Ulf Ewaldsson, VP and group CTO at Ericsson, is a firm believer in the benefits that 5G wireless technology will offer. However, along with the advantages come risks for established media businesses. “Bandwidth is going to increasingly become abundant. 5G, which will be endorsed by the ITU in 2020, is already making its presence felt.
The whole industry is working towards that date, and companies which would never have thought about wireless are now readying for the technology
“But for existing operators which already have relationships with subscribers, the changes will be incremental. For new industries which want to make use of 5G, it could be very disruptive. It is the same for broadcasters, where we believe it could also be disruptive. 5G is a hugely powerful technology, and services which currently depend almost wholly on fibre can now tap into 5G.
The next step is that we, as consumers, can also start to enjoy real benefits from 5G, moving content wirelessly around the home. It could be broadcast content, of course, but it might also be virtual reality goggles, or 360-degree content.
“Some existing wireless operators are looking to 5G and enhancing their full service offerings. At the same time, the existing suppliers of content, telephony and OTT, which have tended to stay separated, could be very different.”
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