We are living in an era of fast changes and huge economic and social developments that cannot be contained by a single individual or institution. For some time, these changes seemed to follow a natural trajectory. However, the arrival of the Internet, global connectivity, and the spread of digital technologies, including mobile phones, have radically altered this trajectory.
With respect to LTE, we are witnessing a tremendous increase in usage of LTE networks, starting with the launch of the LTE Advanced standards in the year 2010. In 2010, the deployment of LTE Advanced reached around 10%. At that time, LTE Advanced was in active development phase. LTE Advanced has been rapidly scaled-up and advanced, reaching up to 60% coverage of the entire U. cellular network.
A key challenge to the continued deployment and improvement of LTE is the limited coverage area of LTE Advanced. LTE is not fully LTE, i. , it was launched without any LTE features and only with LTE features. The LTE Advanced standard was only developed for coverage in the U. , and other countries are still in the development of LTE Advanced.
The development of 5G and its applications, ranging from the integration of 5G with existing LTE networks, to 5G solutions based on network slicing, has become increasingly important. This is a key driver of changes in demand for the evolution of LTE.
Today, the majority of LTE networks used at the moment are LTE-Advanced networks, or UEs. Only a few LTE-UEs are implemented in other countries and they are either on the standard version (LTE-U) or LTE-A.
Because LTE-U is only standard LTE, it has a limited coverage area, because LTE-U uses a limited number of antenna elements in the 5G network and it will not have as wide coverage in the future as LTE-Advanced. Another important feature of LTE-U is its compatibility with the LTE-Advanced standard. LTE-U has a baseband version similar to LTE that covers at least 60% of the maximum allowed LTE coverage area. However, it is not full LTE, and it is only a LTE version of LTE-U.
The emergence of 5G technologies and the applications of 5G will require LTE coverage.
Moreover, why use private LTE/5G networks for organizations?
Last week I reported that a security vulnerability that could allow an attacker to hijack your personal data such as your phone number and other personal information is being being exploited on the Chinese government’s 5G network. The main objective of this report, which appears on Network Security, is to explain why it is a bad idea to use private LTE/5G networks for organizations.
Increased data throughput: 5G uses a carrier aggregation system, which can use either the high-speed spectrum (up to 1 GHz) or the lower-speed spectrum (down to 2 GHz) that we use today. If an operator is able to use the high-speed spectrum, it can effectively double the capacity of a given cell. In the past, 4G LTE/3G technologies used the low-speed spectrum (down to 600 MHz), but since LTE/4G LTE is based on the same technology as today’s 4G network, the bandwidth used to deliver services has effectively increased.
The bandwidth used to transmit data is also doubled, and this is why large, high-speed networks such as those provided by GSM or 3G networks are not suitable for organizations. By using this technology for organizations, they will not be able to increase the capacity and capabilities of their small cells. In addition, the data and network traffic that needs to go through the 5G network will be transmitted over a smaller bandwidth (2 GHz), so it will not need to be encrypted.
With these reasons, carriers have decided to deploy 5G networks in order to deliver a 5G network.
First of all, it is recommended that organizations should take care to choose an operator that uses a system that is optimized for organizations. This means that it will not be suitable for small cells with lower capacities, small cells with few users, and so forth. It will also help to choose an operator that has an ongoing commitment of providing services to organizations.
Permanently fixed networks with little or no security are on a dangerous path. The potential for a major cyberattack through a fixed LTE or 5G network is significant. The security gap also applies to any device connected to such a network. Therefore, a company should not wait for a vulnerability before patching its network.
A private 5G/LTE network is no different from the public one. However, the difference is that the devices in the private network are much more likely to have sensitive data at its disposal. Therefore it is important to make sure that the data is protected and the network is more secure than the public one.
The most obvious threat that comes with these networks is cyberattack. When a cyberattack occurs, the perpetrator steals sensitive data from one or more devices. From the perspective of the network provider, it would be a lot easier to patch up the network than it is to actually find the hacker.
Network attacks may involve stealing data that belongs to a single user rather than to a company or device. For example, a cyberattack might steal the location of a user or information on a device.
Such an attack can be done through a public or private network, but it is not impossible. Since a company has little control over this type of threat, it makes sense to add extra security at the company level to protect sensitive data.
A private network with little security is a bad idea. The hackers are likely to steal sensitive data from the company and to exploit other weaknesses within the private network.
A company should also consider the impact of malware on the network. If a company owns a significant network, it will make sense to have extra security at the company level.
A company is also best advised to make regular security backups of the network. If the network is hacked, the company should be able to recover a backup and resume normal operations.
A company that has a large and expensive network, however, will also have additional security risks.
Tips of the Day in Network Security
1) Don’t believe everything you hear.
If you hear that a company is using some new and expensive method like using an SSL certificate or a TLS 1. 2 cipher, it’s a red flag.
A red flag is when the security of the product is affected.
This is a warning sign that something might be fishy in the company’s business practices.
The company uses the cloud.
All that being said, the only company that can be trusted to keep their information secure is the company itself. It means the company must be able to prove they are the company that keeps the information safe.
2) When something is suspicious, it’s better to take action first.
If you don’t like the way something is done or the company is just trying to take advantage of you, it might better to call customer service and ask for help.
Spread the lovePrivate LTE/5G networks: drivers and challenges We are living in an era of fast changes and huge economic and social developments that cannot be contained by a single individual or institution. For some time, these changes seemed to follow a natural trajectory. However, the arrival of the Internet, global connectivity, and the spread…
