in very short periods, and once an attack signature is recognised, the attack cannot be used again, for example. “Security through obscurity is not an option any more from a telco network perspective,” he said.

Bhat said there are already killer apps for 5G, so there is a ready market. “Enhanced mobile broadband is the first service telcos are going to deploy. The next wave of applications is going to be services based on IoT,” he predicted.

“You can’t access 4K HD video if you don’t have the bandwidth,” he elaborated.

Massive Internet of Things (IoT) is another use case, Bhat said. Whereas today’s IoT does not make use of 3G or 4G mobile networks, 5G does support the IoT, he shared. There might be millions of IoT devices tapping on the 5G network for one IoT solution alone when a single carpark supports hundreds of devices, for instance.

“(The 5G) core network should be able to support - instead of millions of subscribers - billions of subscribers,” he said.

Critical IoT, where network latency must be under 1 millisecond, is another killer app. This could involve a surgeon operating on a patient remotely, Bhat suggested.

Finally, augmented reality is likely to be another killer app. A technician’s smart glasses could diagnose a problem with machinery and then provide a solution on the fly, Bhat said.

Asia in general has been slower to embrace 5G compared to the west, Bhat observed, though China, Korea, Japan are ahead of the rest of the region.

Despite the potential market, Asian telcos appear to be slower at 5G adoption. One reason could be the need to make the most of legacy investments. “Most companies are overcoming capacity and bandwidth challenges by using small cells today,” he said.

Another is that Asian telcos may receive government support that blunts the need to innovate – for now. “Telcos in Asia don’t feel that pressure yet but they will see that pressure,” Bhat said, alluding to factors driving 5G for telcos in the West.

The Middle East has also been quite forward-thinking about 5G, Bhat added. A10 Networks is working with Saudi Telecom on a 5G deployment, and has another 5G customer in Japan.

Bhat advised telcos to build up their cloud expertise as 5G gains momentum. “If you do not have a workforce that is cloud-ready you’re going to fall behind in the 5G world,” he said.

“A lot of telco companies do not have the required cloud expertise,” he said. “Even if they have the expertise, (they need to have) the mindset to invest in cloud infrastructure to build out their network.”

Enterprises do not have to depend on telcos to invest in 5G, Bhat shared. He explained that companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google are building mini 5G networks, running packet core elements, microservices, and 5G devices in private networks. An example could be a 5G network within a factory that controls interactions between robots and catches mistakes made so that processes can be improved.

A10 Networks provides intelligent and automated application delivery so that there is secure and reliable access to applications and their data. The company’s solutions cover application networking, application security and network security.

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Download the guide on securing and scaling the network during the 5G transition (PDF)