Demand for Spectrum from the Rail Sector

1. www.LStelcom.com
DEMAND FOR SPECTRUM FROM
THE RAIL SECTOR
LS telcom | 28.02.2018 | Saul Friedner

2. 2Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
IMPROVED RAIL CONNECTIVITY CAN DELIVER UK
WIDE BENEFITS BUT DEPENDS ON THE RIGHT
ACCESS TO TRACKSIDE INFRASTRUCTURE
Key messages/finding
 Enabling commercial access to NR assets (state aid)
 [hybrid] neutral host – via specialists – national rail
[telecom] asset register
 Private investment with [matched] government
funding/R&D/BB infrastructure
 Consider rail corridor coverage license obligations
 Develop clear metrics for data coverage, speed &
capacity per route/franchise
 Review current franchise obligations for data connectivity

3. 3Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
 Growth in passenger numbers is
slowing but passenger kms is
increasing
 In 2015 there were 66.4 billion
passenger kilometres travelled
Mobile data consumption on trains
 Passenger Wi-Fi
 Real-time passenger information
 CCTV (incident driven)
 Real operational data (Remote
condition monitoring)
Growth in passengers and connectivity requirements
Source: ORR
Source: DfT

4. 4Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
What is driving demand for connectivity in rail?
Depots & Stations
BIG data
Remote
Condition
Monitoring
Train Health
ETCS
CCTV
Passenger WiFi
Passenger
InformationStaff Operations
Retail
Assisted Journeys
Productivity
Entertainment
Disruption
Emergency
Services`
Ticketing
Advertising
RFID
IoT
Energy
Driver Advisory
Loading
CapacityTrack
Monitoring
Rural BB
Utilities

5. 5Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
Traffic demand requirements by 2020
DEMAND 2010 DEMAND 2020
“High quality services on heavily loaded,
high capacity trains, would require at
least 1 Gbps to each train today”- DCMS

6. 6Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
Peak demand for different route types
Estimated
throughput(Mbps)
Potential peak data demand from trains running through 1 kilometer of each clutter type
* Note the Y-axis is a log scale
10 10 10 10
10 10 10 10
200
500
1000
2000
1
10
100
1000
10000
Rural Intercity Suburban Urban
Passengers
NRT
TOCS

7. 7Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
Wireless technology
Technology
Typical
Range*
Typical cell
throughput
Availability
Penetration
(indicative)
Notes
GSM 7-10 km Max 384 kbps 99% pop 100%+ Requires licensed spectrum
UMTS/HSPA 5-7 km Max 42 Mbps 99% pop 100%+ Requires licensed spectrum
LTE 5-7 km Max ~300 Mbps 95 - 98% pop 60% Requires licensed spectrum
LTE-Advanced 5-7 km Max ~1 Gbps 5-10% pop 60% Requires licensed spectrum
5G New Radio
Application
dependent
> 1 Gbps 3 to 5 years N/A Licensing situation unclear
LTE-U/LAA Terrain limited Max ~300 Mbps <1% Early deployment Licence exempt
Satellite incl
high tput
National/
regional
Max 100 Mbps
Within 12 – 18
months
In development
Poor in deep
cuttings/trees/tunnels.
WiFi ~ 500 m Max ~600 Mbps 88% homes Mass Consumer Licence exempt
WiGig ~ 200 m Max ~3 Gbps Next 3 years Early deployment Licence exempt
FWA ~ 500 m ~1 Gbps Next 3 years In development Doesn’t support mobile
Some vendors are prepared to support non-standardised bands
*range dependent on clutter type

8. 8Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
Spectrum options and considerations
Assigned
frequency bands
Technology Licensed/Unlicense
d
Total available
bandwidth
800 MHz 4G (LTE) Licensed 2 x 30 MHz
900 MHz 2G (GSM)/3G
(UMTS)
Licensed 2 x 35 MHz
900 MHz 2G (GSM –R) Licensed 2 x 4 MHz
1800 MHz 2G (GSM)/4G (LTE) Licensed 2 x 75 MHz
2100 MHz 3G (UMTS) Licensed 2 x 60 MHz
2400 MHz Wi-Fi Unlicensed 83.5 MHz
2600 MHz 4G (LTE) Licensed 2 x 70 MHz plus
50 MHz (TDD)
3500 MHz 4G (LTE) Licensed
(UKBB/Three)
124 MHz
5000 MHz Wi-Fi Unlicensed 455 MHz
mmWave (26/28/60
GHz)
5G (NR) Licensed/unlicensed 5-10 GHz
Source: Ofcom

9. 9Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
Spectrum choice and impact to network architecture
 Deliver enhanced capacity by either more spectrum or
improved spectrum efficiency (more bits/second/Hz)
 Carrier frequency and bandwidth impact the ability to
deliver high throughputs
 Should aim for min. LTE-A and LTE-A Pro as the mobile
technology to deliver the required speeds
 Cell edge performance is key which is embedded in 4G
and beyond.
 Wi-Fi may struggle with mobility, handover and cell
edge performance – but there are products available
 Cell loading management is paramount, this can also
be handled in 4G, carrier grade Wi-Fi also supports this
 Traffic shaping and dynamic resource allocation helps
to ensure users have good quality of experience
“It’s possible to have 99.8% coverage signal
of a route but not 99.8% consistent throughput” Critical for network dimensioning

10. 10Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
The case for usage of mmWave
7-10km384 kbps
GSM
5-7km300 mpbs
LTE

11. 11Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
New solution - mmWave usage in rail
 Driver of mmWave  HD video streaming along entire route
PROS: Potentially straightforward and cost effective to
deploy (e.g. boxes on poles)
CONS: Densified network could be complex and time
consuming to deploy across all routes. Is it really needed
everywhere?

12. 12Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
mmWave - Opportunity to serve demand where its
needed
Blend of solutions
 GSM-R/FRMCS  Network Rail
 LTE  MNO/TOCs
 5G  MNOs/TOCs/SPs/OLOs
mmWave to support:
- Capacity hotspots
- Congested areas
- High data offload/sync

13. 13Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
 Is it really needed
everywhere?
 Complex and time
consuming to deploy
 Who will pay for it?
 Could create
congestion
How mmWave bands will be used along the rail
routes?
 This is already available e.g.
BEAM and Eurostar
 mmWave could provide near real-
time provision (e.g. for frequent
updates to demand) for perceived
unlimited bandwidth
 Capacity infills and upgrades to
existing sites will meet demand
growth for passengers
STREAM HD/4K/8K
ON DEMAND
CACHED CONTENT WITH
CONTINUOUS CAPACITY

14. 14Copyright © 2018 by LS telcom AG
THANK YOU
Saul Friedner
sfriedner@lstelcom.com
+44 7931 824500