In early November, a group of specialists conducted a drive test. On the basis of the measurements collected in three cities (Warsaw, Łódź, and Wrocław), they prepared a report which provides valuable information on the status of 5G deployment in Poland.

Table of contents

• What is 5G technology?
• What is the current status of 5G deployment in Poland?
• The impact of 5G implementation on the quality of voice calls in Poland
• Drive test route
• Quality and speed of 5G data transmission in Poland
• FTP and HTTP large file upload and download sessions
• FTP and HTTP small file upload and download sessions
• Latency
• 5G n78 Throughput & Latency Test (Warsaw)
• 5G deployment in Poland – summary of the current situation

What is 5G technology?

Many legends have grown up around 5G. Some view it as the mythical Holy Grail which is supposed to be the answer to all of our generation’s worries. On the contrary, conspiracy theorists see it as a real Pandora’s box and a source of endless problems.

Extreme attitudes should be put right where they belong – between other fairytales. 5G technology really has a chance to revolutionise our daily lives, but it is just a tool similar to the previous generation standards implemented so far.

In a nutshell – the 5G network, as a successor to 4G, is expected to bring even faster Internet speed, lower latency, and greater stability of data transmission. It is thanks to this that our dreams of autonomous cars, the Internet of things, or artificial intelligence used on a large scale in medicine and engineering are slowly becoming a reality.

What is the current status of 5G deployment in Poland?

For several months now, mobile operators have been boasting in their marketing communication that their networks are 5G-ready. Two years passed from the first non-laboratory tests conducted by Orange (in 2018) to the first commercial 5G implementation by Plus (May 2020). Does this mean we can pop the champagne? Not necessarily.

Although the 5G project is still far from mature, we are slowly starting to notice the future of mobile networks shaping up. At the moment, operators only offer this type of service in some of the largest urban centres.

Notel Poland decided to check what stage the 5G implementation is currently at, and whether we can actually talk about wide access to 5G in certain areas. For this purpose, measurements were carried out in Warsaw, Łódź, and Wrocław on the basis of a drive test using the Xiaomi Mi 10 5G M20012J2G and Motorola Edge 5G XT2603 4 mobile devices, as well as the InfoVista equipment. Four domestic mobile operators were tested: Orange, T-Mobile, Play, and Plus.

During the drive test, measurements were made in two main categories. The indicators related to voice calls, namely the impact of the implementation of the 5G network on their quality, as well as the speed and quality of transmitted data, have been put under the microscope.

We present the most important findings of the prepared report below.

The impact of 5G implementation on the quality of voice calls in Poland

In the current implementation phase, it is impossible to use 5G directly to make voice calls. The lack of 5G SA (standalone) infrastructure or support from 5GC (core network) does not allow to launch the VoNR (voice calls in 5G technology) service. The situation is similar in the case of the availability of terminals supporting this service.

Therefore, in most cases, the VoLTE technology is used to enable voice calls.

Approximately 1,000 voice calls were made within the 5G-covered areas of each of the aforementioned operators. This made it possible to compare such parameters as Call Setup Time or Call Setup Success Rate.

Drive test route

Warsaw

Łódź

Wrocław

Call Setup Success Rate is the percentage of call attempts resulting in a connection to the dialled number. Call Setup Success Rate is one of the key performance indicators (KPIs) used by operators to assess their network’s performance. It is assumed to have a direct impact on customer satisfaction with services provided by the network and its operator.

Another key indicator is Voice Call Setup Time, i.e. the total time required to establish a circuit-switched call between users.

T-Mobile can boast the best result in the Call Setup Success Rate category (99,9%). Play offers an equally high efficiency (99,7%). Orange (99,3%) and Plus (99,1%) performed slightly worse.

Find out more about the RFBENCHMARK methodology

Taking into account the voice call setup time, T-Mobile also ranked first (1,064 s). Orange came in second (1,329 s), while it took twice as long to set up the connection using the Play network (2,769 s). With a result of 6,214 s, Plus performed significantly worse than its competitors. The longer connection setup time in the Plus network is a result of the lack of VoLTE support for all mobile devices using the EN-DC functionality. As a result, most calls were made in the so-called “legacy” network in the CS fallback to 3G.

Quality and speed of 5G data transmission in Poland

As in the case of voice calls, the current state of the 5G infrastructure prevents it from reaching its full potential. We have to wait at least a few more months for the implementation of the mmWave 5G band (20-60 GHz).

The currently available 5G network signal is not classified as ultra-wideband.

In Poland, 5G usually operates using a lower band, often with dynamic spectrum sharing. The implementation of DSS technology allows to provide 5G services through the existing 4G networks – depending on the user’s needs.

Similarly to the previous part of the report, Notel specialists based their observations on a sample of around 2,500 packet data transmission tests, which included: HTTP small file download and upload sessions, HTTP large file download and upload sessions, FTP download and upload multisessions, and latency tests.

Taking into account the radio access technology in the data transmission process, it can be observed that the usage level of 5G NR + LTE resources clearly differs between operators. Orange, T-Mobile, and Play use the FDD 2100 DSS band implementation with a width of 10 MHz. Plus, on the other hand, offers NR in the TDD 2600 (n41) band that is 40 MHz wide. Interestingly, Play does not seem to provide 5G services in Łódź.

FTP and HTTP large file download and upload sessions

For measuring the quality and speed of data transmission, a throughput indicator was used, which evaluates the amount of correctly transferred data within a given time period. The download and upload speed of FTP and HTTP files was calculated for two configurations –  the so-called FreeMode (i.e. the mode with active 5G NR and LTE) and the configuration with LTE-only usage.

The FreeMode (NR + LTE) configuration shows that with the current implementation of the NSA (non-standalone) architecture, it does not offer any improvement in service quality for an ordinary user. The average throughput is even lower than when using LTE only.

According to these observations, Orange has the best download throughput for large FTP and HTTP files in both FreeMode and LTE Lock configurations. In the case of FreeMode, this operator achieved a result of 61 Mbps, using only LTE with a speed of 75.7 Mbps.

Orange also took the lead when it comes to upload throughput for large FTP and HTTP files. However, while in the FreeMode configuration the operator had a clear advantage over its competitors (33.3 Mbps compared to 22.3 Mbps for Plus and 22.1 Mbps for Play), in the LTE Lock configuration the results were very close. Orange recorded a result of 24.3 Mbps, T-Mobile – 24.2 Mbps, and Plus – 23.9 Mbps.

An interesting statistic is the maximum throughput of the “downlink” application. In all the cities where the measurements were conducted, Plus achieved the best result – 376,7 Mbps in Wrocław, 406,3 Mbps in Warsaw, and 390,8 Mbps in Łódź.

FTP and HTTP small file download and upload sessions

When analysing the state of 5G in Poland, it is also worth looking at the data on downloading and uploading small files. This is a particularly important indicator from the point of view of mobile device users. It reflects the subscribers’ experiences when using 5G networks on their smartphones.

Orange can boast exceptional performance when downloading small files, regardless of the chosen configuration – NR+LTE (25.4 Mbps) or LTE-only (38.8 Mbps).

The graphs clearly show that the average upload throughput for small files is better for Orange (23.8 Mbps and 18.4 Mbps) and Plus (21.7 Mbps and 22.5 Mbps). These operators reported almost twice as good results compared to T-Mobile and Play.

Latency

Contrary to the previous statistics, the latency category produced similar results for all classified operators. Slightly better results were achieved using the “FreeMode” configuration (NR + LTE).

This bears a significant resemblance to the current 4G standard which shows a similar trend.

5G n78 – Throughput & Latency Test (Warsaw)

Analyses related to the measurements based on narrowband 5G implementations, limited to 40 Mhz or sharing 10MHz with LTE (DSS), do not offer better results than the LTE technology.

In this context, Notel specialists posed an additional question about the possibilities offered by another popular 5G C-band. Due to the lack of commercial access to this band, analysts had to use 3 test locations in Warsaw, where the n78 80 MHz and 40 MHz bands were available.

In its report, the Notel company indicated that the nature of these tests should not be treated as a comparative analysis of operators. The aim is to show potential possibilities for the commercial use of the C-band after the Office of Electronic Communications auction planned for 2021.

A good average download bandwidth of Operator 1 is clearly visible. The result of 504.3 Mbps was only due to high usage of the NR configuration (80% NR + 20% LTE).

In terms of average upload throughput, the best result was recorded by Operator 2 (90.37 Mbps), which clearly outperformed its rivals. Operator 2 can also boast the highest maximum results with regard to downloading and uploading files – 602.6 Mbps and 117 Mbps, respectively.

Noticeable differences can also be observed in the latency measurements. The operator marked with number 1 outclassed its competitors with a result of 23.88 ms. For comparison, the remaining operators achieved results of 42.65 ms (Operator 2) and 45.8 ms (Operator 3).

5G deployment in Poland – summary of the current situation

Although mobile operators in Poland have taken the first steps to create the 5G infrastructure, there is definitely a long way to go to achieve a similar level of market penetration as 4G services.

A milestone for 2021 will certainly be the release of the C-Band which will help increase the efficiency of 5G services in Poland.

In the context of the ongoing infrastructure investments, it is also important to remember about the need to provide the market with equipment that will capture the potential of 5G technology. In this respect, there is still a significant disproportion between devices using LTE and 5G.

According to VentureBeat’s estimates, in the United States, 5G-enabled devices account for 14% of all smartphone sales. In Poland, this percentage is certainly even lower. Nevertheless, the recent launch of iPhone 12, which comes with 5G connectivity, may be a good prognosis.

Last month, shortly after the spectrum auction, Orange France unveiled a range of four 5G-compatible voice and data plans. They are available to purchase both on a stand-alone basis, or as part of their Open bundles. The operator has since also launched a ‘Pro’ package for its B2B customers – including a data allowance of 150 GB for EUR 62/month (excluding VAT). In addition to this, Orange has also updated its mobile plan offer for SMEs with a special 5G add-on that provides an extra 20 GB to the three price tiers under the Performance Enterprise portfolio.

Despite the rapid action plan, Orange is not the first operator to bring 5G connectivity to the French market. SFR launched its 5G commercial service in Nice on 20 November, while Bouygues Telecom is planning to switch on its 5G network on 01 December. The French government has asked the country’s network operators to consult with local authorities about their deployment plans. This comes as a response to various environmental and health concerns expressed by members of the Green party, followed by several local councils.

For instance, the French capital’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has recently launched a citizen consultation on the roll-out of 5G services that includes a panel of 80 residents. They will meet in three workshops to discuss the burning issues related to 5G deployment and report their findings and recommendations to the Council of Paris in the middle of December.

Source: Telecom Paper

The company informs that the scope of these measurements will include the efficiency of mobile package services and network behaviour during voice calls. The measurements will be made using Xiaomi Mi 10 5G, Motorola Edge 5G, PCTEL, and InfoVista tools (including the TEMS Paragon measurement platform).

The test results will be announced on the RFBenchmark website.

What is a Drive Test?

Drive Test is a procedure for measuring mobile network quality using specialised mobile terminals. The analysis of phone test calls and the use of mobile Internet on the move is to help analyse the quality and performance from a subscriber’s perspective.

Among the new releases, we can find the lower-end iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini alongside the higher-end iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max. All models are equipped with iOS 14 and the newest 5-nm A14 Bionic Apple processor, offer 5G support (including mmWave spectrum in the US), as well as IP68 water resistance. The new models come with a refreshed flat-edge design and feature a new hardened front cover called Ceramic Shield. 

The only difference between the two lower-end models is their screen size. iPhone 12 comes with a 5.4-inch display and retails for USD 699, whereas the 12 Mini has a 6.1-inch screen and is priced at USD 799. There are five different colour versions to choose from, as well as three internal storage options – 64, 128 and 256 GB. Both models also come with a new dual-camera system featuring a 12-megapixel wide angle rear camera and another 12-megapixel front-facing camera. 

Return of the MagSafe system 

All four releases will see the return of the MagSafe wireless charging system. MagSafe will add magnets around the charging coil, allowing it to line up perfectly with a charger or a phone case.  

Apple’s product offer includes an own-brand charger, a MagSafe Duo Charger than can be used simultaneously with the iPhone and Apple Watch, a leather wallet, and a range of snap-on cases in three different finishes. However, that’s not all, as third-party producers are expected to bring out more accessories.

The tech giant also made a controversial decision not to include a power charger or a set of EarPods with the newest phones in an effort to reduce its carbon emissions. 

Better camera specs and more internal storage in Pro models

When it comes to the higher-end models, the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max feature 6.1.- and 6.7-inch displays, respectively. The starting prices for the 128 GB model are USD 999 and USD 1,099, with Apple also offering phones in 256 and 512 GB capacities.  There are four colour versions available – graphite, silver, gold, or pacific blue. 

Photography enthusiasts are also in for a real treat. The innovative seven-element wide-angle camera on an iPhone 12 Pro boasts an impressive f/1.6 aperture. It’s the fastest aperture on an iPhone to date, which translates to an 87% photo improvement in low-light conditions. The camera also features a 120-degree ultra-wide angle sensor, as well as a 52mm telephoto camera with up to 4x optical zoom. The Pro Max model comes with an even larger 1.7μm-pixel sensor, the ultra-wide lens, as well as a 65mm telephoto camera with up to 5x optical zoom. Apple also announced an update to Night mode, which will be made available on the wide-angle and depth sensors, and offer a time-lapse option. 

With a new feature coming to iPhones later this year, you will also be able to use your new iPhone Pro like a pro-level camera. Apple ProRAW will allow users to edit their photos in RAW format, which will be an absolute godsend to photographers. The Pro range also comes with a brand new Lidar scanner that can measure light distance and use information about pixel depth of a given scene. As a result, the AR experience on the iPhone is about to be improved. It will also become much easier to create the coveted bokeh effect in low-light conditions. 

Source: Telecompaper

When we analyse the overall number of desktop, laptop, and workstation shipments, we can observe that Acer recorded the largest growth. In the last quarter, the Taiwanese manufacturer shipped 5.6 million computers, a 15% increase over the same quarter last year. However, it was Lenovo that can boast the largest number of shipments in Q3 at 19.3 million units, an 11% year-on-year increase. It was closely followed by HP, which shipped 18.6 million units, a 12% uptick as compared to last year. Dell made 11.9 million shipments and reported a slight decrease of 0.5%. Finally, Apple shipped 6.3 million units, which was a 13.2% increase from the year prior. 

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a sharp increase in demand for laptops from people who switched to remote work and learning. The supply chain was unable to meet this growing demand, and as a result, personal computer shipments dropped by 12.3%. 

Luckily, both manufacturers and vendors have since been on the rebound. They have been allocating their resources to producing notebooks in order to keep up with the enormous demand from individuals and businesses alike. According to a Canalys analyst, investment in IT, particularly in the personal computer sector, will be fundamental for the economic recovery after the pandemic.

Source: The Verge

Google will let users create up to 100 breakout rooms in one call. All they have to do is decide how many breakout rooms they need and everyone on the call will be automatically placed in a given room. Moderators will be able to manually move people to different rooms or switch between rooms in order to supervise groups.

If breakout rooms sound like they could be of great interest to you, but you’re not an Enterprise for Education user, fear not. According to the tech giant, this feature is expected to be available for other G Suite and Google Workspace editions later in the year, so you will be able to give it a try. 

Does this feature sound familiar to you? This is likely because Google’s videoconferencing competitor, Zoom, has been offering breakout rooms to all of its users since 2015. Google may be a little late to the party, but its competitive edge lies in the number of possible breakout rooms, which is twice the amount that Zoom users can enjoy. 

Google Meet has been introducing new features all throughout 2020 in a bid to outpace Zoom and other competitors, seeing as the popularity of videoconferencing tools has skyrocketed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: The Verge

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has recently imposed a ban on TikTok, citing failure to filter out “immoral” and “indecent” videos. Following this decision, the app joins the likes of Tinder and Grindr which were banned last month by the country’s telecoms regulator over the same concerns.  

Sensor Tower, a mobile app market intelligence firm, reports that TikTok had been downloaded 43 million times in Pakistan, making it the 12th largest market by the number of installs. According to its estimations, the app has reached 2.2 billion installs worldwide across Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.

It’s not the first time that the popular video-making app found itself in hot water. Just a few months ago, it was banned by the Indian government over security concerns due to its Chinese origin. The US administration called for a TikTok ban for the same reason. While the federal court issued an injunction preventing the implementation of the ban, other restrictions are expected to go into force in the middle of November. 

Despite regulators around the world perceiving TikTok as a major security threat, the app has remained a global sensation. However, the bans that are currently underway can seriously hinder TikTok’s growth by disallowing new installs in the app’s key markets, such as the US and India.

Pakistani regulators stated that TikTok was given a substantial amount of time to address their concerns, but did not undertake to fully comply with them. According to a recently released transparency report, out of the 40 accounts that the government authorities requested the company to restrict in the first half of this year, only 2 were restricted. 

TikTok responded to these claims saying it has strong protections in order and wishes to make a return to the Pakistani market. In an official statement, the company expressed hope to reach a satisfactory conclusion with the relevant authorities so that it can continue to serve Pakistan’s creative online community.

Source: The Verge

After the US imposed sanctions on Huawei, restricting the company’s access to future Android updates, the tech giant disclosed that it was working on its own operating system. The first device to run the HarmonyOS was the Honor Vision smart TV. As the company has started running out of US components to make its products, it launched a self-sufficiency program for its supply chain.  

Going open-source

Along with the release of HarmonyOS 2.0, Huawei also announced that the platform would be launched on an open-source basis to make it more accessible for developers and producers, and in turn more widely used. It will be accompanied by an adaptive UX framework to provide support for other devices. As part of the open source project donated to Open Atom Foundation, developers will receive emulators, SDK packages, and IDE tools.  

Richard Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Consumer Business Group, unveiled the roadmap for HarmonyOS during his keynote speech at the conference. He announced that HarmonyOS would be ready for use on IoT devices with 128KB to 128MB of memory from 10 September. The company is planning to make it available for use on 128MB to 4GB devices in April 2021, as well as on devices above 4GB six months later. According to Huawei’s schedule, the tech giant is not planning any releases of high-end smartphones running on HarmonyOS in the next year.  

EMUI 11 and HiLink technology

Just like its competitor operating system, Android, Harmony has been developed to work across a whole range of devices. Chinese phone manufacturer stated that the distributed technology in its OS, as well as the newly launched EMUI 11 facilitate connection beyond smartphones, allowing users to access and control other devices too. As a result of the touchless interaction between smartphones and other devices running on HarmonyOS, they will be able to screen project their video calls and content from smartphones to bigger-screen devices. This is an extension of the HiLink technology that was initially released with Harmony for the purpose of casting video. It will be upgraded to provide support for a number of collaborative services, control options, and authentication. 

Global developer centres and cooperation labs

Alongside the new operating system, Huawei is currently developing its own app store. The company’s AppGallery has surpassed 96,000 applications with over 1.8 million registered mobile developers. Since the beginning of 2020, the number of app downloads and shares has reached the 261 billion mark and there has been an increase in the number of available APIs to nearly 13,000.  

In order to assist its global developers, Huawei is also constructing three ecosystem cooperation labs. They will be located in Russia, Poland, and Germany and offer enablement, testing, and certification services. Additionally, the Chinese tech giant is building five global developer service centres in Romania, Malaysia, Egypt, Mexico, and Russia. These will aim to provide local services and platforms to facilitate growth and innovation from the company’s developers.

Huawei’s latest releases

During the conference, Huawei revealed a number of new releases. The latest additions to the company’s product offer include the MateBook X and MateBook 14 laptops, the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro and Watch Fit smartwatches, as well as the FreeBuds Pro and FreeLace Pro wireless earphones. 

The Watch Fit smartwatch, which contains 44 standard fitness programmes and promises up to 10 days battery life, has recently been released and retails for a recommended price of EUR 129. There are four different colour options to choose from – Sakura Pink, Mint Green, Cantaloupe Orange, and Graphite Black. On the other hand, the Watch GT 2 Pro that boasts a titanium case, wireless charging and a heart rate monitor is set to be launched next month for EUR 299. Huawei gifted new earphones or a Huawei Smart Fit Scale to the customers who chose to pre-order their new devices.

źródło: Telecompaper.com

In its forecast report, Canalys also speculates that this year’s global smartphone shipments will decrease by 10.7% in comparison to the year before. This number is expected to bounce back in 2021 with projected annual growth of 9.9%, at which point over 1.3 billion units will be shipped out worldwide. The firm attributes massive shipments of 5G devices in 2020 mainly to their ongoing commercialization in mainland China.

The average selling price of 5G devices in Europe is projected to be on the decline over the next several years as Samsung and Apple continue to outperform their competition. It is expected to drop to $765 next year, and then to gradually decrease to the level of $477 by 2024.

It is noteworthy that while at the beginning of this year, there weren’t any 5G-enabled devices priced below $300 on offer, there are now various smartphones available on the market that cost under $250. The cheapest one to date is Realme’s latest release – the Realme V3 5G that currently retails for under $150 in China and is the first 5G device to enter the rapidly progressing low-end smartphone market.

Source: Canalys

Back in January, the UK made the decision to exclude high-risk vendors from sensitive and critical parts of its 5G networks, as well as restrict the access of risky suppliers to other parts of the networks. As Huawei has been under close scrutiny in the UK for several years, the company was expected to fall under the scope of high-risk vendors.

In May, the US tightened its restrictions against Huawei, as a result of which the tech giant has limited access to US technology and software in the process of designing and manufacturing its products. The National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) closely examined the impact of these restrictions on the UK and issued new technical advice for the British government, stating that it is impossible to guarantee the security of Huawei equipment.

Huawei criticized the UK government’s decision, claiming that it would drive up bills and lead to an increase in the digital divide across the country. The Chinese tech giant also expressed its opinion that the new US restrictions were not going to affect the security of Huawei equipment in the UK and that the government’s decision was dictated by political reasons. 

Oliver Dowden, the digital secretary, announced the decision in parliament, confirming that the current restrictions on Huawei regarding sensitive and critical parts of the network shall remain in force. In addition to this, the British government will also advise fibre network operators to phase out new Huawei gear. According to the secretary, the full transition period is expected to take no longer than two years, subject to a technical consultation.

The government believes that this decision will preserve national security while ensuring that a sufficient network infrastructure is in place. In order to implement these proposals, legislation must still be passed. The digital secretary said that a Telecoms Security Bill is expected to be introduced this autumn and passed into law before the next general election, making purchasing Huawei 5G equipment illegal for all UK operators.  

However, the UK’s decision to ban Huawei equipment from its 5G networks will delay the rollout by around a year and increase the bill by up to GBP 500 million. Forcing operators to remove Huawei products from their infrastructure by 2027 will push up the costs by an additional GBP 2 billion and extend the delay in rolling out 5G networks to 2-3 years. 

This legislation is also expected to facilitate the development of a national policy that will encourage local development of non-risky suppliers. According to Dowden, the end goal is making multi-vendor networks the industry standard.