Believe it or not, the UK is at the forefront of telecommunications, particularly in Europe, and we are fortunate to witness evolutionary steps unfolding right before our eyes. EE, for example, has demonstrated that it has the fastest data network and the most reliable voice and data capabilities for 11 consecutive years, according to twice-a-year, real-world testing reports from RootMetrics. EE’s acquisition and subsequent integration by BT Group has provided it with an unrivalled fibre network, enhancing data capacity for its mobile network in rural areas and boosting overall performance everywhere.
The main feature in this edition of Housing Technology covers ‘IT innovation and culture’; in line with that, later in this article we’ll look at the innovations we presented at Housing Technology’s Data Matters 2024 event at the British Museum, including the launch of ‘true 5G’, known as 5G Standalone, and the network-slicing feature it enables.
What’s next for us? Well, we’re thrilled to announce an amazing development at Social Telecoms. It’s rare for an organisation to become an EE partner, but we have become part of a small number of direct partners of EE services and the first to specifically target a vertical market – in our case, it’s you, the housing sector.
Where we began…
Our journey in housing began with some of our senior team coming together nearly 25 years ago. Housing associations (as they were being called back then) were popping up as housing stock was transferred from local councils at a time when digital mobile communications, known as GSM or 2G took off in the UK. It was a vertical market we chose and have remained with ever since. We have been dedicated to supplying tailored telecommunications solutions that meet the unique needs of this sector; we have even established a social mission as a Community Interest Company to promote digital inclusion in our customers’ communities.
We have a new chapter with EE and BT Group to celebrate, and we reaffirm our commitment to the housing sector with the best tariff package we feel the sector has seen and with the fastest, largest and most reliable 4G and 5G networks around.
What’s next for 5G?
5G has ushered in another sequel in the saga of mobile connectivity, and the latest is known as 5G Standalone (SA). The first iteration of 5G built on the robust platform established by its predecessor, 4G, which in turn laid the groundwork for the high-speed internet and connectivity we enjoy today. For 5G, the 4G core network provided essential functions such as authentication and session management, allowing for a faster and more cost-effective rollout of 5G services for the short term.
While this was a great starting point, the goal is to transition to the long-term solution of 5G SA. Operating independently to 4G, it unlocks the full potential of 5G such as ultra-low latency and network slicing.
A tremendous amount of work is taking place to get the UK ready for the arrival of EE’s own 5G SA network. EE has already built and moved onto its new dual-mode 5G core, engineers are upgrading RAN sites up and down the country, and they’re incrementally testing and tweaking to ensure that EE achieves its ambition to be the UK’s best 5G SA network when it launches.
What that means is better performance, capacity and reliability from day one, but 5G SA isn’t just about what’s on offer at launch. It’s also about creating a platform for advances down the line in terms of the new services and capabilities it will deliver to consumers and businesses alike – short-term evolution, long-term revolution.
To that end, there’s a massive amount of work taking place in BT’s Network Services, Architecture and Research departments (which already has over 4,900 patents in their portfolio). Not only are they preparing the 5G SA network for launch later this year but also to future-proof it so that they’re ready to capitalise on future developments.
Ultimately, this is where 5G SA will enable game-changing performance which, coupled with the cloud-native benefits of scalability and speed of delivery, will be the catalyst for new services. BT is already the first European operator to achieve 5G carrier aggregation using five component carries (5G CC CA) and promises to deliver potentially even faster 5G SA downlink speeds in the future (up to 2Gbps).
Slicing and dicing
Today, mobile internet traffic is carried across the same physical network. It’s worked to date, but as the amount of data increases and more specialist services emerge, this approach will be less effective; more congestion and less responsive applications spring to mind.
Network slicing is a pivotal feature of SA, offering unprecedented capabilities in customising network resources. Operators can create multiple virtual networks on a single physical infrastructure. Each ‘slice’ can be tailored to meet specific requirements, such as dedicated capacity and latency, making it ideal for different use-cases.
Earlier this year, EE established network slices for gaming, enterprise and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and showed how, by allocating a portion of the 5G SA network to provide dynamic partitions for specific use-cases, optimal performance can be maintained for bandwidth-heavy activities.
This validates the potential of network slicing for housing customers. Using enterprise and eMBB slices configured via URSP rules (which enable a device to connect to multiple network slices simultaneously depending on the application), it demonstrated consistent 4K video streaming and enterprise use-cases using a Samsung S23 Ultra handset.
For emergency services, network slicing isn’t just a technological advance; it’s a lifeline. BT Group, entrusted by the Home Office to provide telecommunications services, provides them with their own dedicated network slices of the EE network. This ensures critical communications remain reliable and secure, even during high-demand situations.
Impact on social housing & local authorities
The rollout of 5G SA will have a great effect on housing providers across the UK. For example, there is the ability to allocate a portion of the network specifically for housing providers’ operations, ensuring reliable and high-speed connectivity for critical services such as emergency response and community support systems.
Imagine a scenario where a housing provider has dedicated network slices for housing management and contact centre systems, ensuring smooth and uninterrupted service even during peak times when the network is congested with heavy traffic from other users. This level of customisation and control resemble a luxury in today’s world but it will soon become the norm.
What you can do next
Earlier this month, Social Telecoms and BT partnered at Housing Technology’s Data Matters 2024 event in London to present the art of the possible with 5G SA and Network Slicing. It was an opportunity to witness at first-hand the impact these technologies will have on your sector and beyond; the video will be available on Housing Technology’s On-Demand service very shortly).
Rob Mottram is the marketing manager at Social Telecoms.
