Working together essential for a better 5G ecosystem
The whole world is waiting to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Countries and industries that are already on the track of huge digital transformation will be able to cash in on the potentialities of the 4IR. At such a time, an advanced network like 5G will open up new windows of opportunities for the industries and economies in a greater sense as 5G can accelerate digitalisation across different sectors.
Based on the three pillars – Enhanced Mobile Broadband, Ultra-reliable and Low-latency Communication (URLLC), and Massive Machine-type Communications -- 5G will present itself as a huge opportunity for others. These will help network customers, industrial users, and businesses with enhanced capacities and enable them to connect huge numbers of devices for a more efficient system.
5G is expected to enable up to $12 trillion of economic output in 2035, which will represent about 4.6 per cent of the global output. Moreover, 5G will also play a significant role in realising the long-term objective of reducing our carbon footprint and conserving natural resources.
However, certain industries will definitely be the core beneficiaries of this advanced technology as it will expedite digitalisation across those sectors. These include telecommunications, media and entertainment, manufacturing, transportation, and public services.
Currently, the telecom industry is facing lots of technical problems, many of which could be minimised with a 5G network. Superfast Fixed Wireless Access will be another field of opportunity that will help the government take broadband access to even rural people since 5G will enable speeds up to 1 Gbps. According to Huawei White Paper, the 5G Fixed Wireless Access market will grow to almost $50 billion by 2026.
There is also an opportunity that annual mobile media revenues will double in the next 10 years to $420 billion in 2028. On the other hand, the manufacturing industry will undergo massive changes owing to the advent of 5G since this advanced network will enable more efficient production lines (e.g., with machine vision and high definition video for managing processes), automated guided vehicles in factories (e.g., autonomous transportation) and machine control, with the latency of less than 5 milliseconds using URLLC. However, enhancements to 5G technology will be vital for achieving ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability in the manufacturing industry.
The governments will have greater implications of 5G for its citizens to improve public services.
At the moment, the costs for healthcare services are rising, up from 8.5 per cent of total GDP in 2000 to over 10 per cent in 2016. Sectors like this can experience a total overhaul with the help of 5G, which will ultimately help cross-sections of people avail better services at affordable cost.
Taking the greater possibilities and endless opportunities of 5G into account, it is imperative that all the stakeholders show equal enthusiasm and work together to realise the benefits of this technology.
Initiatives by the governments and the operators are good starting. Further steps need all the stakeholders to collaborate as 5G network will require huge infrastructure. If all the stakeholders join hands and invest, then the cost of production and maintenance for 5G networks will fall. As a consequence, customers will benefit from affordable devices and high-quality services.
Investment and engagement by all stakeholders are very vital as this is the efficient way to reduce the cost necessary for 5G deployment.
Looking at Europe and countries like France, Germany, England, Japan, China and also Bangladesh, we can see that governments have invested time and effort into creating a supportive regulatory environment. The categorised targets have been like mainly to being compatible with the international standardisation process, streamlining procedures to allow timely infrastructure deployments and spectrum availability, stimulating experimentations, adapting telecommunications and sectoral regulations to 5G needs.
Bangladesh has recently launched 5G. State-owned telecom operator Teletalk has deployed 5G networks initially. The government has plans to gradually roll out an advanced 5G network at the district level for mass adoption.
Apart from public usage, the 5G network will have tremendous impacts at the industry level. Market mavens and tech experts are calling for greater actions from industry stakeholders to realise the full potential of the 5G network for expediting growth. As per the government's roadmap, the other operators of Bangladesh are also going for spectrum bidding in 2022.
All eco-partners need to collaborate closely to develop a supportive and developing environment and nurture business opportunities while ensuring safety at all levels. For example, the use cases in transportation (e.g. autonomous driving) and healthcare (e.g. remote surgery) will need a collaborative approach involving multiple partners within the traditional telecom industry and beyond.
On the other hand, a collaborative effort of industry associations, research institutes, operators, equipment vendors, and other industry players will help efficiently realise the full potential of the 5G network.
Bangladesh has abundant human resources, a peaceful development environment, stable economic growth, and good digitalisation and telecom infrastructure. I believe that in the future, under the guidance of the government, the Digital Bangladesh will surely make greater achievements and everyone can be a beneficiary of this advanced network. And Huawei will be always there for building a fully connected, intelligent Bangladesh.
The author is the president of Huawei for the Asia Pacific region.
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