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13
INNOVATION
June/July 2013 www.esb.ie/em
4G MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
4G (FOURTH GENERATION) IS THE latest technology generation in an ongoing mobile technology evolution. It is the successor of the current 3G standard. The first 4G mobile network to go live in Europe was in Oslo in 2009. Since then there has been a steady roll-out of new 4G networks across Europe, USA and Asia. Globally, there are an estimated 62 million 4G subscribers worldwide, as of February 2013. Rapid growth is expected, with the first billion subscribers by early 2018.
In Ireland, Comreg (telecommunications regulator) held an auction for 4G mobile radio spectrum in late 2012, with the results announced last November. Mobile phones require radio spectrum to operate; this is normally allocated and regulated by Comreg. All four mobile operators, Vodafone, Meteor, O2 and 3 acquired 4G mobile spectrum. Vodafone won the most spectrum and 3 got the least. A total of €855m was raised by the auction, with 50% payable to the Government up front. The fact that the mobile operators were willing to invest this amount to acquire the licenses was taken as a vote of confidence in Ireland's future.
Vodafone is the first operator to announce that they will launch 4G services this autumn, in Kilkenny, with major cities to follow. Normally, operators focus on upgrading their networks in urban areas first, working outwards into more rural, low population areas. A major issue for mobile operators is the lack of handsets that will work on 4G. All current handsets in use in Ireland are 3Gor2G.
To address this challenge, the operators will launch marketing campaigns to persuade subscribers to upgrade their phones to avail of the benefits of 4G. The new 4G phones are backwards compatible, that is, they will also work on the existing 2G and 3G standards.
As a word of warning, the marketing material from mobile operators doesn't usually bother to tell you some of the practical constraints with achieving these types of speeds. For example, distance from the mobile radio mast, the number of simultaneous users, the type of building you're in, all act to reduce the effective speed achievable. Even so, we could expect to see the average speed move upwards from 1Mb or 2Mb on a 3G phone to 8Mb to 10Mb on a 4G phone by 2014.
Other benefits include much less time delay with 4G, so video streaming and gaming applications are much smoother.
Voice and video quality are much enhanced, facilitating good quality video conferencing. It is now possible to have applications ‘always on’ so an application such as Face-book can update your status and location every 15 minutes or so. Since a lot of these applications are ‘location aware', it is also possible to target advertising specifically to your phone, for example, when you enter a shopping centre.
4G will also drive the emergence of an eco system of new types of phones, integrated with computers. We can already see the start of this phenomenon today, with tablets, iPads, laptops, dongles etc. The list is growing by the month. It is expected that 4G will speedup the introduction of new services such as mobile banking, mobile wallet - where you can carry out small transactions on your phone, mobile advertising, remote learning and health monitoring. It is expected that the cost of 4G phones will drop substantially over the coming years and this will open up new markets, based on the ability to cheaply monitor machines. Cars, vending machines, electricity meters, and CCTV cameras; all are potential candidates for remote monitoring using cheap 4G technology.
In summary, 4G technology promises to deliver a host of new services, at a much higher speed to the user, to a multitude of new device types.
Ireland currently suffers from a broadband deficit; about 30% of the population lives in rural areas with limited or poor access to broadband services. Even where access is possible, speeds tend to be very slow and, typically, remote access to email is the only service possible. Some of the new spectrum awarded is suitable for providing rural broadband services via mobile phone or dongle. This will improve broadband access for rural residents, although it will not provide a user experience comparable to fixed line broadband in a city, such as that available from UPC Ltd.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF 4G?
Faster speeds to the handset to begin with. The fastest speed currently available in Ireland is 21.2Mb to your handset. This speed will double to 42Mb on 4G networks by the end of the year. Over the next few years, speeds will increase upwards; so by 2016, speeds of up to 1Gb are forecast. The rise of cloud computing and the rise of smartphones dovetail well with each other. Today's mobile phone is effectively a small handheld computer, the computing power of the phone can effectively be increased by the ability to access applications from the ‘cloud', rather than having to store them on the phone itself. In time this will see the disappearance of the traditional desktop PC, whose main disadvantage is its lack of mobility.
World Bank Energy Week in Washington
ESBI
PAUL O'KANE FROM ESB International presented on the topic of ‘Renewable Energy Grid Integration’ at a learning day, part of World Bank Energy Week held in Washington DC on March 4th last.
The conference brought together energy specialists and sector managers from the World Bank and International Finance Corporation to exchange ideas and experiences on projects in the sector. While ESB International has presented previously to World Bank forums, the opportunity to connect with this audience provides an opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in the Renewable Energy sector.
The learning day presentations included firms from EU countries and Canada presenting on extractive industries, offshore renewables, solar energy, biomass to energy, renewables and smart grid. It was sponsored by the Austrian, Canadian and Danish Embassies (commercial section) and the Representative of German Industry and Trade.
Paul's presentation highlighted ESB International's experience of integrating renewable energy on distribution and transmission networks over the past 15 years. He also presented Ireland's challenge to achieve 50% wind generation to demand with a future target of 75% penetration through technology advancements and increased plant performance. Other areas covered were ESB International's capabilities in power system studies, ocean energy and electric vehicles.
The parting message to the World Bank audience is that ESB International are keen to leverage our experience and support developing countries in exploiting renewable energy opportunities.
STAFF BRIEFING OUTLINES 2013 TARGETS
ESBI
ESBI STAFF TURNED out in large numbers to receive an up to date briefing on the business on Friday, May 17th last. A number of international locations were able to join the briefing online.
MD of ESB International Ollie Brogan welcomed the attendees and commenced his opening address with a strong message on safety, emphasising that the safety of staff and anyone they come in contact with as part of their duties was a top priority. He outlined the Advanced Driving Programme that has now commenced in ESBI and appealed to staff to become ‘site safety champions’ when they were engaged in work both at home and abroad.
Ollie went on to outline the growth targets and the opportunities in the market going forward following a ruthless examination of ESBI's business process.
Vincent Flynn, ‘Manager Interna-” tional Operations, in discussing the international business, acknowledged the work done at home for ESB. Vincent brought attendees up to speed on projects across the world that ESBI is involved in including Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Africa, Vietnam and Malaysia. He stressed that there are major opportunities available together with development opportunities for staff and appealed to staff to talk to their managers. Vincent went on to say that much work has been done to lay the foundations for projected growth and while prospects were positive there were many challenges including cost, smart I bidding and resource flexibility.
Following a Q&A session, Ollie Brogan thanked everyone for their continued support and commitment to ESBI. n
Frank Shiel discussed the development of a consistent approach to safety overseas and said there was a direct correlation between low level accidents, near misses and serious injury. Safety plans have been put in place for each country and ESBI was working closely withRisk Management International (RMI) on risk assessment, with a greater focus on auditing going forward. In relation to quality management, Frank then outlined the milestones in 2012 and the quality priorities for 2013.
People and Transformation Manager Joyce Farrell outlined the progress being made from a HR perspective and how the talent available can be further developed. Joyce reinforced the message that resourcing is a top priority if ESBI is to deliver its growth strategy. “Going forward, performance and performance development conversations will be critical,” said Joyce. She also brought those present up to date on One HR Transformation including changing the delivery model, redesigning HR processes, redeploying resources and enhancing HR self services. “Our aim is to attract people and build a committed talent programme,” she added.
