5G Mobile Phone Network Introduction in Colombia

Abstract

The deployment of the 5G mobile network is currently booming, offering commercially available services that improve network performance metrics by minimizing network latency in countries such as the USA, China, and Korea. However, many countries around the world are still in the pilot phase promoted and regulated by government agencies. This is the case in Colombia, where the assignment of the first 5G band is planned for the third quarter of 2021. By analyzing the results of the pilot phase and the roadmap of the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTIC), we can determine the main issues, which contribute to the deployment of 5G mobile technology as well as the plans to achieve a 5G stand-alone network from 4G networks. This is applicable to other countries in Latin America and the world. Then, our objective is to synthesize and share the most important concepts of 5G mobile technology such as the MIMO (multiple input/multiple output) antenna, RAN (Radio Access Network), C-RAN (Centralised-RAN), and frequency bands, and evaluate the current stage of its introduction in Colombia.

Projections of IoT Applications in Colombia Using 5G Wireless Networks

“…Nevertheless, in agreement with the inform of assignation of the direction of the industry of Communications of MinICT, four of the network providers and telecommunication systems (NPTS) operating in Colombia submitted applications to perform tests in the band of 3500 MHz to 3600 MHz, while others with an interest submitted their application in bands from 3300 MHz to 3400 MHz and from 587 to 592 MHz [30]. In total, 52 entities (public and private) and 24 natural persons showed an interest in participating in this process for use in eight different types of activities in the next descending order of demand [17]: The first is the interest in using it in projects related to smart cities, followed by its use in applications in education, agricultural development, the entertainment industry, virtual reality, public safety, the health sector, and finally, in transportation.…”

“…Figure 2a,b shows a projection of ANE for the demand for mobile technology of its bandwidths in MHz until the year 2029, and the expectations for future spectrum auctions in the country. Two scenarios have been put forward for 5G implementation from 4G-LTE: Stan-dAlone (SA) and Non-StandAlone (NSA) [17]. Regarding SA, these are radio access architectures that do not use the existing 4G networks core, while in NSA, the 5G architecture is based on a 4G network core.…”

“…General description of characteristics/typical requirements of IoT applications. Own elaboration based on information from MinICT and the National Spectrum Agency (ANE) and[17].…”

Analysis and Experiment of Wireless Optical Communications in Applications Dedicated to Mobile Devices with Applicability in the Field of Road and Pedestrian Safety

“…The use of smartphones in the management of such a problem can substantially reduce the risk of road accidents and can combat the loss of human life caused by carelessness. Although the fifth generation (5G) has been introduced, there is still no stability in terms of data transfer rate, and it is not possible to take into account the reference speeds that have transfer rates above 10 Gbps [16,17]. Given the fact that there is a problem with the degree of massive connectivity of users through the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm, we cannot have extremely viable expectations for RF technologies, and therefore we need an alternative.…”

Radio Wave Attenuation Measurement System Based on RSSI for Precision Agriculture: Application to Tomato Greenhouses

“…Agriculture is a fundamental pillar in a country's economy and society; therefore, increasing agricultural productivity through cutting-edge technology contributes to economic progress and the feeding of its inhabitants [1]. In this perspective, technological advancement in precision agriculture (PA) has been accelerated by the Internet of things (IoT), wireless sensor networks (WSN), and even 5G networks [2,3], because almost all techniques used in PA have sensing technology as a common factor [4,5]. PA produces more food with limited resources such as water and soil [6][7][8], effectively increasing the quality and yield of crops [9], a remarkable fact considering the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) states that the human population level on a global scale will increase from eight billion inhabitants in 2025 to nine billion, six hundred million in 2050 [10].…”