Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

5G

Significant progress has been made with 5G. We’ve seen the 5G footprint improve across all networks. EE, O2, and Vodafone have also deployed 5G standalone in the last 12 months.

Standalone 5G delivers on the full promise of 5G with lower latency, higher data speeds, better efficiency, improved reliability and support for large-scale IoT.

2025 will continue to see both the 5G footprint and 5G capabilities improve.  2025 will also see the merger of Three UK and Vodafone, which should provide improvements for customers of both networks.

The PSTN Switch-Off

The PSTN switch-off will have a huge impact on the channel. For Jola, it has been the underlying reason for the majority of the growth we’ve experienced over the last 12 months. This compelling event leads businesses to reevaluate how they use telecom services to meet their business needs.  The conclusion in many cases has been that 4G and 5G services can do more for less without the complex or time-consuming installation of replacement fixed lines.

Satellite Connectivity

Satellite has the potential to have a significant impact on the channel.  Most resellers will be familiar with the need to deliver solutions to multi-branch businesses.  These businesses could be offices, retail locations, petrol forecourts, schools, EV charging stations, etc.  The reality is that a single operator is unlikely to be able to deliver the right service, on time and budget, to all these locations.  5G and satellite are an ideal solution to be installed rapidly and provide fibre-like performance, either as a precursor to fibre being installed or as the permanent solution.

We recently worked on a large retail rollout where satellite was chosen as the standard delivery mechanism and alternatives chosen only where satellite couldn’t be installed due to landlord restrictions.

4G and 5G MultiNetwork Connectivity

Low-cost 4G & 5G data multi-network SIMs have solved the affordable reliability conundrum that end-users have faced for years. Broadband connections can be unusable for days with no compensation, while Ethernet circuits cost ten times as much and still offer no guarantee of 100% uptime. A second fixed line is expensive and offers little comfort because it relies on shared infrastructure. If you were climbing a rock face, you wouldn’t attach your second rope to the same piton. Multi-network SIMs further improve SLAs and negate the need for expensive site surveys, while Private APN options steer traffic away from the public internet, considerably improving security.

Continuous Connectivity

In today's all-IP world, maintaining continuous internet connectivity is crucial. Implementing 4G or 5G backup solutions ensures that operations remain uninterrupted during primary connection failures. An ever-increasing number of devices are being connected therefore a resilient network is of utmost importance. A prime example of this is in the retail market. Keeping retailers online to ensure they can continue to transact and collect customer data is vital. 5G backup solutions mean no lost revenue during primary failover.

Reliable Connectivity

MSPs & resellers can capitalise on this demand by offering reliable mobile connectivity to ensure seamless backup during unexpected disruptions. Mission-critical applications such as lift lines requiring battery backup and a move-off PSTN will benefit from 5G backup.

Routers that provide in-built battery backup for power autonomy in the event of a building outage allow businesses to remain online.

Mobile Data

Mobile data provides a separate network path, reducing end-user vulnerability during a DDoS attack. Jola is the first mobile service provider to route all our public fixed IP SIM traffic through Cloudflare to provide best-in-class, always-on, real-time threat protection.  As a result, our partners and their end-users are protected from reputational damage, financial impact and data loss that could otherwise result from the 1000s of cyberattack attempts.

By focusing on mobile data connectivity as a backup strategy, channel companies can deliver effective solutions that minimise downtime, protect against disruptions, and enhance business resilience.

Demand for high-speed, low-latency mobile connectivity for M2M/IoT solutions is growing. The logistics of distributing physical SIMs to multiple locations, potentially at short notice and on a network which is known to have coverage at each site is challenging. To solve this problem, Jola launches a range of multinetwork tariffs, with 5G connectivity via QR codes or physical SIM cards.

Site surveys are expensive to check mobile network connectivity in each location and ensuring SIMs are distributed to the right people at the right time is essential. End-users need the benefits of 5G connectivity and the resilience of a single SIM that can connect to multiple networks. Jola 5G-enabled, MultiNet QR codes meet these needs and reduce costs considerably.

Lee Broxson, Jola’s CSO commented, “Our channel partners have been asking for SIMs that tick all these boxes and they now have access to them via Mobile Manager. Customers want 5G as soon as it is available and LTE-A access until they do. A single SIM that delivers the above but with connectivity on 3 UK networks, 4 UK networks or 3 UK/European/USA networks is a game changer.  Offering QR codes helps to reduce operational costs, simplify rollouts and reduce carbon footprints, which is win for our partners and their customers.”

The channel has an essential role in educating businesses to adopt new technologies. It is our responsibility to highlight products being switched off, such as 3G and PSTN, to help companies prepare, with improved, more cost-effective solutions.

Vehicle trackers, payment terminals and industrial handheld devices will stop working as 3G is switched off unless companies are presented with a future-proof solution.

5G is becoming more widely available and 5G hardware is reducing in price, making 5G a viable alternative to fixed line connectivity in some areas, offering customers a faster, more reliable solution.

Improving online security is becoming more of a priority with Denial-of-Service attacks on the increase. Jola has been running Fixed IP traffic over Cloudflare for many years protecting connected CCTV cameras and smart devices from attack.

Trusted advisors

End-user businesses don’t ask for information about a product, they ask for help solving a problem. The supplier who understands the challenges and proposes a simple, cost-effective solution, becomes the go-to advisor for similar challenges in the future.

Jola took home two awards at the Comms National Awards last Thursday night at the Park Plaza Hotel in London. We won Best Partner Programme over £10m turnover and Best Partner Portal for Mobile Manager. We also won Highly Commended for Diversity Equality & Inclusion.

The judges shortlisted over 200 entries, a record number, from 101 suppliers and resellers including other well-known channel businesses such as BT Wholesale, Talk Talk Wholesale, Giacom and Gamma.

Adrian Sunderland, Jola's CEO, commented, “We are thrilled to win these awards and proud to sponsor the Mobile IoT Reseller categories. This is an incredible achievement, and I want to extend my thanks to our suppliers, partners, and amazing team for their continued support and dedication. It was a fantastic evening.”

5G in the UK

Investment

The UK was one of the first markets to launch 5G. As soon as this happened all mobile network operators in the UK ramped up investment in 5G. Three UK invested over £2 billion as part of a five-year program to deliver the UK’s Fastest 5GNetwork. These investments included network intelligence to enable data-driven network improvements. As a result of their network investments, Three has won the Speedtest Award™ for Fastest 5G Network for four consecutive award periods including Q3-Q4 2022, Q1–Q2 2022, Q3–Q4 2021, and Q1–Q2 2021.

Spectrum

When the United Kingdom auctioned off spectrum licenses in 2021, Three acquired the largest dedicated band of 5G spectrum — 140MHz frequency across several 5G spectrum bands, including a 100 MHz block of contiguous spectrum in the 3.3-3.8 GHz band.

Three has the largest single slice of 5G spectrum of any network provider. The contiguous spectrum is dedicated to 5G, allowing uninterrupted data flow across the Three Network, providing higher speeds and lower latency. Three has the world’s first 5G-ready fully Cloud Core Network managed from 20 new data centres across the UK and currently provides over 61% of the UK with 5G coverage.

Demand

Demand for cost-effective, unlimited SIMs from the channel, has never been so high, for use in, phones, 5G routers, pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up. Applications range from digital signage and mobile broadband to bus and train WiFi, monitoring and smart devices.  Every day, resellers, manufacturers and service companies are finding new uses for 5G mobile data and this is unlikely to slow down.

According to the Ofcom Connected Nations 2022 report, the pool of 5G capable devices increased from around 10% in 2021 to 20% in 2022, while data traffic carried over 5G tripled — from 3% of all traffic in 2021 to over 9% in 2022. In April 2023, as part of the new Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, the government set out its ambitions for all populated areas to be covered by “standalone” 5G by 2030, increasing from 77% of the population already having access to 5G from one provider using 5G NSA. 

Speeds

If you have customers with a need for 5G, trial Three Business unlimited SIMs. Packaged with 5G Routers they are perfect for primary and secondary connectivity in remote areas with external antenna speeds can far exceed those of available fixed-line connectivity and are faster to install and more cost-effective.

New hardware for FTTP and 5G

We are seeing significant demand for single devices that support Gigabit Ethernet and 5G or for 5G devices that can sit alongside Gigabit Ethernet routers.  Internet connectivity is now mission critical to virtually all businesses whether they are SMEs, mid-sized or the largest of enterprise or public sector.  For the channel, these devices need to be robust, reliable and manageable out of the box.  At Jola, every single device that we supply includes unique software that we’ve developed in-house to make the device provisioning zero-touch and to enhance the remote support that the reseller can provide.  Supplying hardware isn’t just a case of shifting a box anymore, now the reseller needs to make sure it will work perfectly with the customer’s particular mix of connectivity as well as any wide-area network-specific requirements such as SD-WAN or VPN connectivity to other locations.  

Benefits

The latest generation of equipment is significantly more powerful than what’s gone before.  Two years ago, using the best external antennas, a typical cellular router, even from a premium brand, would struggle to perform much beyond 40Mbit/s.  The constraint was both the device itself but also the cellular service available.  In a recent test, our entry-level 5G router, inside a building, using its internal antenna delivered 490Mbit/s.

The other major benefit of the new equipment is the cost savings.  Our average leased line customer has 100Mbit/s of bandwidth but our average FTTP customer has 300Mbit/s available to them.  On average our 5G customers achieve speeds of 276Mbit/s (using the Three UK network).  FTTP is around 80% cheaper than a leased line and 5G is around 97% cheaper than a leased line!

This has been true for UK resellers since deregulation in the early 1980s through the launch of the first competing telephone service to BT in 1986, fax, telex, ISDN, 21CN and now the transition of everything to IP. At the same time, the constant need for more speed drives another fibre revolution creating a plethora of local, regional and national fibre companies. Similar to what happened to cable companies in the 1990s these will inevitably consolidate into a handful of national providers. Most will get bought and some will go bust.

This move to full-fibre brings challenges as well as opportunities. BT has led the way with its ‘unbreakable’ proposition and for ISPs to compete it must develop its own Layer 2 4G/5G proposition. Unless they decide to build their own mobile infrastructure, this requires network integration with a mobile data aggregator. Neither solution is technically trivial and ISPs need to be careful to evaluate the technical competence of potential suppliers before deciding which way to go.

The networks are already switching off their 3G networks and there are thousands of routers out there that need to be replaced to work with LTE. This is a great opportunity for MSPs, many of whom are unaware that their customers are using mobile data already. A channel-only aggregator will use their experience to help you find and replace these with high-margin, high-value alternatives.

Finally, the move to all-IP is bad news for customers of the millions of single telephone lines servicing lift lines, retail, alarm lines and healthcare services. Rather than pay twice the monthly rental for a SOGEA service they are choosing to use tailored 4G/5G products. Apart from hitting the price point, these get around logistical issues like laying cable across third-party space.

Supported by BT Wholesale and Robustel, the BT Tower was packed with Jola partners and prospects on 27^th September. Over seventy channel partners and prospects gathered to hear about the latest hardware and network innovations and how these are creating high-recurring margin opportunities for resellers and MSPs. With legacy mobile and PSTN networks being decommissioned, there is no better time for the channel to sell mobile data.

We are seeing significant demand for single devices that support Gigabit Ethernet and 5G or for 5G devices that can sit alongside Gigabit Ethernet routers.  Internet connectivity is now mission critical to virtually all businesses whether they are SMEs, mid-sized or the largest of enterprise or public sector.  For the channel, these devices need to be robust, reliable and manageable out of the box.  At Jola, every single device that we supply includes unique software that we’ve developed in-house to make the device provisioning zero-touch and to enhance the remote support that the reseller can provide.  Supplying hardware isn’t just a case of shifting a box anymore, now the reseller needs to make sure it will work perfectly with the customer’s particular mix of connectivity as well as any wide-area network-specific requirements such as SD-WAN or VPN connectivity to other locations.  

The latest generation of equipment is significantly more powerful than what’s gone before.  Two years ago, using the best external antennas, a typical cellular router, even from a premium brand, would struggle to perform much beyond 40Mbit/s.  The constraint was both the device itself but also the cellular service available.  In a recent test, our entry-level 5G router, inside a building, using its own internal antennas delivered 490Mbit/s.

The other major benefit of the new equipment is the cost savings.  Our average leased line customer has 100Mbit/s of bandwidth but our average FTTP customer has 300Mbit/s available to them.  On average our 5G customers achieve speeds of 276Mbit/s (using the Three UK network).  FTTP is around 80% cheaper than a leased line and 5G is around 97% cheaper than a leased line!