From the course: 5G Technology Strategy: Next-Generation Mobile Networking

5G's role in the development of wireless networks

From the course: 5G Technology Strategy: Next-Generation Mobile Networking

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5G's role in the development of wireless networks

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- [Instructor] With all of the investment in the development, regulation, and arrival of 5G, it can sometimes be difficult to measure its value. In order to understand the value of 5G, we first need to understand what kind of change it represents. Without a doubt, the coming 5G changes are big enough to warrant the gravity they acquire in advertisements. However, 5G wireless technology represents a better way of doing the very same thing we've been doing for some time now. It will expand and accelerate, but it will not change the definition of wireless networking. The seismic change is located in what 5G enables. 5G wireless is a change agent, and the most recent expression of Moore's law. Like the telegraph and telephone that came before it, 5G arrives as the fabric upon which change can occur. 5G can reduce latency to near zero, carry the largest digital payloads without interruption, and provide for security throughout. Therefore, when assessing the place of 5G in the ever-advancing landscape of global technology, it is best seen as a change agent and not the change itself. Therefore, any estimate of value is bound to be a wild speculation. One renowned research firm projects the 5G network infrastructure to be valued at $4.2 billion in 2020. This valuation represents an 89% increase over 2019. It is an exciting time to see such changes occur. The place of 5G in the story of technology development could very well be the same as the aqueduct for Rome, the railroad in the American western expansion, and the Vostok programme for space travel. I believe 5G will allow computational work to reach an escape velocity from our current technological constraints. Therefore, the value of 5G is not what it is, but what it enables.

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