For the want of a nail…
The coronavirus (Covid-19) is in the news at the moment but there is still a large sense that it is happening elsewhere and is unlikely to have an impact here. Certainly, the next few months will be the tipping point that will determine whether it fades away or has a direct impact on lives in the UK.
It will already have a bearing in terms of industry and consumer products. It is difficult to think of an industrial process that doesn’t depend in some way on China. This is particularly true when it comes to electronics. Even where design and production take place elsewhere –Taiwan, Vietnam or the UK for example, it is likely that the capacitors and resistors, the cabling or the enclosure will come from mainland China.
Currently there is talk of production starting again in headline factories like Foxconn at some point between now and the end of the month. https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3050028/apple-supplier-foxconn-resumes-some-production-its-main-china-iphone but no one knows the impact that this level of disruption will have in the supply chain or how long it will take to sort out. Similarly, events such as the Mobile World Congress (MWC) are being impacted by fears about the disease. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/12/mwc-mobile-world-congress-canceled-amid-coronavirus-fears.html
So now is the time to talk to your suppliers and make sure they are putting alternative routes for supply in place. Stock, that enemy of modern JIT business may well be an asset over the next six months. Mobius has already re-evaluated its orders for 2020 and is looking at our Work from Home policies to ensure that, if the worst happens, we can help making sure our customers aren’t caught out for the want of a nail, or a SIM.
For more information about Mobius and how we can help you build resilient communications please contact Julie at [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
Multi-IMSI, eSIM and eUICC, acronymic heaven or hell?
There is some confusion in the market at the moment when someone asks for an eSIM. This usually means an embedded subscriber identification module (SIM)- a semiconductor chip soldered direct to the PCB, rather than the usual form factor we are all use to. But if it’s soldered to the board how can the end customer choose their network?
An embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC), also confusingly called an eSIM, may be the answer. This standard means that you can pick your Operator and roll out across the world. When the device wakes up you can load a local network international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) onto your product and never have to worry about roaming charges since you are always local.
Another big advantage of eUICC is that if you decide to change Operator after your initial contract has run out you can then lift the whole estate to another network with all the negotiating power that brings. The downside is with flexibility comes complication and some additional cost.
Multi-IMSI is sometimes seen as a halfway house. You can load multiple IMSIs onto a SIM so that you can take advantage of Roaming in areas where coverage is thin. You can load local IMSIs if there is heavy lifting to be done. Effectively it turns the SIM into a least cost routing option. So, it looks like eUICC without the additional costs.
But whereas with an eUICC SIM you shift the SIM from one network’s HLR to another, with multi-IMSI the fundamental relationship stays with the original provider. So, if you fall out with them whatever reason the only way to change the estate is to change the SIM. Which in most IoT and M2M applications may not be possible.
With all of these acronymic options you may not know if you have made the right choice until you are three years down the line. If you want practical advice on how to deliver the best solution now and in the future, then contact [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
For an expanded version of this blog please see https://telecoms.com/opinion/multi-imsi-esim-and-euicc-acronymic-heaven-or-hell-2/
MWC and the curiously missing 5G use case
Machine Learning and the Internet of Things will be transformational over the next five years from Security through to Retail and Industrial Internet.
That last part, Industrial Internet, does represent a huge opportunity for those that can deliver Security and Robustness. Whereas track & trace and metering could survive with a ‘good enough’ connection- Industrial Processes have stuck with tried and tested systems because the cost of failure is so high. A ‘get by’ service is not going to entice them into adopting TCP/IP and Mobile communications.
At Mobius we have been focussing on Security and Robustness for 15 years. No one has implemented the level of security that we can offer for private mobile networks. At the same time our uptime both at core and on-street have a seven year pedigree that few can match.
As for 5G? It will happen but it still looks like a solution looking for a problem at the moment. Creating the opportunity for Industrial Internet could well be part of it.
For more information about Mobius can help you build a secure and robust Industrial Internet solution now contact us on +44 1530 511 180 or contact [email protected]
A smooth way through the sunset
It’s been half a year since it started to look like 3G was on its way out in the UK. It has been hard to get concrete information, but it has become clear that the process of re-farming 3G capacity to 4G has already begun. What this will mean is that over the next couple of years 3G units will see a steady degradation in available capacity. Eventually, at some point around 2020 those 3G units will have to drop back to 2G to stay online.
The good news there is that 2G should be available until 2025. But 2G is unlikely to offer the required bandwidth for the application and it is again unlikely that 2G will offer the bandwidth in 2025 that it does now, exacerbating an already bad situation.
Given the longevity of IoT/M2M products (we have SIMs still out ‘on-street’ after fourteen years) and the immediacy of these dates, you would question why anyone is still rolling out devices that aren’t 4G enabled. One reason is cost, as the likely life of a 3G unit shortens so the ticket price gap between it and a 4G unit has grown. It is hard to resist a bargain. The second, more powerful reason is that the buyer may not know that there is only an effective two-year lifespan for that product they have just sourced.
What confuses the matter further is that some Operators can’t upgrade SIMs already out in the field from 3G to 4G. This means that even if the customer can replace the hardware already out there then they are faced with new SIMs, new IP addresses and building an entirely new Access Point Name and Virtual Private Network.
Mobius has already upgraded its UK SIMs to 4G, added the capability to its Access Point Names and put the extra capacity in to cope with the expected uplift in data volume. To find out how easy keeping your mobile network up to date should be contact us at [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
VoIP Ready SIMs
Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) has quietly become the mainstay of fixed line communications. For mobile, the attractions of VOIP are perhaps harder to see. VPN overheads, packet loss and latency all combine to make VOIP over mobile difficult. In addition, incorrect profiles often mean that SIMs often drop down the priority context of Networks resulting in an even worse performance.
Most importantly, costs; the fact that mobile is still a metered service unlike fixed line means that companies have been reluctant to use VOIP over mobile as the data costs can be high in classic price-by-the-MB tariffs.
When it comes to running Fall Detectors, Lone Worker devices and Social Alarms there is a great incentive to adopt Roaming SIMs for a more robust connection. But the voice path on Roaming SIMs can be difficult to manage with two or three intermediary carriers involved as well as the obvious Provider at either end of the call. All of these factors mean delivering quality VOIP over Mobile is not easy.
Mobius only builds low packet loss, low latency solutions. Our Private Network structure means that you can have full PCI DSS accredited security without the overhead of an end-to-end VPN. And using established and traceable hand off points Mobius has been delivering data reliably around the world for 14 years.
As well as a technically better network Mobius now has a unique commercial offering. Data Reservoirs that are multi-network and can be drawn on for up to 12 months ending the gamble of a spike of activity in any one month on any one network.
A high reliability IoT network with a billing platform that can guarantee no overage means that VOIP has become the best option for voice applications on mobile.
To find out more contact [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
That’s the security box ticked
Mobius has just received our Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) accreditation for the 8th year in a row. We think we are the only MVNO to meet this standard. So that’s it; well done to our IT Team and Network Architects, a tick in the box, job well done.
But the process of gaining accreditation underlines that the criteria for a secure system is a continually moving target. Frankly, when we started the process back in 2012 our systems were strong enough that it felt like an easy win. Each year since the list of recommendations has grown, the requirements have got tighter, what we have had to do to keep up has become ever harder.
In the last couple of years, we have had remote penetration tests, attempts from the car park on our Wi-Fi and even inbuilding white hat attacks. The latter has meant that we now have had to restrict any visitors to a Green section of our building while the rest is divided into Orange and Red. Security requirements have changed not just how we handle SIMs and data but how we move around our building.
These physical changes along with the investment in infrastructure, in design and in operations means that security dominates Mobius’ business-as-usual thinking. But what we do is only good for today. Tomorrow will bring new, unexpected, challenges that we will have to invest to address.
You should check to see if your airtime supplier is as working as hard as we are to keep your data and business safe. If not, please contact [email protected] or call us on 01530 511 180 or have a look at https://mobiusnetworks.wpengine.com/why-mobius/pci-dss-and-bsi-accreditation
A year to look forward to?
2020 was a date used so often as target for long term plans it is hard to believe it is now here. Jan 2020 is then a good time to look at what we think this rapidly changing industry will bring in the coming months as well as somethings that haven’t delivered yet.
The last few industry events drew comments about the slow adoption of eUICC. It may simply be caught up in the design cycle of new products or it may be that the higher cost and complexity are putting some companies off. Multi-IMSI, with a couple of exceptions, also seems to be struggling to deliver its initial promise.
A world of seamless communication took a step back in 2019 when EE changed the rules on what could roam on their network and how much it would cost. Will 2020 see further fallout from this decision?
Looking forward 2020 will be the year when full network support for NB-IoT and LTE-M will be delivered. This will be transformative (more so than 5G) by introducing low cost ‘confetti’ hardware with five, ten or even fifteen-year battery life making data gathering and delivery easier than ever before. It will create an aware environment around people and machines with an impact far greater than may seem obvious now.
These new networks will help drive Industry 4.0 and will have a big crossover into Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). We think both these sectors will dominate growth by the end of 2020.
Somethings will also go. Paknet will probably be withdrawn this year. And the sunset of 3G, although talked about for quite a few years now, will still come as a shock to many industrial and government users who were still rolling out new 3G enabled equipment as late as 2019.
Throughout all the changes Mobius will try and keep our customers up to date with the latest information. For more on how we can help you deliver the future contact [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
The sun sets on 3G
With uncertainty about the future of communications we are often asked for recommendations on hardware. Should the designer starting out on a project now go for 2G, 3G or 4G modules or hang on for the imminent arrival of 5G for it to solve all of our problems?
It would be a brave person to say what will definitely happen and this article doesn’t claim a definitive answer but there are a couple of factors to be aware of:
Start with 3G. The problem here is that 4G does everything that 3G does but is cheaper for the Operators to run and faster/lower latency for the end user. So currently there is ‘committed support’ for 3G in the UK only out to 2020. Which isn’t as far as most people expect. Most IoT and M2M units will be 2G/3G so they won’t be stranded but they will perhaps be slower than planned before the end of their design life.
It is often assumed that 2G will be around forever. It has the lowest cost module, and the mast footprint is the largest making it the easy way to support rural sites and low cost applications. But in the UK ‘committed support’ runs out in 2025. Part of the reason why may be the rise of Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT). NB-IoT has lower hardware cost and offers +20dB over 2G in any given location offering much larger cell size, better building penetration and much much better battery life. The mast infrastructure for NB-IoT is already installed and live in a rapidly increasing number of countries around the world with UK going live 2018.
5G is already being heralded as the solution to many problems. Much as 3G and 4G were. But although the technology has become available ahead of schedule there appears to be a lack of appetite, on the part of consumers, to pay more. As a result, this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) was talking about 2020-2023 initial deployment to early adoption and 2023-2025 for mass adoption. And that volume will be crucial in bringing the cost of 5G modules down to a practical level where IoT can adopt 5G as an industry.
As a result of this delay, it is likely that a lot of the features posted as the improvements that 5G will bring will now be cannibalised by the existing 4G networks. NB-IoT also hangs off the existing 4G system (often with only a software upgrade required for the masts) further strengthening that technologies flexibility and stretching its longevity.
The situation is more complex in global terms. In the U.S. some States have already shut down 2G completely, the same is true of many Asia-Pacific Operators. In the Nordics Operators are re-farming their 3G frequencies this year and next while retaining thier 2G service.
Making the right choice of module is crucial, especially in M2M/IoT where product life could easily be seven to ten years. For more information about how Mobius Networks can help you navigate the right way through the future communications roadmap contact us. [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
Systems down
One of the things that used to drive me mad when a network fails is someone saying “Yeah, we thought that could happen.”
When IoT/M2M make the transition to an always on service- this applies to both Operators and MVNOs- the commitment to customers tends to create un-intended consequences.
Even today systems need to be shut down for new software, updates and to address issues such as memory leakage. The adoption of redundant equipment takes the pressure off to some degree but there will always be very little appetite for ‘trying something out’ on a system that your livelihood depends on.
It’s why at Mobius we built a complete duplicate of our system including the dual location and routing aspects. That allows us to simulate a disk failure, a server crash or a complete power failure. We then know how long it will take to rebuild our servers, replace them or what data is lost that we hadn’t thought of. We can load new software and test it with real data on failover before it goes anywhere near a live system.
This ‘wargaming’ means we can try out different scenarios. This is especially useful in trying to gauge the impact of multiple failure scenarios. ‘What happens if this, those and that fail?’ Then the hard work starts, changing the design, having extra servers on standby, changing the routing paths of the system and testing again.
It used to be a bad company would use their customers to train their staff. These days a good company shouldn’t be using its live system to test their network. To find out how Mobius Networks is investing in making the future more reliable and how that can help your company save money contact [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
Stormy times ahead
Long term airtime users will have noticed a change in the pattern when it comes to network disruption. There are more of them, and they are lasting for longer. Mobius logged 92 disruptions in service from our various partners between May 16 and April 17. From May 17 to Oct 17 that rate has risen to about ten a month (Mobius customers on our high resilience package had no interruptions through the same period).
One critical factor is Signal Storms in this change in behaviour. If a network is down Phone Users will try a few times to make a call and then either change location or wait till they know the network is back up and make their calls then, assuming that they have not done what they need to do by another means.
Internet of Things (IoT) or Machine to Machine (M2M) devices rarely have the option of moving. They are also generally set up so that they will keep trying repeatedly to send the data they have through. As each device attempts to connect and can’t the pent-up demand builds like the Thames behind the Barrier. When the network comes back up, instead of the usual hundreds of devices trying to connect every second there are hundreds of thousands waiting to get their vital data through.
This tidal wave can swamp the networks’ ability to accept connections. In the meantime, more machines are adding themselves to the queue to send data faster than the network can process them. Even when the network is back up the problem may continue to grow.
This swamping creates a domino effect from an individual large customer whose servers have gone down, to a MVNO, a network, their partner networks and international connections.
It doesn’t have to have this impact. But the ability for a network or an MVNO to ‘open its mouth’ and swallow that wave is expensive and only required occasionally.
When it does happen, and it is happening more often, you need to be with a supplier who has understood those problems and invested in the solutions. So, you can continue to work without worrying.
To find out more about Signal Storms and the Mobius coping strategies contact [email protected] or call us on +44 1530 511 180
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