Network X 2024
The Enea team were delighted to be at the event [Oct 8-10, Paris]. The event is unique in the calendar as it brings together aspects of mobile networks and services, fixed access, Wi-Fi and IoT, Non-Terrestrial networks and network equipment vendors. It had a great informal but informative vibe and it continued its tradition of bringing analysts, telcos’, vendors and visitors together for open tracks of discussion.
From a mobile network perspective the key discussions on automation, application programming interfaces (API) and monetization. Omdia reporting 60 5G-SA deployments covering 55%+ of the overall mobile subscription based. The evolution of the Camara APIs with 100+ separate interfaces and at least 12 different aggregators on board as well some major Telecom organizations setting up their own global “API Venture” company to act as their own aggregator were notable as the value is seamless transition. Enea traffic management software will have a key role to play as we are deployed in 25 countries world wide.
In respect of Wi-Fi – there were three days of discussion at the Wireless Broadband Alliance; 2 days of detailed analysis on Wi-Fi 7 Implementation, Artificial Intelligence for user behaviour; with the WBA pushing hard on Open Roaming. The third day was a more open discussion on pass-point promotion and home devices connecting on Wi-Fi and how to make the connectivity more secure e.g. MAC-Randomization.
There was also an increased awareness of device security – particularly home gateways, wireless access points and routers. This is a natural fit for Enea’s market leading embedded deep packet inspection offering.
Non-Terrestrial networks (NTN) were also a theme of discussion at the event with D2D (Direct to device) being a big talking point with this aspect of technology perhaps reaching maturity in 2030. The vision of having a single device with the multi-technology and antennae needed for seamless service was highlighted by more than one speaker.
AI was pervasive in discussion both in enabling lower cost network deployment, securing network access (e.g. combating cybercrime) and enabling faster reaction times and new use cases. As a natural extension good AI is based on enhanced observability and good data. That said the rising cost of AI both in the data exchange and in the compute intensity required to make AI informed decisions was also noted with Omdia noting that AI generated traffic may cause a 20-25% incremental mobile data traffic increase.
An interesting point on the benefit of connectivity – in Africa a 1% increase in connectivity is associated with a 5.7% increase in GDP. This reinforces the point that communications and data access is essential economically to the well being of a country.
Finally as a note the next generation (6G) was also the topic of a very interesting panel discussion chaired by heavy reading. The timing (2030-31), spectrum, use case and standardization aspects of what should be considered now as we evolve. Noted by panellists was the need to evolve and not replace, to unify on a standard and avoid fragmentation and to consider the spectrum needed by use case.
In the evolution of network technology it was clear that there is still more work to be done, to both evolve into new, automated scenarios, to provide the data to feed different AI based decision making, to open the access to networks with AI and build new business for converging data access. Enea capabilities are well suited to deliver the tools today for communication service providers as well as the data for the next generation of AI connectivity and solutions.
Find out more about Enea’s Portfolio:
Providing the tools to classify accelerate and manage mobile data @ Traffic Management
