A Deeper Dive Into the Impact of 5G

The technology of 5G (the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications) has the potential to change our world dramatically.  As with all new technology, we do not yet know exactly how the implementation of 5G will play out. Some economists believe that 5G will transform the world as much as automobiles and electricity did. Other economists believe that 5G will revitalize the world economy, adding new jobs, new innovations, and connecting more people than ever before.    

New Jobs and a Revitalized Economy

A study commissioned by Qualcomm (an American semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company) states that it expects 5G to boost global GDP growth by $3 trillion and produce of 20 million jobs around the world by 2035. With higher speeds and lower latency (meaning a virtually lag-free internet experience), many new opportunities will open up for businesses, healthcare institutions, and public safety, not to mention entertainment. For example, imagine an architect wearing a virtual reality headset who could see a building as it was being designed. Or a whole smart-city full of driverless cars, or highly efficient smart-power grids and hospital monitoring systems.

Some believe 5G will revitalize the Rust Belt by making factories more efficient and productive. 5G has the capability to create whole new job sectors. We will need 5G system architecture, microwave and millimeter radio experts, Internet of Things (IoT) software engineers, and engineers skilled in cloud systems and internet privacy, amongst other new jobs. In the next ten years, there will likely be companies and services we cannot even imagine yet, much like the development of internet 1.0 in the early 2000s, and the recent development of streaming on demand, internet 2.0, and the gig economy.

Exciting and Tumultuous Times for the Telecommunications Sector

Of course, all of this growth and innovation comes with a price. Telecommunications companies that want to get involved in the 5G revolution will have to spend a tremendous amount of resources on building the infrastructure necessary to transmit the 5G frequencies, and they will need to train and employ people who have knowledge in this new technology. With the big telecom equipment companies, there is a global race to see who can lead the way, with Qualcomm (U.S.), Huawei (China), Ericsson (Sweden) and Nokia (Finland) some of the major players. Within the U.S. wireless industry, companies like Verizon and AT&T are leading the way, currently testing 5G wireless services in limited U.S. markets. Some broadband cable companies are worried that 5G will make the need for cable obsolete, and they are getting into the wireless market as well. Smaller telecom companies may find it hard to keep up with the changing infrastructure and technology. Many financial experts believe the rural telecom providers, smaller media networks, and cable companies will need to transform and/or restructure their businesses in order to survive the coming changes.

In addition to the telecommunication companies, the federal, state, and local governments are also involved in the race for 5G. The FCC is seeking to make it easier and more streamlined for companies to build the small cells necessary to transmit the 5G frequencies, limiting the amount of control the cities and towns have over the process, and limiting how much these municipalities can charge companies that want to build the infrastructure. State and local governments are sometimes finding themselves in a tough spot, getting caught between the federal government’s efforts to make it easier for companies to build 5G small cells in their cities, and some of their constituents who don’t want to see lots of new antennas in their neighborhoods and cities.  

It is definitely an interesting time for anyone involved in the telecommunication sector, and it promises to get more interesting as time goes on, as 5G moves from a vision to a reality in our world. It is an ever-changing technological landscape, and keeping up with the changes is the best way to make the most of it.