The News: Vodafone unveiled a prototype 5G network built on a credit card sized Raspberry Pi personal computer and an equally small, advanced silicon chipset. The concept targets enabling small businesses and households to extend 5G coverage and increase capacity according to their needs and have their own affordable and portable private 5G mobile network. Read the Vodafone Press Release here.
MWC 2023: Vodafone Bakes a 5G Network Surprise in Raspberry Pi
Analyst Take: Vodafone is looking to combine its extensive pan-European network with the simplicity and versatility of a Raspberry Pi to make 5G-based mobile private networks (MPNs) more accessible to the 22 million small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Europe. It could also offer households extended coverage providing an additional fast broadband link at times when many residents are online simultaneously.
I commend Vodafone for exploring ways to democratize MPNs and propagate their benefits to micro and small business owners while lowering the entry cost and reducing the resources needed to experience new digital services. The 5G network on a Raspberry PI is also portable and no bigger than a WiFi router, conceivably allowing customers to swiftly set up their own private network in a public place such as a coffee shop or extend the coverage of the public network to a remote location like a basement.
Raspberry Pi’s Forever?
For background, Raspberry Pi is the name of a series of single-board computers made by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK charity that seeks to educate people in computing and create easier access to computing education. The Raspberry Pi launched in 2012 and the latest model has a quad-core CPU clocking in at over 1.5GHz, and 4GB RAM. The price point for Raspberry Pi has always been under $100 (usually around $35 USD), including notably the Pi Zero, which costs just $5.
Through the potential cost advantages of the Vodafone 5G Raspberry Pi prototype I expect that the solution can help make MPNs more flexible and affordable in their deployment and adoption. This includes meeting specific SME requirements related to security and control where prime reliance on WiFi connectivity may prove insufficient. This can include applications such as sensor data monitoring, vehicle intelligence, and facial recognition as well as broadening cloud, AI, and advanced analytics benefits.
Specifically, the new system combines a Raspberry Pi 4 with a small 5G compatible embeddable software-defined radio (SDR) circuit board, made by UK-based specialist, Lime Microsystems. The SDR Board is designed to turn any computing platform into a miniature 5G base station. As a result, the system can be used as part of a dedicated private network, an extension of a larger MPN or connected to Vodafone’s public network like any other base station. The board design is completely compliant with Open RAN standards, which means it can interwork with any computing machine capable of running Open RAN compatible software.
Of concern, Vodafone is floating the prototype in search of potential partners willing to help it build, distribute, and support the solution. As such, I see some risk that the prototype could pan out as a 5G network solution looking for a problem across the European SME landscape. In addition to built-in MPN capabilities, it will also be interesting to see if Vodafone and its potential partners are driven by the ecosystem to support additional capabilities such as WiFi integration, fixed/mobile management, and network slicing. Also, of course, still to be determined retail and street-level pricing will play a key role in how far the Vodafone 5G network prototype can sail.
Overall, I believe the new Vodafone Raspberry Pi-based 5G network prototype stimulates innovation across the 5G ecosystem, especially for the European SME and MPN segments, demonstrating Vodafone’s European R&D Center, located in Málaga, Spain, is already producing new thinking and approaches to spurring Open 5G and Open RAN technology deployment as well as strengthening supply chains.
Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.
Other insights from Futurum Research:
MWC 2023: Nokia Goes All-In with In-Line Acceleration for Cloud RAN
Qualcomm and Vodafone Provide New Level Set for 5G Open RAN Prospects
Image Credit: Vodafone
Author Information
Ron is an experienced, customer-focused research expert and analyst, with over 20 years of experience in the digital and IT transformation markets, working with businesses to drive consistent revenue and sales growth.
Ron holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from University of Nevada — Las Vegas and a Bachelor of Arts in political science/government from William and Mary.
