Foreign media reported that at the press conference held in London this week, Vodafone UK announced that it was negotiating with Telefónica to remove some of its network shares and is preparing to launch 5G services for the first time in urban areas next year.
The two mobile operators have shared system equipment, including mobile network electronics under the Beacon project initiative, Vodafone UK is responsible for the network in the western part of the UK, and Telefónica UK Ltd manages the eastern network.
The project also includes the London area, Telefónica is responsible for the northern part of the capital, and Vodafone is responsible for the southern part of the capital. But Kye Prigg, head of mobile and fixed network at Vodafone UK, said London's surge in network data traffic prompted operators to abandon the deal.
Kye Prigg told reporters: "We decided to lift the London agreement with Telefónica." This means that in the north of London, Telefónica provides 4G coverage, while in the south, we are doing the same thing, each company will invest its own base station assets.
Network sharing protocols increase the speed at which operators can roll out services and save costs. But Vodafone is clearly concerned that as mobile data traffic continues to increase, quality of service may be affected by shared infrastructure.
This decision sparked questions about the sustainable cooperation between Vodafone and Telefónica in other parts of the country, as both operators are preparing for 5G.
When asked about the relationship between Vodafone and Telefónica in other regions, Prigg said “still to be negotiatedâ€.
“We are discussing with Telefónica about the sharing of 5G. If all the relationships are to be dissolved, it will be complicated. In rural areas, there may be a shared approach, and there may be different developments in densely populated areas.â€
Prigg stressed that Vodafone and Telefónica will continue to share infrastructure in London, even if they no longer share system equipment.
In mobile networks, the infrastructure includes tower assets for supporting antennas and baseband processors. Vodafone and Telefónica will also invest separately in the software used in the radio access network under the new arrangement.
Prigg commented that the progress of the Beacon project has now been completed by about 95%, and the completion rate of less than 70% a year ago.
Vodafone UK Chief Technology Officer Scott Petty said the carrier is likely to begin offering commercial 5G services by the end of 2019, when network equipment and software are in place, but Petty cautions that this service will not be expected to be widely used in the next few years.
Petty said that the biggest uncertainty is when the end user device is ready. The first batch of urban deployments will be realized next year, but it will take about five years to reach a 50% penetration rate.
Earlier this year, Vodafone acquired the 3.5GHz spectrum of 5G services at the government auction, but is still waiting for the authorities to license the 700MHz band.
Petty said: "The high-frequency propagation speed is fast, but the coverage is not good." Next year there will be auctions for low- and medium-frequency, and the combination of the two is very important. â€
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