Why DirecTV Now Delivered Over a Fixed Wireless Connection Matters

AT&T says it will, in the first half of 2017, conduct a trial in Austin where residential customers can stream DirecTV Now video service over a fixed wireless 5G connection. You might think video is a logical app to test over a fixed wireless link, especially when using new millimeter wave spectrum. It is that, to be sure. But it is more.

The assumption is that if millimeter fixed wireless can handle video, it can handle anything a consumer wants to do, and therefore helps validate the use of fixed wireless for access connections, something AT&T already plans to do on an extensive basis, to serve rural customers.

Keep in mind that AT&T already can use DirecTV for linear TV delivery. DirecTV Now is different, as it is an on-demand service. And that means AT&T's networks have to support single, on-demand streams, rather than supplying what is essentially a multicast DirecTV feed.

The coming millimeter wave spectrum for 5G is very good in terms of bandwidth, not so good in terms of propagation distance. That is why most believe millimeter wave spectrum will work best in dense urban areas. But there always are ways to use beam-forming antennae and other techniques to boost output, and that is likely among the attributes AT&T will want to test.

AT&T expects to have deployed more than 400,000 active fixed wireless links by the end of 2017. By the end of 2020, AT&T plans to reach 1.1 million rural locations using fixed wireless. And most, if not all of those connections might use existing platforms and spectrum, not the new 5G platforms and spectrum, unless the new tests prove otherwise.

That is why the DirecTV Now over 5G tests in Austin are important. They will help validate the business case for using 5G in fixed mode, not only to deliver video, but to support gigabit internet access speeds.

Intel Debuts Global 5G Modem

The new Intel 5G modem is said by Intel to be the first global device, capable of delivering 5G in both sub-6 GHz bands and millimeter wave spectrum in regions including the United States, Europe, Korea and Japan. The modem supports initial 5G spectrum worldwide with one SKU.

It supports the 3.3GHz to 4.2 GHz portion of the sub-6 GHz bands enabling deployments and trials in China and Europe. It also supports 28 GHz, enabling deployments and trials in the United States, Korea and Japan  

The modem comes in 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) configurations, including dual-polarization sub-channelization The Intel 5G RFIC (radio frequency integrated circuit) is expected to be available in sample quantities in the first half of 2017. The 5G Modem is expected to be available in sample quantities in the second half of 2017 and full commercial production soon afterwards.

The modem incorporates key 3GPP 5G New Radio technology, including low latency frame structures, advanced channel coding and massive MIMO, Intel says.

BlackBerry Announces New QNX OS for Connected Cars

BlackBerry Limited announced its QNX Software Development Platform 7.0 (QNX SDP 7.0), a 64-bit operating system for the automotive industry and connected cars.

source: Booz and Company, BI Intelligence

AT&T Expects Gigabit Speed at Some Cell Sites in 2017

AT&T 5G Evolution plans for 2017 include an upgrade to 1 Gbps speeds on at least some cell sites on the 4G network. T-Mobile US and Sprint also are touting such speeds on their own 4G networks.

As always, such speeds are possible when carriers use more bandwidth and aggregate channels. AT&T currently is deploying three-way carrier aggregation in select areas, and plan to introduce four-way carrier aggregation as well as LTE-License Assisted Access (LAA) this year.

In the first half of 2017, AT&T also will conduct a trial in Austin where residential customers can stream DirecTV Now video service over a fixed wireless 5G connection.

AT&T says it also has activated its first 5G business customer trial, working with  Intel and Ericsson using millimeter wave spectrum, significantly using unlicensed spectrum.

AT&T also announced plans to team up with Qualcomm Technologies and Ericsson for mobile and fixed wireless trials in the second half of 2017, using the 5G New Radio specification being developed by the industry technology standards group 3GPP.

Those trials will test both mobile and fixed wireless solutions operating in millimeter wave  spectrum in the 28 Ghz and 39 Ghz bands.

AT&T lab trials already are achieving speeds up to 14 Gbps over a wireless connection. The company says, with latency less than 3 milliseconds.

Separately, AT&T says its fiber to the home network has been deployed to four million locations across 46 metros nationwide. More than 650,000 of these locations include apartments and condo units.

By mid-2019 AT&T plans to reach at least 12.5 million locations across 67 metro areas.

AT&T also is testing fixed wireless point-to-point millimeter wave and G.fast technologies, and expects to have deployed more than 400,000 active fixed wireless links by the end of 2017.

By the end of 2020, AT&T plans to reach 1.1 million rural locations using fixed wireless.

The company also is working on Project AirGig, an access platform that operates near, but not over, power lines.

Connected Car Now a Material Revenue Contributor for AT&T and Verizon

The connected car business now is a material factor for AT&T and Verizon, with AT&T selling billions of accounts and Verizon booking more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

In some quarters, AT&T has been adding nearly a million net new connected car accounts, illustrating one of three potential revenue streams from the connected car business. In 2016, AT&T added more new connected car accounts than phone or tablet accounts.

source: Chetan Sharma

source: AT&T

Aside from supplying the mobile connections, AT&T also hopes to sell data and marketing information to car makers, including location and usage information useful for fleet operators.

Also, temporary prepaid internet access accounts also are viewed as an opportunity for rental car fleets or other scenarios where the driver wants to enable internet access for a vehicle on a temporary basis.

source: S and P Global Intelligence

source: S and P Global Intelligence

T-Mobile US Launches IoT Plans

T-Mobile US launched two new low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) connection plans, including the access module. For applications that use a little data, customers can get up to 5MB of data per month for $20 per year per device in the first year and $6 per year per device afterwards.

For unlimited data at 64kbps, connections cost $25 per year per device. For a limited time, these customers get $5 off the first year for each device, T-Mobile US says.

With both T-Mobile IoT Access packs, T-Mobile will cover the cost of a Sequans Cat1 module, up to $16 per module.

Verizon and AT&T likewise have created service plans for unmanned aerial vehicle communications. AT&T’s “Machine Type Communication”  prepaid plans, which target developers and businesses, include three tiers of data and text messages: 1 gigabyte of data valid for up to 1 year and 500 text messages for $25; 3 GB of data valid for up to 1 year and 1,000 text messages for $60; and 5 GB of data valid for up to 2 years and 1,500 text messages for $100.

As always is the case, pricing will be an issue as mobile operators and IoT specialists try to grab leadership in the IoT connections business. In some cases, narrowband IoT networks offer connections about an order of magnitude lower than mobile rates.

Gigabit or 100 Mbps? Largest U.S. ISPs Make Different Choices

Why is Comcast, the largest U.S. internet service provider, pushing to make gigabit service available to all its customers, while Charter Communications, the second-largest ISP, only will sell 100 Mbps?

In each case, the decisions reflect strategic choices about what is required in their markets. Charter, the second-largest ISP, takes a minimalist approach at least in part because many of its systems are in rural areas where 100 Mbps is a top-of-the line service. Comcast, on the other hand, operates mostly in big-city markets where competition from other gigabit providers can be expected.  

That does not mean those suppliers actually expect most consumers to buy their fastest service. In fact, they probably expect that most consumers will not do so. But those expectations also drive thinking about how much investment, and what type of investment, to make it their current generation access platforms.

That is true in other markets, as well.

In the United Kingdom, direct fiber connections on at least one access link remain a small fraction of total internet access connections is about two percent, according to U.K. government estimates. All-copper digital subscriber lines account for 44 percent or so of total connections; fiber-to-curb about 34 percent; and cable TV connections about 21 percent of total.

Speeds of Broadband Technologies as seen in December 2016 (ordered by median speed)
Provider	Ratio of tests	Down Speed of bottom 10% Mbps	Median Mbps	Mean Mbps	Median Upload Mbps	Mean Upload Mbps	Down Speed of top 10% Mbps
FTTH/FTTP	1%	16.7	49.1	72.6	16.3	32	160.1
Cable	20.6%	8.9	43.4	52.4	5.4	6.4	104.9
VDSL2/FTTC	33.9%	13.3	30.1	31.8	7.1	7.6	51.9
Mobile	N/A (*)	2.3	14.5	21.3	3.1	4.4	46
Fixed Wireless	0.14%	3.1	14.3	27.8 (**)	2.1	14.2 (**)	55.4
Satellite	0.04%	1.6	12.2	12.9	0.1	0.3	25.3
ADSL/ADSL2+	44.3%	1.1	5.5	6.8	0.6	0.6	14.8
(*) Mobile was not included in the proportion of tests as the assumption is the majority of the tests are people who have a fixed line option too. (**) We advise caution on these two wireless mean speeds, as they appear skewed to due a small number of tests that are symmetric and in the 200 to 300 Mbps region, this may be people testing connected via Ethernet to a mast or as one or two fixed wireless providers suggest they provide Fibre to the Premises in a small part of their footprint.

source: Thinkbroadband

In the United States, cable TV companies lead, in terms of speeds, for most consumers, even if independent providers and telcos support fiber-to-home networks. In the third quarter of 2016, cable operators had 63 percent of the installed base of fixed internet connections, and have added virtually all the net new accounts (more than 100 share of new accounts), as they  have been for a few years.

That means that cable access platforms will use hybrid fiber coax (fiber plus copper), even if others (AT&T, Google Fiber, independent ISPs) deploy fiber to home networks. Cable operators use HFC because they can: gigabit speeds are possible on the standard hybrid networks. Telcos and independent ISPs must opt for FTTH to supply gigabit speeds.

Over the next couple of years, all of Comcast’s customers (Comcast is the largest U.S. ISP) will be able to buy gigabit service, and many of the other leading cable operators will be making that same move. For the moment, Charter Communications, the second biggest ISP, will hold top speeds to about 100 Mbps, across all its territories, though some customers (former Time Warner Cable customers) might be able to buy 300 Mbps.

In rural areas, fiber to home might not always be possible, but cable hybrid fiber coax networks might. That is important because the industry-standard DOCSIS 3.1 platform supports gigabit service on standard HFC cable networks.

The point is that decisions about “speed” vary, even between the largest and number-two U.S. ISPs. So do decisions about “minimum viable” access platforms.