\tBrendan Gill, CEO of network benchmarking company Opensignal, warned operators against making false and misleading network claims, arguing they damage credibility with consumers and could ultimately harm 5G progress.<\/p>\n
Gill told Mobile World Live operators are still developing their 5G marketing campaigns, trying to discover what messaging resonates most with consumers. But vague promises backed by dubious network test results can be a recipe for disappointment, both for consumers and operators, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen expectations are too high it can actually backfire\u201d by causing customers to churn. Operators have \u201cto make sure expectations they\u2019re setting align with reality\u201d.<\/p>\n
Conflicting information could also cause consumers and enterprise customers to postpone upgrading to 5G devices until they see whether others reap the promised benefits, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cFake news is a real problem within the telecoms industry and really harmful for progress. Operators globally are questioning what level of investment to put into 5G. The reality of the industry right now is things are pressured, they\u2019re not growing as fast, so nobody\u2019s making investments unless there is a return on investment.”<\/p>\n
“If that investment isn\u2019t going to be recognised because of confusion in the market\u2026then they might hold off or question whether to invest at all\u201d.<\/p>\n
Gill isn\u2019t the only one sounding the alarm: his statements echo comments made by Verizon [1] and T-Mobile US [2] executives earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Experience matters
\nThe CEO acknowledged rival benchmarking methods like drive testing have value as network diagnostic tools for operators.<\/p>\n
However, he argued consumer experience-based metrics (like those offered by Opensignal) will become increasingly important with the advent of technologies such as network slicing, which will give operators greater flexibility to tailor network settings to different types of content.<\/p>\n
\u201cVideo content is treated differently to downloading an app or downloading a webpage\u2026There won\u2019t be such a thing as the speed of the network, speed and latency will depend on the slice, and you will only see those differences with a real world experience approach.\u201d<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/verizon-vp-warns-on-5g-overhype-and-under-delivery\/
\n[2] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/t-mobile-us-slams-5g-hype-warns-on-mmwave-limits\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brendan Gill, CEO of network benchmarking company Opensignal, warned operators against making false and misleading …<\/p>\n
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