RedCap rumbles on with Ericsson and O2 Czech demo

Conducted in Prague, the demo saw a RedCap-capable router and camera connected to an O2 base station running on Ericsson kit. The camera was able to transmit data over the network to a Web-based dashboard and demonstrated its power-saving mode – a key RedCap feature designed to extend battery life.

In another demo, some RedCap-compatible customer premises equipment (CPE) was able to aggregate data traffic from non-RedCap-capable devices. This suggests that in future, a RedCap hub could provide an efficient means of connecting to and controlling IoT devices on the same local network.

The use of commercial devices – in this case developed by OEMs Gemtek and Four-faith – represents another milestone on RedCap's journey from the lab to real-world deployment.

"We are proud to be the first service provider in the Czech Republic to demonstrate a RedCap-enabled 5G use case with a commercial device. This shows our commitment to innovation and to bringing the benefits of 5G to our customers and society. With RedCap, we can enable new 5G services for consumers and enterprises," said Jan Hruška, chief technology officer at O2 CZ.

"RedCap, as an important part of our 5G Advanced offerings, is instrumental in extending the reach and benefits of 5G to a wider audience," added Dr. Sibel Tombaz, head of product line cloud & purpose-built 5G RAN, at Ericsson's Networks division. "We look forward to witnessing the emergence of the first RedCap-capable devices from OEM vendors and to supporting CETIN and O2 CZ in delivering RedCap-enabled 5G services. This collaboration is crucial in unlocking new opportunities for customers and partners across various sectors."

RedCap is designed to bridge the gap between narrowband IoT tech – like NB-IoT and its slightly-higher-throughput cousin LTE-M – and full-blown 5G, which is more power hungry and offers more bandwidth than a lot of IoT devices really need, rendering it too expensive and inefficient for certain use cases.

That makes RedCap sound like a fairly niche technology, but it is expected to account for a sizeable chunk of IoT connections by the end of the decade.

Opinions vary on exactly how sizeable.

According to Transforma Insights, cellular IoT connections are on course to reach approximately 5 billion by 2030. It expects the likes of NB-IoT and LTE-M – referred to as massive machine type communications (mMTC) technologies – to dominate, accounting for 2.96 billion. Non-mMTC tech, including RedCap, is expected to account for a modest 480 million.

Predictions shared by Omdia earlier this month are more bullish.

It expects RedCap connections to reach 963.5 million by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 66 percent. Omdia bases this forecast on what it predicts will be a gradual phase-out of 4G networks over the next 10 years, leaving 5G as the dominant air interface for cellular IoT.

The prospect of phasing out 4G over the next 10 years could unsettle a few nerves.

Narrowband IoT is all about the high-volume deployment of cheap, long-lasting devices that only require intermittent comms. Requiring customers to go out and upgrade all these devices to 5G over the next 10 years could undermine the economic case for cellular IoT, particularly when there are non-cellular alternatives out there, like LoRaWAN.

RedCap is already a slightly more expensive option for IoT – the industry needs to avoid inadvertently pricing it out of the market.