Fibre Could Slow Down 5G

“Without affordable fibre access, 5G will remain largely stuck in the slow lane,” experts have warned.

15:34 22 January 2019

Mentor, a UK-based company that specialises in advising alternate network operators, have recently published a whitepaper entitled "How 'mobile-centric' fibre networks will make the UK a 5G leader." 

 

The report highlights the reasons why the UK's mobile network operators (MNOs) are in a bit of a fix due to a lack of access to economically-viable fibre backhaul for small cells casting a long shadow over 4G densification and 5G. 

 

Mentor explained that the lack of regulatory incentives for fibre-to-home investment is the main reason why there is now a shortage of fibre infrastructure. Wholesale fibre network operators in the United Kingdom are currently not obligated to lease dark fibre to mobile operators. 

 

Lending credence to the Mentor view was Derek McManus, Telefonica UK’s Chief Operating Officer. He said: “Dark fibre rings are the best technical solution, but they’re not available. What we have are [fixed wholesale] networks built for point-to-point and business-to-business use. They’re difficult and expensive to deploy and aren’t really suitable for mobile”