Interview with JAN HRUSKA, CTO at O2 Czech Republic
What will come first? Who will be the new players?
Melina Diamantopoulou, Producer of the 6G Summit, speaks with Jan Hruska, Chief Technology Officer at O2 Czech Republic to learn more about his current projects on network evolution towards the next generation of connectivity.
Jan will be joining the panel 'Defining the need and timelines for a 6G network' at 6G Summit, 26 April, Berlin.
1. As the CTO at O2 Czech Republic, what projects are keeping you most busy these months?
I pay most attention to transformation projects as these have an impact and are shaping our abilities for future.
Among the top,
1. We are in the middle of complete modernization of radio network including 5G rollout in C-band spectrum,
2. We are in the last phase of implementing brand new platform for our IP TV service, and
3. We are modernizing our key CRM system for future and business agility (three layers architecture with business logic based on microservices, operated in public cloud).
2. What work is your team undertaking regarding the next evolution of networks?
Big step ahead of us is a new core system that should support all G’s up to 5G SA, based on containerized network functions operated in hybrid cloud, compliant with the latest security standards.
3. What will come first in 6G? The use cases or the technology, and why?
Use cases.
5G delivered significant improvement in spectrum utilization, namely Cband (3,5GHz) and overall utilization of 4G and 5G spectrum for data using dual connectivity and carrier aggregation. From this perspective, we do not see urgent need for network generation upgrade at the moment. 5G still has to prove potential in B2B segment (mobile private networks, campus solutions). So use cases have to be more clear first for 6G to justify further investments.
4. Who do you anticipate will be the new players in 6G, if any? How will the ecosystem change, if at all?
I expect 6G to evolve virtualization of RAN to a standard. It has been with us already but did not mature enough for traditional telcos to consider. This might change vendor landscape as 5G did for core systems. So even more presence of hyperscalers, and industrial use cases providers in a role of direct competition to telcos and traditional telco vendors (NEPs).
5. What technologies do you expect to be most prominent in supporting a 6G network?
5G brought networks to public cloud. I expect this trend to continue, together with further decoupling of SW functions of the infrastructure, all orchestrated by AI aided automation.
6. You will be contributing to the 6G Summit as a speaker, what are you most looking forward to regarding your engagement and attendance?
I try to understand what trends are shaping our industry in 5 to 10 years. To be ready for the opportunities. And this is what I expect from 6G summit – networking with people having visions and ideas, open for sharing and thus being better prepared for whatever is to come.