i3 - January/February 2021 - 33

By Susan Schreiner

Policy

G U E ST B LO G

The Connected World of 5G

ne of the lessons from this pandemic is it's not enough
to have connectivity - the broadband connection also
needs to be reliable, robust and resilient. Think
dropped calls, incoherent audio or pixelated images.

Aerial Perspective Images/Getty Images

Technology and communications are
central to how modern society operates.
Many people now must home school or
log into an enterprise system leading to
a boom in videoconferencing services
from companies like Zoom, Cisco's
WebEx or Microsoft Teams.
Businesses have been forced to work
differently. There's been a quickened
shift to the cloud and to an 'as-a-servicemodel.' There's also a surge in demand
for artificial intelligence (AI) and automation services including robotics that
enable contactless transactions.
Many are looking to the promise of 5G
networks as the backbone for a future
that promises ultra-high speeds,
increased capacity, reliability, low-latency,
bandwidth and efficiency. Advancements
in fiber, cable, Wi-Fi and short-range
technology are facilitating 5G as well as
IoT, AI, edge computing and blockchain.
While the 5G backbone will make the
world's digital connections faster - 5G
together with related technologies also
could unlock $4.3 trillion in value across
U.S. verticals over the next six years,
according to KPMG. Groundbreaking

5G will enable
industries to push
digital transformation
using connected
intelligence along
with the development
of new business and
revenue models.

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innovation and services will change the
way the enterprise, retail, healthcare,
telecom and media industries, government, finance, manufacturing and consumers interact and do business.
With immediate connectivity, realtime data will become the driver for
innovative disruption. 5G will enable
industries to push digital transformation
using connected intelligence along with
the development of new business and
revenue models.
A more robust communications backbone will improve efficiencies, productivity and life-saving responsiveness:
● Mobility: 5G will let vehicles communicate with their surroundings and other
vehicles in real-time improving safety
and traffic flow.
● Manufacturing: Nodes improve
logistics, manufacturing and supply
chain management to run efficient
smart factories.
● Retail: Seamless and personalized
experiences can be created for customers online or in-store.
● Health care: Patients can be monitored
remotely using AI to make diagnoses or

guide procedures distributing professional
expertise to reach underserved communities, understaffed facilities and hospitals to
deliver improved services, efficiency and
reduce costs.
New consumer devices are being
developed including the recent launch of
Apple's 5G smartphones - considered a
watershed moment aligned with a unified ecosystem.

5G Faces Challenges

Given economic slowdowns resulting
from the pandemic as well as the gargantuan investments needed for 5G buildout, companies are restructuring their
business strategy to increased collaboration even among former competitors.
U.S. policy plays a major role in
advancing 5G at an accelerated pace.
Spectrum, security and privacy are at the
fore - along with infrastructure policy
often through state and local leadership.
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) chairman Ajit Pai recently said
the government was moving quickly to
issue more spectrum in the mid-band
range with plans to auction an additional 100MHz from 3.45GHz to
3.55GHz in 2021.
Policy initiatives, public-private cooperation and network investment, app development, and new devices across a range of
price points are central to 5G's growth.
These interrelationships are propelling
North America as a leader on the worldwide stage with 5G connections expected
to surpass 100 million in 2022. North
America will be the first region to have
more than half of the world's 5G connections or a total of about 426 million mobile
connections by 2025, according to GSMA.
There is an imperative to make basic
broadband available and affordable for
all, and to overcome adoption challenges
such as digital literacy and app accessibility. What we do now will help to
ensure a more equitable 5G future where
transformative tech advancements will
empower a more connected world.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

12/9/20 3:22 PM

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i3 - January/February 2021

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