天浪和电波：无人机降低风险的案例

INSIGHT SPOTLIGHT Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, continue to be apromising future means of transport of goods and people, andan enabler of applications across industries. With This analysis is the second in a two-part series on changingcommercial models for UAVs, underpinned by mobileconnectivity and technologies. Thefirstcovered emergency- The mobile industry is increasingly involved in UAVs,particularly with 5G coverage expansion (several high-profile Analysis Why people density matters applications (e.g.mining and oil & gas installations). The peopledensity use case is something that can be sold on its own, but itcan also complement other drone applications in certain There are two main purposes for calculating and monitoringpeople density. The first is to satisfy regulatory requirements forrisk mitigation in operating safe drone flights. Drone operatorsneed to ensure they are flying over areas below a certainperson density to avoid risk to the public in the event ofmalfunction. This can be done directly using the equipment on- How telecoms operators can monetise people density Providing density data to UAV operators is the primarymonetisation option, with the use of 4G/5G connectivity on astandalone basis enabling the creation of people densityheatmaps over a coverage area. This may require cell-site The second purpose concerns services. This may involveUAVoperators usingdensityreadings to helpdelivertheir ownservices, orselling readings to organisations includingmunicipal governments and event operators. This can be Theservicesoption–providing aerial-gathered density maps– is primarily a UAV domain and offers a snapshot rather than themore dynamic density view available from ground-based mobilenetworks. Telecoms operators could sell connectivity to UAVoperators, who own the customer relationship. This offers some •Walking/transit patterns–Assessing commuter flows toand from major transit hubs or pedestrian thoroughfares. •Traffic management–Monitoring traffic congestion rates onroad systems or highways in real time. This can work incombination with data gathered by IoT sensors deployedalong routes. In some cases, this allows traffic systems to be The walking/transit patterns sub-category is often servicedthrough geospatial maps (origin-destination matrices) thatpredict the flow of people in different urban areas based on real-world data obtained and analysed via cellular-enabled dronecapture. These matrices could be sold by operators directly–toUAV groups or even regulators, for example–or via networkAPI access granted to customers as part of a wider deal for •Event monitoring–Capturing and monitoring populationdensity at events such as live sports matches, concerts/ Rising interest in the use of drones can now be seen acrossmany industries, expanding on the original use cases five yearsago that largely concerned mapping and site-survey Implications Mobile operators Policymakers •The power of BVLOS–BVLOS flights are fundamental toscaling commercial drone deals and the richness of the usecases that can be exploited. The absence of BVLOS droneflights to small geographic areas precludes many of the usecases that would take place over larger expanses, such asgoods distribution, emergency response and site surveys.Nine of the 12 countries in the GSMA Intelligencebenchmarkpermit BVLOS in law, but not all have codifiedhow this will work in practice. Others have yet to introduce •A window of opportunity–5G network coveragecontinues to expand, with rates growing at 5–10 pp peryear. The US, South Korea, Japan, UK and Germany areamong the vanguard in 5G infrastructure expansion andcountries where governments have made drones astrategically important technology. The gains inperformance (speed and latency) and improved economics in terms of launch and maintenance costs arepositives. Regulation has been the main sticking point– •Towards regional alignment and common standards–Being able to monitor population density in specific areashelps inform government policy in a range of areas, fromroad and infrastructure planning (including public transit) tocrowd control/safety (e.g.at major sports events). Commonstandards matter as they help underpin scale economiesfrom the companies that make up the drone value chain:manufacturers, software companies, drone operators and •Be open to experimentation–Whether telecomsoperators sell drone solutions directly to enterprise orpublic-sector buyers or to UAV operators (who own thecustomer relationship), most contracts will requiremultiple partners at different levels of the value chain. Inthe context of people and traffic density, this may include Authors Related reading Tim Hatt, Head of Research and ConsultingChristina Patsioura,Lead Analyst, IoT & EnterpriseResearch UAVs: commercial applications and the opportunity for Mobile operators look to the skies with connected UAVopportunity