Kathy Gibson reports from AfricaCom – While much of Africa is battling to connect with 5G technology, 5.5G is already on the horizon.
The digital and intelligent future is here, with technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) key to driving it forward. But intelligent IP networks have to be in place to make new technologies a reality.
At today’s Africa IP Gala on the sidelines of AfricaCom, Huawei is bringing together policy-makers, operators and customers to advance the adoption of 5.5G.
Jeff Pan, director of Huawei Southern Africa network marketing and solution sales, says all stakeholders need to work together to bring 5.5G from concept to applications and deployment to bring carriers new growth.
John Omo, general secretary of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), believes that IPv6 is needed in Africa – and is increasingly a compelling necessity.
“But Africa’s adoption rate for this technology remains at 6% – against the global average of 35%,” he says. “This indicates the work we still have to do. If we are to lead rather than follow we must accelerate the adoption of these technologies.”
IPv6 is a key enabler for the adoption of solutions like IoT, smart cities, 5G and more.
5.5G could be the solution that bridges the digital divide on the continent, Omo says, providing upwards of 10Gbps and the intelligent IP transportation system needed by AI-enabled data centres.
“Increased reliability and lower latency are things you need if you want to participate actively in this industry.”
The ATU, working with Huawei, has launched a White Paper on 5.5G and is committed to the 5.5G action plan that will help to plug network gaps.
The World Bank estimates the sub-Saharan Africa population below the age of 25 is the highest in the world, Omo adds. “5.5G can provide our young people with the tools they need to thrive in the digital economy.”
Dr Tayeb Ne Meriem, chair of the World Broadband Association (WBBA) Network Technology Work Group and vice-president of the Global IPv6 Forum, points out that mobile broadband and fixed broadband play a key role in digital and Internet era where the purpose is to accelerate digital transformation and build a fully connected world.
On the demand side, bandwidth requirements and speed keep increasing, he says.
In 2023, 100Mbs was what users wanted. This will grow to 300Mbps for 8k video in 2027, and all the way up to 2000Mbps by 2034. At the same time, global broadband subscriptions are growing too
The key scenarios driving the network evolution in vertical industries include finance as we move towards Bank 5.0 with autonomous customer service, intelligent risk control, and operational management. Other industries that would reap the benefits include energy, manufacturing, and retail.
To answer questions from industry, WBBA is collaborating on the Net5.5G framework that plots the direction for 5.5G network evolution.
It has also put together a toolkit that outlines the top 20 tasks including: vision; business scenarios and use cases; performance and societal requirements; role of main stakeholders; design blueprint; architecture frameworks; PoC programme and PoC projects; best practices; deployment guide; and certification.
In June, the WBBA published a white paper – Network Evolution for 5.5G/6G era, Define Net5.5G architecture and features – that outlines Net6.5G architectures for campus networks, IP transport network, datacentre network, and an end-to-end network digital map for all domains
The Net5.5G Best Practice white paper, to be released in March 2025, will define a Net5.5G Maturity Model Toolkit that will define the network maturity model from five dimensions to guide network upgrades.
The WBBA has also launched a Net5.5G Pioneer Program, and is inviting operators to join it on the 5.5G journey.
Today, the Africa Net5.5G action plan initiative was launched, outlining which steps players on the continent should take to make 5.5G a reality.