Companies all over the world are investing in a future with 5G, powering the fourth industrial revolution. But is it real, or just another hype?
The impact of 5G on our society was one of the topics discussed at SACC Executive Forum in Washington. What are we to expect? When will it happen? And, are we sure it is not just a hype?
Niklas Heuveldop, CEO of Ericsson North America and a keynote speaker at the forum, mentioned companies like Facebook, Uber
“These are all great examples of companies that we today take for granted in our everyday life, and they were all created on the back of 4G.”
Heuveldop is convinced that 5G will create no less when it comes to new companies and innovations.
“I actually think that 5G will be more, a revolution, and at Ericsson we get more bullish everyday about how fast it will happen.”
Heuveldop sees Silicon Valley as an important region for kicking the revolution off.
“You give them great technology and they will create great companies.”
Swedish Ericsson, with their American headquarter in Silicon Valley, is a leading provider of 5G.
“I am of course biased, but there are enough ingredients in this new technology to power a fourth industrial revolution.”
Ericsson were approached by major industrial companies about 5G already five years ago.
“They were trying to understand what is in it for them. We have since then been working with industrial partners and universities all over the world.”
Speed is, according to Heuveldop, important but what is really making 5G special is the latency, the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction for its transfer.
“When you have responsiveness of 1 millisecond you will be able to do some incredible stuff.”
“The low latency and very high bandwidth make it possible to control machines in real time, reducing manufacturing cost, improving quality of products and reduce CO2 emissions.”
Heuveldop mentioned, as an example, how ultra-low latency of 5G improved the production of jet engine components for MTU Aero Engines, a user case.
“The low latency and very high bandwidth make it possible to control machines in realtime, reducing manufacturing cost, improving quality of products and reduce CO2 emissions.”
By the end of 2024, Ericsson predict that 5G subscriptions will reach 1.9 billion, and 35 percent of traffic will be carried by 5G networks and up to 65 percent of the global population could be covered by the technology.
