Huawei and Industry Partners Set Sail for Global RedCap Commercial Release
2023's edition of the Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) 2023 held in Dubai UAE, has seen the release of many exciting 5G features from Huawei and its industry partners. Latest is the commercial RedCap achievements which demonstrate that RedCap has entered large-scale commercial use worldwide with more than 10 carriers from seven countries across the globe successfully piloting commercial RedCap.
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RedCap (Reduced Capabilities) 5G devices are designed to fill a specific niche by offering reduced capabilities. These devices prioritize low battery consumption, affordability, and minimal bandwidth requirements. The reduced capability referred to as NR-Lite (New Radio-Lite), is a streamlined version of the 5G standard tailored for scenarios where ultra-low latency isn't critical, but there's a requirement for reasonable data throughput to support various applications. This approach ensures that users can benefit from 5G technology without the unnecessary complexities and heavy cost.
The RedCap connections are expected to exceed 100 million in the next three years, consolidating a new foundation for digital connections that drives the development of new 5G applications.
As a lightweight 5G technology, defined in 3GPP Release 17, RedCap can ensure an optimal balance between costs and performance for various industries such as manufacturing, electric power, home broadband, vehicle to everything (V2X), and smart wearables. The cost of RedCap modules (down to USD10) is 80% lower than that of 5G eMBB modules. RedCap has 10-fold higher network capacity than 4G and its devices consume 20% less power than 4G devices. It also supports key 5G capabilities such as URLLC, network slicing, edge computing, and 5G LAN to meet diversified network requirements of industry applications.
According to industry experts, RedCap Technology can be used in Smart Wearables, Medical Devices, Video Surveillance Cameras, Wireless Industrial Sensors, and extended reality applications which can drive down the cost of these devices significantly.
This MBBF gathers industry partners including global carriers, industry customers, and device and module vendors to discuss the network deployment, ecosystem, applications, and future development of the RedCap industry. In a keynote speech, Ding Xin, Vice President of TD Tech, shared RedCap industry insights and ecosystem progress by pointing out that RedCap defined new lightweight 5G IoT to enable massive connections and allow us to usher in a new era of cellular IoT.
A series of RedCap commercial achievements were released at the 5G Industry Summit: Huawei, together with China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, has implemented the end-to-end commercial deployment of RedCap in more than 10 cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Foshan, Ningde, Jinan, and Suzhou, spanning industries like manufacturing, electric power, and V2X. They will continue to build a series of commercial RedCap benchmarks. Leading global carriers, such as e& UAE, STC Saudi Arabia, Zain KSA, STC Kuwait, Zain Kuwait, STC Bahrain, and AIS Thailand have also completed the technical verification or commercial pilot for RedCap.
The end-to-end RedCap ecosystem has matured. Huawei and its industry partners including Lierda, Aumiwalker, Hangzhou For-X, and Hongdian exhibited more than 10 products encompassing RedCap modules, DTUs and CPEs at this MBBF. It is estimated that more than 50 industry devices will have been launched by the end of 2023, accelerating the deployment of RedCap applications and scaling up of its connections.
Looking ahead, Huawei will work alongside global carriers, industry customers, and device and module vendors to promote large-scale RedCap network deployment and enrich applications, realizing a prosperous ecosystem that will inject new impetus into the development of the 5G industry and vitalize the mobile economy.
The Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2023 themed at "Bring 5.5G into Reality" is hosted by Huawei, together with its industry partners GSMA, GTI, and SAMENA. Held on October 10 and 11 in Dubai, UAE, this annual forum gathers mobile network carriers, vertical industry leaders, and ecosystem partners from around the world to explore the success of 5G commercialization and accelerate the commercial use of 5.5G.