Reduced latency is one of the key benefits often cited for 5G. Improved latency allows for new apps, new use cases, new revenue streams.
But I have so many questions. For 5G latency to be clearly better, we have to know what it’s better than.
Do you know the typical latency in your network now? What are the important latency metrics to monitor? Are you currently tracking 4G latency? 3G?
Do you aggregate latency test results by technology or spectrum? Does carrier aggregation need to be disabled to get meaningful results?
Do you produce an “average latency” figure for the network? Is there a latency dashboard of performance, bottom sites, trends?
Is latency improvement included in your RAN team’s yearly Goals & Objectives? Do you have a latency SLA? Do you report latency in BOD meetings?
How do you collect latency data? Some speed testing apps include latency measures. But those are manual tests. Is there an automated way to test, one which doesn’t add to your tech team’s Site Visit Checklist?
Does your vendor-provided OSS report useful latency data? Are there 3rd-party packages for determining end-to-end latency? Which do you like?
What suggestions do you have about network latency?
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