Huawei VP Emphasises the Opportunity of 4.5G for Public Safety
Mao Dun, VP of Huawei Global Wireless Network Marketing, explains how 4.5G will not only pave the way for 5G, but also create new revenues streams for the different vertical markets such as public safety and the IoT.
4.5G has been officially named by 3GPP as LTE-Advanced Pro. However, LTE-Advanced Pro is more related to 3GPP standards. Huawei uses the term “4.5G” for more extensive meanings and the companies view is that 4.5G is the bridge to 5G. Dun says that NB-IOT (Narrow Band Internet of Things) and LiTRA (public safety) are the next blue oceans and he believes that vertical industries will be the next growth point in the following five years globally. 4.5G will allow operators to play a key role in this industry chain and gain new revenue streams.
On the question, during an inteview with TelecomAsia, on how big the opportunity is in the public safety space for 4.5G, he says: "Global investment in Public Safety LTE will be $2 billion by 2020. If we take a look at the terrorist attacks that have happened in many countries in recent years, a more efficient public safety service is necessary. We also find that traditional private trunking networks have very high investment and maintenance costs. But 4.5G provides another way to reuse wide coverage of existing operators’ commercial networks to provide better services such as push to talk, push to video and GIS services using the 3GPP’s standardised LTE integrated trunked radio access technology (LiTRA)."
Besides public safety, many other vertical industries can also be served by LiTRA - for example hospitals, police, harbours, mines, airports, etc.