The combination of airspace and non-terrestrial networks (combined ASN), leveraging low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, high-altitude platform stations (HAPSs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), creates a transformative 6G connectivity infrastructure. The envisioned architecture combines the strengths of these technologies in a hierarchical network, addressing coverage, especially in remote areas

Tower companies own almost three quarters of the mobile telecom installations globally and continue to grow. The main driver of this change is linked to the reduction of capital expenditures by operators and the increasing sharing of infrastructure by tower companies that improves their assets' tenancy ratios. In this article we review the history of tower company introductions in European markets

The adoption of Fifth Generation (5G) technology in industrial enterprises has been slower than expected despite its clear technical advantages, primarily due to the significant initial investment costs and uncertainties surrounding the return on investment (ROI). High costs associated with infrastructure deployment, combined with the complexity of assessing the economic benefits specific to different

Advancements in small satellites and launch technologies, as well as the emerging business model, have provided new possibilities for the success of mega-constellation networks (MCNs) in the 6G era. However, the substantial costs associated with the ground segment pose a significant challenge for developing commercial satellite constellations. While inter-satellite links (ISLs) have been adopted by

As the telecommunications landscape evolves with rapid technological advancements, forecasting the diffusion of emerging technologies is imperative for strategic planning and decision-making. This article presents a comprehensive system dynamics modeling framework designed for forecasting the diffusion of IoT-enabling technologies. The framework's versatility is demonstrated through an example case

This article continues the series of ten interviews with the Officers of the IEEE ComSoc Member and Global Activities (MGA) Council for the term 2024–2025, which will be published every month in the Global Communications Newsletter.

We investigate the techno-economic benefits of a novel optical transport network (OTN) architecture that meets the transport requirements of 6G systems in the Metro/Core network segments. The proposed solution is based on the disaggregation of the monolithic chassis-based node architecture that is used today to deploy OTN networks. The disaggregation breaks up the monolithic node system into stand

The IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) Emerging Technologies Committee (ETC) is responsible for identifying and nurturing new technology directions through various activities including the formation of initiatives in areas that are of high interest to ComSoc members. In this issue of the President's Page, I am pleased to introduce Zhisheng Niu, the Chair of ETC for 2024–2025 to share with you the

There is a growing recognition across the telecommunications industry of the importance of rigorous and robust Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) given the interdependencies between the technical and economic spheres. This new Special Issue (SI) on techno-economics capitalises on this awareness, presenting a set of timely and unique papers illustrating some of the leading engineering-economic research