3GPP's Release 18 Seen as Path to Broader Satcom Play in 5G
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project's Release 17 earlier this spring opens the door to commercial satellite communications' role in 5G, and Release 18 should open it far wider, enabling far more applications and broader merging of satellite with terrestrial 5G networks, satellite industry executives said Thursday. It's less clear how long Release 18 could take, said Gilat Vice President-Products Gil Elizov at a GVF webinar. Many see a widespread satcom role in 5G being years out (see 2205180003).
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Spectrum fights with mobile networks have reached somewhat of a detente, said Gerry Collins, Intelsat network product management director. Citing the satellite industry moving out of parts of the C band in the U.S. and elsewhere, he said the industry has "kind of come to an agreement with the cellular industry." He said the satellite industry still must make clear the need to maintain the Ku and Ka bands for satellite operations, but it's "in a much more stable position" for jostling for spectrum than four or five years ago.
Release 17 enables direct-to-device IoT applications, Elizov said. Release 18 will enable higher bitrate, more broadband-like connections, and moving more core functions to the edge, he said.
One of its biggest obstructions when trying to secure a 5G role is the satellite industry's lack of standardization, panelists said. "Each one of us is doing things differently," Elizov said. He said 5G is bringing that standardization, with companies moving toward more universal interfaces, waveforms and potentially someday interoperability across different vendors' modems, he said. Echoed Amir Kashanizadeh, SpaceBridge systems engineering manager, market dynamics "will not allow us to ignore 3GPP" and anyone not moving toward standardization "will be eliminated from the market."
Conversely, satellite operators also need to be wary of expensive capital investments like launching satellites only to see other companies reap the value of the traffic going on those networks, Collins said. He said the returns of 4G and 5G are often going to parties other than the ones who built those networks, and satellite operators need to focus on going higher up the value chain "beyond purely connectivity."
5G deployments are "really only at the start," and satellite's role will involve coverage of areas where terrestrial networks won't reach, Collins said. Kashanizadeh said 5G will likely be what breaks down the long-held silos between terrestrial and satellite networks to the point where end users won't know who's carrying their data traffic at any given time.
4G over satellite isn't in the cards because of waveform issues, Elizov said. He said there are waveform issues that still need to be addressed in 5G that Release 18 could resolve.
Release 17 also opened the door to a high altitude platform station role in 5G, but the business model of HAPS and satellite complementing one another still needs to be worked out, said Philippe Llau, Eutelsat telco head. One possibility is delivery of backhaul to and being backup for HAPS operators, he said.