Industry Thought Leadership

Full 5G - Taking 5G Further to Bring You a Fuller Experience

January, 2022
Nasser Al-Hamlan
General Manager - Network Planning & Design

stc Kuwait

stc, a world-class digital leader providing innovative services and platforms to customers, enabling the radical transformation of the telecom industry in Kuwait into an as-a-Service model in line with Kuwait’s 2035 vision “New Kuwait”. stc has been the first to launch 5G End-To-End Standalone (SA) network in MENA region, and has successfully accomplished the widest network coverage using 5G Sub 3GHz which is the 1st of its kind in the Middle East region.

stc updated its network to support both Standalone & Non-standalone 5G devices, while continuing to enhance its 5G SA with initial focus on eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) and now with the 5G SA launch enhancing the value chain to support of uRLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication) and mMTC (Massive machine type communications), to fulfil a wide-range of industry transformations and business model requirements serving needs of startups, SMEs, large enterprises and government sectors.

stc launched the unique campaign of FULL 5G Experience to maintain and reinforce our pioneering position as a digital transformation leader as we have always been a pioneer of change, offering enriching experiences. FULL 5G is here to ignite the next big leap in 5G experience and we’ve named it FULL 5G for a reason - it takes 5G further to bring you a fuller experience in 3 distinct ways by ensuring Full coverage, Full speed and Full experience of 5G to our customers as it’s based on the most advanced 5G Standalone Technology (SA), introduced by stc for the first time ever in Kuwait. Operating exclusively on 5G core and 5G equipment, it opens new possibilities.

The Full 5G will unleash a digital transformation in a wide range of fields by enhancing the 5G coverage to higher floors as compare to 4G network, and to deeper indoor 5G coverage. The features provide enhanced experience to delay sensitive applications like gaming, CCTV, and enable to launch new emerging services, such as VR, AR, connected drones, and so on. The 5G SA enabled with Sub-3Ghz technology allows 5G signals to pass through buildings to provide better 5G coverage both indoors and outdoors, and lets consumers enjoy better constant 5G broadband experience and deeper 5G indoor coverage. 5G Sub-3Ghz has the potential to change consumer expectations making internet download and upload speed less of a problem. The 5G Sub-3Ghz technology is already supported and consumers can get its full benefits by new smartphones from leading smartphone manufacturers.

5G SA technology enables different verticals to get advantages of stc’s 5G network by creating end-to-end isolated logical private networks that share resources in a secured, isolated and efficient way – so called Network Slicing. The 5G based Private Network based on Network slicing allows public and private corporations increase their levels of efficiency and increase revenue when building their private networks, without the hassle of investing in new infrastructure, acquiring new spectrums, developing coverage, and getting capital assets. stc will also be able to offer diversified digital services to verticals, such as guaranteed SLAs through SA, especially the enhancement in uplink and lower latency to enhance its “Dedicated Access” portfolio with new Cloud based services like Cloud CCTV with AI, Smart Office, Safe mobility with 5G live bus and VR/AR applications commercially offered to enterprises with high-end speed and latency experience tailored to their service needs.

Both 5G Sub-3Ghz and Stand-Alone Services realize improved coverage experience to delight consumer broadband hungry application requirements, such as online gaming, social media and residential mobile broadband services, without worrying about data or bandwidth! Compared to the legacy 4G technologies, 5G brings massive latency improvements to the gaming experience enables quick response interactions. Nowadays, stationary or on-the-go online gamers can feel performance different whether they are playing online or lively streaming their gaming, thanks to 5G low latency and enhanced uplink data speeds. Mobile Consumers enjoy wider 5G coverage connectivity which allows more "headroom" for higher-definition images and video, and faster upload speeds saving their time and effort to quickly reach their social communities. Social consumers who have 5G logo displayed on their smartphone screen become more intimate and offer interactions that are more fluid, more personalized, and highly contextual. 5G advanced technologies facilitate subscribers to quickly consume and produce more and more high-quality visual contents – photographs, memes, GIFs, and videos with the most famous YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and more platforms.

stc’s 5G subscription plans offer unlimited maximum data-rates and consumers can also experience a 5G internet at uninterrupted 5G speed using state-of-the-art technology (stc Baity) that gives them the best possible 5G signal for the best internet speeds across their home with unlimited data usage which provides them with consistent, and reliable online gaming and 4K/8K video streaming experience.

5G advanced Sub-3Ghz and SA enhanced capabilities of high speed, low latency and massive connectivity will act as a bridge towards valuable new opportunities in industrial business Powering the fiber like experience for mobility scenarios such as construction projects, mobile ATM points, or major broadcast venues can benefit from greater 5G downlink and uplink speeds. Schools, universities, retail malls or hospitals can greatly get benefits from the reliable and high-speed internet connectivity 5G can offer. In Kuwait market, solutions by stc was the 1st service provider targeting different industries in different 5G B2B segments by launching connectivity solutions (i.e. 5G Dedicated Access), AI services (i.e. Unified Communications and VAaaS) , Cloud (i.e. CCTVaaS) and cybersecurity solutions (i.e. DDOS), and has strategic plan to support enterprise innovative solutions like managed campus, cloud, and other industrial applications. with guaranteed Service Level Agreements (SLAs) enabling the radical transformation of the telecom industry into an as-a-Service model.

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