https://www.iotworldtoday.com/wp-content/themes/ioti_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • IoT World 2020 News
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Galleries
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • IoT World 2020 News
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Video / Podcasts
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Strategic Partners
  • IOT World Events
    • Back
    • Internet of Things World: San Jose
    • IoT World 2020 News
Iot World Today
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
    • Back
    • IoT World 2020 News
  • Strategy
  • Special Reports
  • Galleries
  • Business Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Industry Perspectives
    • Featured Vendors
  • Other Content
    • Back
    • IoT World 2020 News
    • Q&As
    • Case Studies
    • Features
    • How-to
    • Opinion
    • Video / Podcasts
  • More
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Strategic Partners
  • IOT World Events
    • Back
    • Internet of Things World: San Jose
    • IoT World 2020 News
  • newsletter
  • IIoT
  • Cities
  • Energy
  • Homes/Buildings
  • Transportation/Logistics
  • Connected Health Care
  • Retail
  • AI
  • Architecture
  • Engineering/Development
  • Security
ioti.com

Architecture


Thinkstock

Enthusiasm for 5G is growing.

Will 5G Buildout Slow or Accelerate in the COVID-19 Era?

5G buildout may take a short-term hit given the economic downturn. But could it flourish longer term?
  • Written by Lauren Horwitz
  • 15th April 2020

Key takeaways:

  • 5g buildout could take a short to medium-term hit because of economic slowdown.
  • Long term, 5G might accelerate through government funding and use cases that demonstrate the value of high-speed connectivity during COVID-19 and shelter-in-place orders.
  • 5G buildout may exacerbate the digital divide if city and IT leaders don’t focus on equal access in their buildout strategies.

 

While COVID-19 has ground the economy to a halt in many corners of the U.S., the picture for 5G buildout could flourish long term, with caveats, say industry watchers.

5G may take a hit in the short and medium term given spread of COVID-19 globally and resulting supply chain disruption, 5G hardware delays and general effects of the economic downturn. But in the longer term, the burgeoning needs for home connectivity, digital health and even economic stimulus measures may give 5G buildout a boost.

5G, or fifth-generation wireless connectivity, has promised dramatically faster speeds — up to 100 times faster than 4G connectivity — as well as greater network reliability. Enhanced connectivity will help enable novel connected capabilities, such as driverless cars, drone delivery and augmented reality-enabled gaming.

With stay-at-home orders in place around the world, legions of employees working remotely and distance learning in full swing, high-speed connectivity has become essential infrastructure. It has also strained household networks, which tend to be less robust than corporate ones. That’s a problem when so many workers — and businesses — now rely on home networks for daily tasks.

“The shift from internet as a commoditized consumer service to utility is really under great scrutiny now,” said Jessica Groopman, industry analyst and founding partner at Kaleido Insights. “This is a lifeline for many people now — even more than it was in the past.”

5G connectivity could help improve performance and ease some of the strain on home networks, though.

“COVID-19 has mobilized the telecom industry to focus on bolstering broadband infrastructure capacity and availability to support consumer, work-from-home, government/public safety and enterprise demand,” wrote 451 Research in the report  “COVID-19 and 5G: Short-term Pain for Long-term Gain.”

“One of the positive outcomes of COVID-19 could be stronger demand for 5G as a replacement for legacy broadband infrastructure such as DSL. 5G performance is also getting a chance to shine as a result of COVID-19, especially in areas like telehealth, where the long-term impact is expected to be high.”

In the short term,  the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has called on service providers to offer additional bandwidth to households for 60 days to handle the immediate crisis. But in the longer term, the hope is that 5G connectivity could ease the strain on network connectivity.

Short-Term Prospects for 5G Hardware and buildout

Some observers expected 2020 could be a significant year for 5G buildout progress before the emergence of COVID-19 tore through the globe and the economy.

But, for 5G connectivity to take off, additional buildout is necessary, and 5G hardware production — phones, chips, etc. — has to resume. With the supply chain severely disrupted, hardware production suffering collateral damage and consumer demand slumping, delivery of 5G-ready phones and other hardware may slow. Even when 5G-ready phones are available, consumers may view new hardware as a nice-to-have.

“My current thinking is there will be a negative impact on 5G in the short term, but that the longer term is looking even more favorable,” wrote Mark Lowenstein, managing director of Mobile Ecosystem, in a Fierce Wireless column. “Two wildcards are: not knowing how long the economic shutdown will last or how deep the recession will be; and how much the global supply chain will be disrupted.”

In a recent survey conducted by 451 Research, 79% of organizations said that the COVID-19 outbreak has depressed business operations. “Major business disruptions in organizational supply chains, IT resources, human capital, and strategic planning are contributing causes of the reported negative impact,” 451 indicated.

Juniper Research predicts the COVID-19 virus could cause a $42 billion revenue gap for smart device vendors over the next nine months.

Another issue is the delay of spectrum auction. With spectrum auction, a government sells the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources . “COVID-19 and 5G: Short-term Pain for Long-term Gain,” 451 Research noted that this delay of auction will bring a midterm hit for a key enabler of 5G buildout.

“This is the most impactful blow that can be dealt to a country’s ability to roll out 5G services at scale,” the report indicated. “Spain, France and Austria have all made the decision to delay 5G spectrum auctions due to COVID-19. We expect that countries with spectrum delays will impact 5G rollout plans by at least two quarters.”

Promoting Connectivity Long Term

Today, despite the burden of economic uncertainty, carriers and the government are trying to bolster connectivity.

In March, broadband and telephone service providers affirmed that, with the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. More than 700 companies vowed not to terminate service for customers who cannot pay their bills because of hardship given the effects of the virus.

Additionally the FCC has also proposed a fund of $9 billion for buildout in rural areas that would otherwise not experience timely rollout of 5G.

Further, in the $2 trillion stimulus bill passed by the U.S. Congress in March, some $150 billion is allocated to states and local governments to help them weather drop-offs in tax revenue and the costs of fighting the pandemic. A second round of stimulus could provide infrastructure funding, which may also provide additional monies for 5G and additional broadband progress.

Another positive sign is that 5G connectivity is already showing some promise to provide connectivity for critical resources during the pandemic. Services such as telehealth and remote care are burgeoning areas given the threat of viral spread.

In Wuhan, China, for example, Huawei installed a 5G network in a specialist hospital in three days: 5G-enabled robots can assist practitioners in taking care of patients in the hospital and take measurements, reducing the amount of time medical staff need to spend with infectious patients.

Also, in China, 5G has given telehealth service a boost. China Mobile, for example, opened 5G base stations in two emergency field hospitals — Huoshenshan and Leishenshan — and provided live broadcasting of the construction of these two hospitals in real time.

5G Buildout: Perpetuating or Preventing the Digital Divide?

But industry observers note that 5G progress could easily be short-circuited if it deepens the digital divide.

In February, a report noted that a Federal Communications Commission estimate that 21 million Americans lack access to broadband might be more accurate at 42 million without access. That digital divide has long been an important foundation for building out 5G coverage.

Those with experience in providing Wi-Fi access in various metropolitan areas are familiar with this digital divide. “It has to be a holistic view,” said Bill Pugh, managing partner at Smart Connections Consulting. “Are you addressing [connectivity] through a bottom-up approach, and are you starting with the underserved communities?”

Some cities, as they look to future 5G buildout, say that they have a close eye on expanding use of the technology to examine digital inequity in tandem.

Boston CIO David Elges, for example, said that the city doesn’t want 5G access to deepen inequity. Public-private partnerships are vital, he emphasized, to ensure broad access. It’s also key to ensure that “residents are at the center of the conversations,” he said.

Kaleido Insights’ Groopman remains hopeful that COVID-19 has brought the digital divide to the forefront and that as 5G buildout continues, it will remain a factor.

“The ability to drive and govern and make faster decisions ‘at the edge,’ at the local level, so to speak, will become central,” Groopman predicted. “These questions of digital divide, access to health care and ‘How do we push that access and decision-making capability and resources further out to be more agile and to be more resilient in these extreme scenarios?’ will be critical. This [decentralization of governance] is an accelerant for 5G, and there will be a significant focus on keeping cities truly resilient.”

Tags: Edge computing Embedded Computing Architecture Technologies News Internet of Things World 2020 Conference Coverage

Related


  • Network Machine Learning Offers Refuge for Taxed Managers
    Network management has gotten overwhelmingly complex. Tools such as network machine learning and automation can help.
  • Edge computing applications
    Trends Continue to Push Processing to the Edge for AI
    Recent developments, including the NVIDIA-Arm deal and VMware’s Project Monterey, reveal big bets on edge computing.
  • Tactics for Successfully Selling IoT Technologies
    While this year has proven the value of digitization, many enterprises need persuasion. Experts discuss strategies for successfully selling IoT.
  • Network Connectivity Paves Way, with Caveats, for IoT Adoption
    Respondents to an IoT adoption survey said that network connectivity options, including 5G, will enable projects. But there are hurdles in the quest for better network performance.

2 comments

  1. Avatar A L 2nd May 2020 @ 2:12 pm
    Reply

    your article asks if 5G could close the digital divide, from what I’ve read not all 5G service will penetrate many construction surfaces, not even window glass. your article also mentions that many of the 5G builders could be looking for government funds for the build-out sounds like another handout like the major communications company in New Jersey that received subscriber funds to build fiber to the premise only to bail out on the build-out creating a digital divide but keeping the monies

  2. Avatar A Loong 18th May 2020 @ 1:15 pm
    Reply

    5G speed is a great news to end users on the road, while fiber to the home if managed correctly can outperformed 5G in speed and quantity, I’ve seen 2 strands of fiber run over 5K T-1 services imagine homes running T-1 plus service while 5G to the home will probable be a while to being a reality One would to need to take a serious look at planned deployment of 5G networks in it’s current phase of deployment not future planned

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your IoT World Today account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Content

  • IoT in Utilities Market Brings Resilience in Wake of COVID-19 Pressure
  • Winners of the 2020 IoT World Awards Announced
  • State of Manufacturing Technology Report
  • Modernizing the Manufacturing Industry with MQTT

News

View all

Private LTE Market Projected to Grow to $13 Billion

12th January 2021

IoT World Announces 2021 IoT World Advisory Board

9th December 2020

White Papers

View all

Smart and Flexible Automotive and Tire Production

20th December 2020

Unlock the Potential of Digital Transformation in Oil & Gas

15th December 2020

Special Reports

View all

Cybersecurity Protection Increasingly Depends on Machine Learning

28th October 2020

Webinars

View all

From Insights to Action: Best Practices for Implementing Connected Device Security

15th December 2020

Real Cyber Threats and Best Practices Cyber Security Strategy and Solutions for Smart Manufacturing

1st December 2020

Galleries

View all

Top IoT Trends to Watch in 2020

26th January 2020

Five of the Most Promising Digital Health Technologies

14th January 2020

Industry Perspectives

View all

IoT Spending Holds Firm — Tempered by Dose of ‘IoT Pragmatism’

1st December 2020

The Great IoT Connectivity Lockdown

11th May 2020

Events

View all

IoT at the Edge

17th March 2021

Embedded IoT World 2021

28th April 2021 - 29th April 2021

IoT World 2021

2nd November 2021 - 4th November 2021

Twitter

IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Food for thought: Food and Beverage Industry eBook @ROKAutomation dlvr.it/Rqz00T https://t.co/Z3y18vuozF

20th January 2021
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Facility of the Future dlvr.it/Rqyzvm https://t.co/ytpsOUTtGP

20th January 2021
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

A new day in automotive production #digitalmanufacturingsolutions @ROKAutomation dlvr.it/RqyrNS https://t.co/yxPFrBZGVg

20th January 2021
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

Unlock the potential of digital transformation in Oil & Gas @ROKAutomation dlvr.it/RqyrBV https://t.co/kzHcGjf2OK

20th January 2021
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

.@Airbus’s #datdriven #digitaltransformation focused on getting its existing data in order rather than just gatheri… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

19th January 2021
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

#EdgeNLP enables devices to do much more #NLP locally that better approximates human conversation.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

19th January 2021
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

#Supplychain analytics, #digitaltwins and other tools are key to predicting COVID-19-style disruption in the supply… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

18th January 2021
IoTWorldToday, IoTWorldSeries

At #CES2021, @verizon touts #5Gconnectivit as the key to digitization in pandemic times. But experts say there are… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

12th January 2021

Newsletter

Sign up for IoT World Today newsletters: vertical industry coverage on Tuesdays and horizontal tech coverage on Thursdays.

Special Reports

Our Special Reports take an in-depth look at key topics within the IoT space. Download our latest reports.

Business Resources

Find the latest white papers and other resources from selected vendors.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IoT World Series
  • Channel Futures
  • RISC-V
  • Dark Reading
  • ITPro Today
  • Web Hosting Talk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Login/Register

FOLLOW IoT World Today ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X