5G in Latin America kicks off with DSS

5G Latin America digital symposium was recently held. Ari Lopes, Principal Analyst, Latin America, Omdia, said that Covid-19 postponed the launch of 5G in several countries across Latin America. As a result, countries are at different speeds with regard to 5G.

In LATAM, 5G has been limited to a few countries so far. The first ones include Uruguay, Suriname, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago. The other countries kicked off 5G via dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS), like Brazil in mid-2020. In early 2021, Telecom Argentina activated a few sites in Buenos Aires with DSS. DSS permits 5G NR and 4G LTE to co-exist, allowing network operators a smooth transition from LTE to 5G NR. Chile was the first country to conclude spectrum auction for 5G.

Rel-16 was frozen in July 2020. There has since been successful advance of 5G in Latin America. 5G of sub-3GHz is being considered by many countries as the spectrum auction has been delayed, and fixed wireless access is the key use case.

Javier Zarate Hernandez, LATAM Wireless Solutions and Marketing Executive, Huawei, said the pandemic has speeded up digitization. 5G is driving more mobile service usage. The increase in mobile service usage is likely to continue beyond the pandemic. Many companies have taken their long-term plans and cut that time, as we have seen across different industries.

The main road leading from network to business success has been differentiated experience. Several operators are launching in small areas, and we are seeing the network grow. Innovative services will also increase the operators’ revenues, be it video apps, HD AR/VR, etc. There is an example of South Korea, who has accelerated the adoption of 5G. The coverage is now reaching almost 100 percent of the population in terms of user adoption. This is a roadmap to reach successful 5G deployment.

5G will bring the upgrade experience for traditional services and attract even more migrations. It will also inspire new services, and scale development of AR/MR. 5G FWA will become key 5G service and support the operators business development. Industries also open the door for 5G. Typical light B2B apps include enterprise broadband access, enterprise networking, broadband back-up link, CCTV/video backhaul, scenarios demand for business, etc.

MBB network O&M also faces many challenges in the 5G era. Operators have challenges in administration, operation, and maintenance of these 5G networks. Even the creation of new services will become complex. Huawei has created a 1+N solution that maximizes the value of the network. Network automation and AI will be empowering 5G success. Huawei’s automated management system includes AI. Users can enjoy a fully managed network efficiently and effectively.