Telecommunication
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- To what extent is tactical blocking of fibre connectivity an issue within the market and which methods are most effective at overcoming it or accounting for it in strategic decision making?
- What are some of the supply chain issues and risks associated with fibre deployment in the next 10 years? To what extent is the UK able to self-sufficiently, domestically produce, fibre and ducting for the needs of the market and to what extent is it reliant on imports?
- Evaluate the technologies that will drive terabit networks: supporting the development of next-gen fibre technology, leveraging opto-electronics, encoding and graphene expertise to deploy a terabit network.
- What are the benefits of connectivity that fibre, cable and other fixed technologies deliver in terms of their improved quality of service to the end user? How can this be understood in terms of its economic impacts?
- What impact do open internet regulations have on the efficient deployment and use of full fibre and 5G networks to meet the growing connectivity demand? How do changes in these regulations impact network investments, deployment and use - e.g. impact on traffic growth, traffic management, costs for ISPs and requirements of new use cases?
- How can advances in communication technologies be used to inform our understanding of trade in digital services?
- What are implications of advances in communications technologies for trade in services?
- What is the value of subsea communications cables to the UK economy, and should the UK seek to attract or incentivise the expansion of the subsea cable network?
- Do firms that adopt one frontier technology, such as 5G, also adopt other cutting-edge technologies?
- To what extent does innovation and competition between companies promote network technology evolution and interoperability (e.g. between systems, equipment, etc)? For further relevant questions on market competition and cooperation see BDUK section 2.
- What broader science/tech sectors have the most spill-overs with the telecoms sector?
- What are some of the emergent technologies which will increase the need for gigabit connectivity for (i) residential premises; (ii) business premises?
- What impact will the copper switch off have on the resilience for networks and their usage? How might it impact public sector service providers, such as care homes, emergency services and other NHS sites? How aware are customers that the copper switch off is taking place and what risks come from this for the market?
- What are the current telecoms supply chain/RAN market concentration risks and how are they evolving? What has been/will be the impact of the economic and geopolitical risks on achieving greater market diversity. How could future technological trends affect market concentration risks in telecoms supply chains?
- In what ways do security interventions (under the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021) in the telecoms market have an impact on investment within the sector? How is this broken down, in a quantitative manner, by fixed and mobile infrastructure?
- Evaluate the technologies that will drive clean networks/power efficiency: harnessing semiconductors and AI to drive more efficient telecom radios and network optimisation.
- How do changes in technology usage and market structure change the risks faced?
- What will be the role of terrestrial and non-terrestrial (satellite and intermediate platforms) in delivering high quality mobile coverage and capacity across different regions of the UK? What regulatory changes will be needed, including on spectrum management?
- How can small cell technology support the delivery of mobile coverage and capacity across the UK? What are the advantages and limitations of incorporating this technology into delivery strategies?
- How will the mobile market be affected by reaching 95% coverage of the UK and increasing competitiveness across regions of the UK by 2030?
- How does the mobile network landscape differ by quality and capacity across the UK for rural and urban areas? Additionally, how does this differ for transport specific contexts?
- To what extent are telecommunications companies investing in research and development to devise and implement alternative ways, to traditional telecoms mast structures, of expanding wide area mobile coverage across the UK? Low altitude balloons; repeaters etc.
- What is the current forecast of non-fibre based technology (including anything capable of delivering speeds above superfast but below gigabit[30Mbps - 1Gbps], or speeds which exceeds gigabit [>1Gbps]) and its role in delivering broadband connectivity to homes and businesses where fibre is not feasible? What is the lifespan and redundancies of these technologies?
- To what extent will mobile market consolidation impact: (i) mobile coverage, (ii) consumer choice, (iii) consumer behaviour? How might the government or regulatory body need to prepare or intervene?
- Given that Wi-Fi is the go-to access method between fibre to the premises (and Gigabit capability) and user devices: (i) identify options for future evolution of Wi-Fi technologies and network architecture in premises (domestic and business) that will match the data capacity of fibre? (ii) what are the spectrum implications and options for transitioning to the desirable spectrum requirements (e.g. using spectrum above 50 GHz or LiFi).
- What will gigabit capable speeds not be sufficient for, and will this interact with overall network capacity and/or government ambitions? Does this differ for other characteristics of connectivity such as bandwidth and latency?
- What are the potential unintended consequences of digital technology (5G, ORAN, Fibre, etc) policies and to what extent could the market mitigate them?
- What communication standards between vessels and infrastructure need to be standardised?