Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1219491
April/May/June 2020 I 29 coverage to 98 of the top 100 markets. In the article, Crown Castle: No Plans for Edge Data Centers, it is also cited that Crown Castle's two largest rivals both purchased data centers in 2019 to develop their strategies for mobile edge computing. Thus, the jury is still out. Cisco offers the following perspective in its white paper, Establishing the Edge. "Some organizations are test - ing edge computing at the cell-site itself. At first glance, this approach might appear reasonable because it puts the computing as close as possible to the mobile subscribers. However, several issues result: • It is operationally complex because of the typically large number of cell sites. • It's expensive due to enclosures, power, and HVAC needs. Specialized servers may be needed versus tapping mass scale production servers. • New trends in radio are for leaner cell-site architec- tures comprised primarily of lean elements such as remote radio heads. Note: Cloud radio access networks (C-RANs) don't have packet-awareness at the cell site." Figure 2 serves as a reminder that 10 milliseconds (ms) is only one thousandth of a second or 0.01 seconds and 100 ms equals only 0.1 seconds, which are undetectable time lapses for users. Even at 1000 ms, many users are quite satisfied with a 1 second delay time. Virtual reality, for example, may be a driver for low latency and high bandwidth applications, but such applications can and do function today using local computers (i.e., desktops and gaming consoles) with standard consumer connec- tions to centralized data centers via the internet. Although 5G is here, according to GSMA's Network 2020 Unlocking Commercial Opportunities From 4G Evolution to 5G global research report, 5G will be coexisting with 4G as mobile operators seek to capture new opportunities with 5G while maintaining service and business continuity for their existing operations. Globally, 5G will account for only 10 percent of non-machine-to-machine connections whereas 4G will account for approximately 60 percent of connections by 2025; 5G services will account for less than 10 percent of mobile services revenues by 2025 per Juniper Research findings. As Figure 2 shows, many services in demand are already successfully delivered using current 4G capabilities. As data collection devices find new ways to collect and use data, the latency requirements may become Delay 1 ms <1 Mb/s 1 Mb/s 10 Mb/s 100 Mb/s >1 GB 10 ms 100 ms 1000 ms Disaster alert Services deliverable by 4G and evolved 4G Services requiring 5G capabilities Person to person Person to machine Machine to machine First responder connectivity Video streaming Personal cloud Autonomous driving Virtual reality Automotive ecall Wireless cloud based office Monitoring sensor networks Real time gaming Mulit-person video call Bi-directional remote controlling Augmented reality Device remote controlling Bandwidth Throughput – – + + Tactile internet FIGURE 2: 5G supported services matrix. Source: GSMA Intelligence, Network 2020 Unlocking Commercial Opportunities From 4G Evolution to 5G.