The open questions in the TLC industry in view of 5G Italy, the international conference of reference on the Italian TLC market organized by the CNIT (National Interuniversity Consortium of Telecommunications), now in its fifth edition. The event will be held in Rome from November 30th to December 1st. The fifth edition of 5G Italy – Towards the TLC of the future – will give space to research, development and implementation activities underway in Italy and in the world and to projects related to PNRR, which provides for the allocation of important investments for the digitization of the country . The organizer of the international conference, the director of the CNIT, Professor Nicola Blefari Melazzi, spoke about it.
Professor, what are the open chapters in the telecommunications sector?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. Among the issues of general policy, we put research first, also considering our role. For years we have posed this theme: the lack of funding, the fragmentation and dispersion of funds, the lack of cooperation between academia, other research centers and industry, the inefficiency and lack of impact of many sources of funding. Now, thanks to the PNRR, we can tackle this issue with appropriate tools.
How?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. An important tool for us is the RESTART program, an extended partnership being negotiated with the MUR, which once finalized will be able to count on 116 million euros in funding and whose planned activities include not only research projects but also important structural and support, such as laboratories, innovation and technology transfer, support for spin-offs and startups, teaching and training, communication and standardization.
Besides research, what is the second topic on the telecommunications table?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. The second problem in our opinion is that of the skill gap, the lack of professionals, technicians and even students in our sector. It is a problem that affects all of Europe and scientific subjects in general, but which in Italy is made more serious by the emigration of our technicians and graduates, not compensated by similar inflows. With the RESTART program we will try to limit this gap with awareness-raising, information and communication campaigns, but above all by working to improve teaching and training and therefore career opportunities for our students.
Moving on to 5G networks, what are the main problems?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. The level of competition in the market and high investment costs put network deployment at risk. This is the most serious problem in the industrial sector. The topic will be addressed with two dedicated panels during 5G Italy, trying to identify solutions that are as systemic as possible.
Professor, this is a substantial change in the 5G picture from a few years ago. Why are we at this point?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. We are at this point because the market has worsened a lot, from the point of view of operators and vendors. Competition continued to erode margins. Investments were needed during the pandemic and 5G requires more. It was also necessary to pay the amounts related to the auctions for the allocation of the spectrum and the energy costs as it is known have increased considerably. The system is therefore under stress.
How can this problem be partially solved?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. There are those who propose to ask for a contribution from the OTTs, something not shared in some European countries, in addition to the obvious opposition of the OTTs themselves, who argue that the customers of the infrastructure are not them and in case it is necessary to make them pay more. users, which clashes with the level of competition in the sector. A slight rate hike would provide some relief but it is not a medium to long term solution.
As for 5G, are there any profitable use cases?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. Here this is an important issue; in recent years we have talked about numerous use cases that are of great interest and usefulness, but which do not seem to generate additional revenues significantly higher than in the past. Even without a real killer application, few applications would also be needed but they are more profitable than the flat rate offered to let’s say normal users, offering 5G instead of 4G.
It is also necessary to break the vicious circle that still sees the lack of a fully functional (stand-alone) 5G network, allegedly because there are not sufficiently profitable applications of the same, while there are no and no applications are developed because there is no net. Now the PNRR is certainly not a panacea but it will help, even from this point of view.
Another important issue concerns virtual operators and above all other non-telecommunications operators in the strict sense that offer connectivity and services.
Are they to be considered as competitors or customers of the operators?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. It depends, both cases occur; in the first, competition is still increasing and it is also done on a segment that could lead to offering services with high added value, for example as in the case of 5G bubbles in which we go beyond private 5G networks, and which include not only connectivity but also edge cloud and related services.
What is meant by ‘5G bubbles’?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. I prefer to talk about 5G bubbles instead of private networks, because the connectivity could still be offered by an operator and then resold. The important thing is that it is a full-featured 5G network, adding services and applications.
And what is the role of the State and the Public Administration?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. The state could and should also be a customer of 5G networks, since it is desirable that the public administration uses this tool in the broader framework of its digitization. In this regard, there is the question of budget to be found but also and perhaps above all of personnel.
What it means?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. Well, traditionally the public administration has typically enlisted professionals with legal, economic, administrative but rarely technical profiles. Things are changing but slowly and not on the whole national territory. It is no longer acceptable today, for example, that even a small municipality does not have this type of staff in sufficient numbers and instead it still happens often.
Do you need more engineers in the PA?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. Of course, let’s say technicians in general. There is a lack of qualified technical personnel. For example, what sometimes happens is that an administration equips itself with a technological functionality through external suppliers and then does not worry about maintenance and updating and more generally the use of this functionality within its processes. The result is that then that functionality or technology remains underused if not worse and that the services rendered to users do not improve. This is mainly because the administration has no staff capable of handling these technologies. To digitize, technicians and competent people are needed within the PA and who work in an integrated way with the other components within well-designed processes.
How will the energy issue be addressed at the next 5G Italy?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. First, from the point of view of improving the energy efficiency of the network. According to various vendor estimates, 5G technology consumes about a tenth of 4G for each bit carried; however 5G will carry more bits than 4G. Therefore, on the one hand, the global consumption of energy will not decrease, on the contrary; however, supporting traffic increases that would still occur with 4G would obviously be worse. Therefore, the transition to 5G is also necessary from this point of view, also because there is another important factor to consider: 5G allows energy savings of the order of 10% in various application sectors, such as transport. A 10% saving in energy consumption in major sectors would lead to a positive global energy balance and which would even cancel the contribution to energy consumption and CO2 generation of 5G itself.
How does it come out? Switching to 5G pays off.
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. Of course it pays off. We need to encourage the transition to 5G. It is like an eco-bonus applied to Tlc. Technologies that consume less must be promoted. It’s like replacing an old appliance with a class A one. 5G is more sustainable, even if it requires significant investments.
What about security?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. We have always addressed the issue in all editions of 5G Italy, given its importance, which appears clearer and more evident in the current international context. 5G is a critical infrastructure, as are telecommunication networks in general. In the case of 5G we also have a significant increase in the attack surface which increases in terms of size (increase in the number of connected terminals, eg, IoT); type (heterogeneity of terminals, services and applications); quality and importance (services of increasing importance and criticality: hospitals, power stations, subways …). Network security requires paying attention to the entire supply chain and the implementation of security assurance, including initial certifications and then tests in the operational environment – DevSecOps, being 5G a software network. Controls need to be more diverse than expected today and include: network functions, interfaces and related security protocols, cryptographic protection.
5G Italy. Other issues?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. There is artificial intelligence which, like energy, will be discussed in the conference from two different points of view: the first concerns the use of artificial intelligence to improve the functioning of the network. The second is the use of networks to support and improve artificial intelligence algorithms.
What do you mean?
Nicola Blefari Melazzi. In the sense that without telecommunication networks it is not possible to generate, collect and transport the data needed to make many artificial intelligence algorithms and related applications work. Other important issues are those of data and relative privacy; that of the cloud / edge cloud and the models that the country intends to adopt and implement in this area; and finally that of the ‘Remote Experience’, with which we became familiar during the pandemic and which includes entertainment, the promotion and use of Italian cultural and artistic assets, remote work, support for industry, as well as education and training.
To find out about the panels, the agenda and participate in the “5G Italy – Towards the TLC of the future” go to https://www.5gitaly.eu/it/home/
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