Dealing with the Latency Problem to Support 5G-URLLC: A Strategic View in the Case of an Indonesian Operator

Before implementing 5G technology, each operator first needs to know their existing network capability. The operator's network must be able to meet the stringent 5G network requirements, including a very low latency, especially for the URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication) scenario. This scenario requires 1 ms latency for applications to run smoothly. In this paper, we use a case study from one of the operators in Indonesia to obtain measurements of the network, evaluate it, and then develop strategic steps that will allow the operator to determine whether the network can implement 5G URLLC. A correlation is observed between the latency and the distance from the site to the data center in the operator's network in Indonesia. The maximum site to data center distance to achieve 1 ms latency is 21.4 km using the existing 4G network infrastructure. We also discuss the optimum design for a new data center location and an efficient schema for building new 5G infrastructure.