By John Bugailiskis
5G IS ALREADY MAKING an impact, but similar to the roll out of 4G, the full benefits will take some time to be realized, according to executives from Samsung, logistics company Ice Mobility and short-form content provider Elemental Content who spoke at an online CES panel this week.
Drew Blackard, VP of product management, Samsung (right), said 5G is already making user experiences better than they are with 4G, but the really exciting use cases are still being developed.
“Samsung has partnered with Google and Google Duo specifically to build out a full HD video chat that’s exclusively available on our 5G devices. And part of that is because it ensures a higher quality of service in terms of bandwidth and speed to really ensure great video chat experience,” explained Blackard.
Another partnership he noted that is making the user experience better on 5G is one Samsung has with Microsoft. “We have a big partnership with them around Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, their cloud gaming solution. This is another one that you can do on 4G, but you have a much more engaging, stable experience on 5G, and you are not going to miss the shot because you are having too much lag.”
To take full advantage of 5G’s superior bandwidth, speed and low latency, Blackard says Samsung is partnering with AT&T along with the Dallas Cowboys to create a stadium experience for 100,000 plus fans. “We are using 5G devices to provide an augmented reality experience where we are overlaying rich content like players’ statistics, so it becomes part of the in-game entertainment experience. Increasingly you will see these types of really creative experiences only on 5G,” said Blackard.
He predicted when you can combine the benefits of 5G speed, latency and bandwidth together, that is when developers will start to develop “really incredible new use cases.”
Ice Mobility chairman and co-founder Denise Gibson (middle) said it’s important to view 5G as a dynamic platform whose capabilities will only grow as deployment expands. “5G is not solely about geographic reach, but also provision of advanced capabilities and services on networks and devices,” she said.
“One of the key features of 5G is the lack of latency that will enable so many more real-time data applications to be deployed, whether it’s 360 information around your device, around your vehicle, around your home, around wherever you may be at any given time.”
The speed of 5G, similar to the transition to 4G, will also evolve over time predicted Gibson. She noted that the first 5G networks were deployed in 2018, so a “significant amount of that evolution is already in place.”
“If you look back to when 4G phones first launched in early 2011, the initial speeds were dependent on the device and where you lived and you may have gotten 5 to 10 megabits per second. Now on 4G, you might be getting 50 plus megabits per second,” added Blackard.
Moderator John Penney, co-founder of Elemental Content, spoke about the tremendous investment needed to build 5G plant and asked the panelists how they see partnerships evolving which can ensure a return on investment.
Blackard responded that partnerships are “essential” and that industry as a whole has to work together to bring it forward and “no single player that can do that… We were the first 5G device to launch on each of our partners carrier networks and that takes a lot of planning, it takes a lot of co-investment, and a lot co-ordination to do that,” he said.
“Whether it’s on the 5G network itself, or whether it’s a Bluetooth connection, it will attract a number of players that will come into the space that will drive all different types of unique peripherals and unique devices that can then hub into a mobile device, or a smart home type of deployment.” – Denise Gibson, Ice Mobility
Gibson added the capital investment numbers seem staggering, but in the long-term it will create cost savings. “It’s actually going to be far more cost effective over time for the carriers to have individuals and businesses and sensors and devices on 5G than on the prior platforms. I think it’s an important part of the dialogue to recognize that and I think here in the U.S. we’re seeing it drive a lot of the pre-marketing of 5G even though the full geographic buildout doesn’t exist quite yet,” she said.
Gibson also predicted the benefit of having real-time data to mobile devices will drive the development of many new ones. “Whether it’s on the 5G network itself, or whether it’s a Bluetooth connection, it will attract a number of players that will come into the space that will drive all different types of unique peripherals and unique devices that can then hub into a mobile device, or a smart home type of deployment.”
For carriers to fully realize a return on investment they will need to take advantage of new use cases in areas like edge and cloud computing that currently can’t be done with 4G added Blackard.
Penney followed up noting there is also a tremendous opportunity to apply 5G to machine learning, smart cities and autonomous vehicles because “we don’t have an infrastructure today wirelessly in the 4G world that can handle that.”
Gibson added the implementation of 5G will also have an enormous impact on supply chains. “One of the things we have done at Ice that were very proud of is that have we have the first fully functional 5G warehouse and it’s through a partnership with Verizon and Microsoft. We deployed it in the Chicago area at our primary warehouse and the efficiency that’s created and the intelligence in the artificial intelligence that’s driven by multiple days and ship orders of data and how that evolves to creating a far more efficient supply chain is something that we may not readily think about when we think about 5G.
“The ability to monitor speeds and traffic lights in real time is having a major impact on reducing idle time.”
Both panelists agreed, as others have also said, the ongoing pandemic is accelerating the adoption of 5G as businesses and families rely far more on wireless services to keep connected.
“One of the things that we’ve seen is that mobile data usage this past year spiked by 25%, which is kind of counterintuitive. When everyone’s working from home you expect people to be working on the home network. But when you factor in there might be multiple people working from home, others studying from home, and others getting entertainment all at same time, people are finding the fastest device they have is the mobile device in their hands,” said Blackard.
The roll out of 5G will also have an enormous impact in many rural areas, who for the first time which will have broadband wireless. Finally, with prices of 5G phones coming down to under $500, the move to 5G will become more affordable, down the road.
