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UK 5G deployment faces challenging economics, cyberrisk

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UK 5G deployment faces challenging economics, cyberrisk

As consumer demand for faster broadband aligns with the rise of the internet of things and connected homes, the opportunities that 5G networks bring are evident.

But with 5G deployment moving closer to becoming a reality in the U.K., the technology's challenging economics and growing cybersecurity threats could prove to be major stumbling blocks, participants said at a May 16 seminar hosted by the Institute of Telecommunications Professionals in London.

Mansoor Hanif, a member of the 5GUK Advisory Board, an industry body backed by the U.K.'s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said operators are still trying to build the business case for 5G.

"The reality is it's a very tough, competitive market in the U.K.," he said on a panel, adding that operators in markets such as Germany and the U.S. had enjoyed higher average revenue per user than their British counterparts due to greater willingness to spend on the types of technology that 5G will enable.

"[Monetization] is very challenging, especially in the U.K.," Hanif said.

His comments echo an earlier grievance by Balan Nair, former chief technology officer at Liberty Global PLC and current president and CEO of its Latin American and Caribbean operations, who said in 2017 that the economics behind today's state of mobile broadband would not justify the capital investment required to make the step up to 5G.

Heightened cyberrisk

The panel also highlighted the heightened cyberrisk that the new 5G standard will face. In 2017 global security software giant McAfee reported a 59% increase in ransomware year over year, with 35% growth in the fourth quarter alone.

"We're now opening the network a bit more ... so the attack domain is probably widening," said Bhupinder Singh, customer solutions Architect at Cisco. He added that Cisco is investing "quite heavily" in security infrastructure as a result.

Security is particularly pressing given the expected proliferation in connected devices.

The number of IoT devices is expected to surpass that of cellphones for the first time in 2018, with 29 billion connected devices projected by 2022 — of which about 18 billion will be IoT-enabled — according to forecasts by Swedish communications giant Ericsson.

"With connectivity increasing ... the vulnerabilities are increasing," Hanif said, adding that more connectivity and devices would inevitably translate to greater risk.

The panel agreed that U.K. operators are up to the task of resolving investment and cybersecurity challenges, but said it would largely come through cross-industry partnerships and collaboration.

Paul Adams, marketing director U.K. and Ireland at Nokia Corp., said partnerships would be crucial given that, unlike 4G and 3G, 5G had been developed by numerous vendors working together with service providers.

He said that 5G is "fundamentally different to what went before. ... It's a much more inclusive development than what was on before."