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Building the fastest 5G network in the UK Dr Erol Hepsaydir, Three UK CW TEC: 5G, Satellites & Magic MIMO Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 26 Sept 2019
Building the fastest 5G
network in the UK
Dr Erol Hepsaydir, Three UK
CW TEC: 5G, Satellites & Magic MIMO Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 26 Sept 2019
Average monthly
customer data usage
Customers
The UK’s challenger brandLetting our customers do more
More data usage than
the industry average
Net Promoter Score;
Highest of any MNO
Population coverage Employee Net
Promoter Score
Customer demand for mobile data
156
2084
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
2017 2025
UK
Mo
nth
ly M
ob
ile D
ata
Tra
ffic
(P
eta
byte
s)
The industry needs to change to meet this exponential demand
At current Ofcom
projections, an
average Three UK
customer will use
per month by 2025
Source: Ofcom’s Mobile Data Strategy, June 2016
x13
• Unlimited data
• No connection fee
• Same-day delivery
• Connectivity around the home
Super-Fast Unlimited
75Mbps
Competitively priced
4
We have a five-year strategy to fundamentally change our
business
Strategy to execution
How we operate is key to our
success.
• It isn’t just a change to the
technology or the organisation
design, it is a change to the way the
whole business operates.
• The business has to think and
operate differently to be a success.
Building on 5G foundations
FIBRE CORE
TelcoCloud
IT
PrivateCloud
PublicCloud
CUSTOMER RAN
eNodeB
SPECTRUM
End-to-end TECHNOLOGY delivery is critical
SPECTRUM
Serving the customer
End–to-end delivery is critical
RAN
Sites
FIBRE
Backhaul
CORE
TelcoCloud
Virtual Core &IP Network
IT
PrivateCloud
PublicCloud
Latency CriticalIT Applications
Non-Latency CriticalIT Applications
CUSTOMER
eNodeB
Each of these elements have their role to play
Shannon’s Theoretical Upper Limit
C ≈ W ⋅ n ⋅ log2(1+SINR)
More Spectrum More AntennasInterference
Management
Larger spectrum offer larger capacity
Spectrum
100
140
40
50
40
0
50
100
150
MH
z
5G Spectrum Position
Three
(now)
Three
(future)
O2 Vodafone BT
1.54
2.15
0.77
0.61
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Gbp
s
Peak 5G Speeds (by 2020)
Three
(100 MHz)VF 5G
(50 MHz)
BT/O2
(40 MHz)Three
(140 MHz)
“The requirement for bandwidth is at least 100MHz”
We are in an incredible positionThree’s 100 MHz contiguous bandwidth sets the benchmark for 5G speeds in the UK
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Serving the customerBuilding 5G with Huawei
End–to-end delivery is critical
SPECTRUM RAN
Sites
FIBRE
Backhaul
CORE
TelcoCloud
Virtual Core &IP Network
IT
PrivateCloud
PublicCloud
Latency CriticalIT Applications
Non-Latency CriticalIT Applications
CUSTOMER
eNodeB
Antenna technology
3.4/3.6 Ghz
4T4R M-MIMO
2T2R 4T4R 64T64R Beam Forming
CoverageNo
improvement
Small
improvement
Nearly matches
1.8Ghz
Capacity 1x 1.7x 3-5x
Site evolutionH
1.5
m x
W0.3
5m
xD
0.1
5m
H 2
-2.7
m x
W0.4
5m
xD
0.2
m
H 1m x W 2.1m
✓ Strengthen masts
✓ Added M-MIMO and
Remote radio
heads
✓ Improved power
delivery
Site design
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5G Coverage Strategy
Massive MIMO
Beamforming
Diversity gain
UL/DL decoupling/SUL
HPUE
UL MIMO
4G5G
5G SA provide better
coverage than 5G NSA
5G Rollout –Launching H2 2019
Initial rollout on
6,000 sites which
carry
of Three’s traffic in
major urban areas
Network building blocks towards 5G.
4. 5G RAN
FWA Mobile
1. 5G CORE NETWORK
3. CONNECTIVITY TO SITES
21 data centres to minimise latency.
Cost: Dark Fibre decouples cost from trafficSpeed: 10GigE circuits for Gigabit speeds
Latency: Fibre required for low latency
2. AGGREGATION NETWORK
To connect core network to local
exchanges
Sites: 6K sites upgraded to 5GAntenna: Massive MIMO for better coverageand capacityEquipment: Huawei 5G Equipment rollout
Performance
File Transfer test (Mbps)
S1 S2 S3
Download speed recorded (Mbps) 942.00 886.00 783.00
Upload speed recorded (Mbps) 69.40 70.10 39.00
What do all mean for
the customer
First 5G Video Call in Nov 2018From Oxford St Flagship Store to China
Three brings 5G to the catwalkCentral St Martins UAL – Feb 2019
Final Words
• Launched in Central London in 2019
• The improvements will deliver
will be a real alternative to
fixed line services
