The Elon Musk Effect at #MWC21

The Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2020 was the first major conference to be cancelled because of COVID-19, and MWC21 has been the first major conference to be back, albeit at about 1/3^rd of its traditional attendance. Satellite continued to grow in presence at MWC 2021 (proportionally), as MNOs take an increasingly open mind approach to 5G and the concept of ‘network of networks’. Elon Musk’s Keynote introducing the Starlink project was in fact the peak moment of MWC21, contributing to raising Satcom awareness among MNOs. Musk announced “2 quite significant partnerships with major-country Telcos”. Unsurprisingly, Starlink is expanding into the Backhaul segment where it can find Telco partners to address the low and middle-income markets; NSR sees a major opportunity in the Satellite Backhaul segment generating $31 B in 2020-30 cumulative wholesale capacity revenues (Wireless Backhaul via Satellite, 15^th Edition report).

Telcos Finally Paying Attention to Satellite

Investments from billionaires such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in Space are raising awareness among the public in general and the Telco industry in particular. In fact, Elon Musk’s appearance in MWC21 was the most crowded event during the show (even with tough competition as Bon Jovi was playing at the same time at TelcoDR’s stand). It is true that over the past 5 years, Satcom’s presence has significantly grown at MWC, but the attention gathered was never close to what Elon Musk achieved, which arguably was primarily attributable to his own personal brand. Nevertheless, the Satcom industry should leverage this now as the whole Telco industry is paying very close attention not just to Elon Musk, but to the entire satellite ecosystem in terms of its role in network integration and as part of next-generation solution sets.

The timing could not be more perfect with the Telco industry going through a profound transformation, adopting major technological changes such as edge computing, Open RAN, transfer of functions to the cloud and integration of Non-Terrestrial Networks. The concept of 5G as a ‘networks of networks’ is now tangible, with Telcos showing an open mind to all these new concepts, and with 3GPP Release 17 (including Non-Terrestrial Networks integration) now taking shape.

5G is a Reality, Let’s Unlock New Use Cases Together

The pandemic has not stopped 5G. On the contrary, COVID-19 has been a catalyzer for digital change, and 5G is rolling out faster than any previous generation. The industry is now seeking to unleash new revenue growth, and the Enterprise segment seems to be the initial target. Satellite has an opportunity to enhance the level of service to current markets (Mining, Mobility, etc.) or participate in the new batch of use cases enabled by 5G including IoT, private networks, cloud and edge-computing.

Again, the mainstream Telco ecosystem is now listening to what Satellite has to offer. The Director responsible for network infrastructure of a major European player commented on a private conversation with NSR, “the country where we operate has exceptional fiber coverage, but we are now considering satellite for IoT, resiliency and off-network connectivity”. For years, terrestrial operators were too siloed on their own ecosystem, but that has changed, and it is now the responsibility of the Satcom industry to offer a compelling solution.

The Road to 6G

This is not a typo. MWC21 witnessed early discussions on 6G and given the accelerated roll-outs of 5G, this might ‘just’ be 7 years away. When we think about the timeline for 6G in satcom terms, it half the life of a traditional GEO satellite and about the full replacement cycle for a LEO constellation. What does the industry want for 6G? Elements such as security, cost and coverage are rated top priorities.

6G conceptualization discusses areas such as ultra-converged networks (Space-Air-Ground-Sea), ubiquitous Gigabit connectivity, ultra-automated networks, AI-enabled interfaces, joint communication & sensing or differentiated experiences. The Satellite industry must start thinking about this long term vision identifying areas where it can contribute.

Bottom Line

Undoubtedly, the best news of MWC21 is that we are leaving the pandemic behind, and the world is progressively going back to normal.

The advances in the Satcom industry, the endorsement from Billionaires such as Elon Musk and the emergence of 5G are creating a new mindset among mainstream Telco industry players. MNOs are now open and curious to hear about what Satellite has to offer to the ecosystem, and it is now up to the Satcom industry to offer an enticing service.

5G opens a range of new use cases that are attractive for Satellite such as Private Networks, Edge computing and Cloud. Some of these users have the urge to embrace 5G now and cannot wait for terrestrial networks to expand, creating perfect opportunities for Satcom. IoT is a massive opportunity as well, with MWC21 witnessing the presentation of the world’s first constellation with NB-IoT coverage by Sateliot.

The journey will not finish with 5G, and future innovations such as quantum will find its room in the 6G framework. Now is the right time for the Satcom industry to leverage the current momentum to participate in the conceptualization of 6G.