Discover how massive 5G Networks will be in 2020: Top 5 Emerging Technologies

BottomUp - Skills for Innovators

012 5G Networks

[00:00:00] Mike: [00:00:09] Hello and welcome to the BottomUp podcast. I'm your host, Mike Parsons, and I am so glad to be sharing with you today some brand-new skills for innovators. That's right, today we're reviewing the world of 5G networks. This is going to be big for anybody creating a new product or a service, and this is the first of five parts in [00:00:34] our annual top five emerging technology keynote. Now, if you would like to get the full one-hour keynote, you can do so at BottomUp.io. I highly recommend you jump over there and get not only good is about emerging technologies, but about design thinking. Lean and agile, all the good stuff, all the modern-day tools of innovation.

[00:00:57] All right, so we're talking about 5G. I think this is going to have huge implications on how we build, create, design, develop new products and services. Let's get [00:01:08] into 5G networks. Now, first of all, what are we talking about here? We're talking about fifth-generation cellular technology. The most likely situation is that you're listening to this very podcast on perhaps a 4G, maybe a 3G cell connection. And this delivers some, you know, pretty remarkable speeds if you think about having broadband in your pocket. But wait for this 5G, fifth-generation cellular technology, this is going to mean speeds of up to and including a hundred [00:01:42] times faster than 4G. This is massive and no wonder there's some hype, but when we do our top five emerging technologies, we try to cut through all that hype, cut through all of the noise to find out what really matters.

[00:01:57] Now, if you ask me like why does 5G really matter? I think there's three big driving factors that are getting 5G on the list to talk about and why I picked it as a top-five emerging technologies for 2020. Number one: fifth generation [00:02:16] cell networks are crucial parts of the mobile industry.

[00:02:20] Here's the thing. It works beautifully as another reason to upgrade AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, you name it. All the huge global networks need a reason for you to upgrade because we're on cycles now of every two to three years, we upgrade our device. And we move into a new renewed contract. So often the mobile carrier will dangle a new device, a new feature, a new speed through the [00:02:50] network, has a reason to continue with them.

[00:02:53] So everybody's got hooked on this three-year rollover model that has meant that we continually upgrade our iPhones. We continually upgrade our contracts with the mobile providers. So, this is why it is getting so much hype. You will have seen in 2019, everybody in the US all those big cell providers desperately trying to shout and scream about 5G as a reason to stay on their network.

[00:03:22] So this is reason number one, that the [00:03:24] hype is so big. Number two, totally different trajectory here, Huawei. A lot of concerns around a Chinese state influenced organization providing the infrastructure for many modern Western governments and industries and economies. So, no doubt, no matter where you are around the world, you've probably heard conversations, discussions, perhaps arguments about whether your government should approve that national 5G infrastructure should be provided in part or in whole by Huawei. And this has caused a [00:03:58] lot of conversation. This is an essential part of the whole business economy of the mobile business. We've got huge government security concerns coming up through Huawei.

[00:04:09] And lastly, somebody who's a little bit more off the radar but is super important why the hype is so big, is some of the health concerns that exist around 5G. Without doubt, there's certainly some concerns around radiation and the different radio waves that 5G uses in order to get those super-fast adrenalized speeds.

[00:04:30] So that's why the [00:04:32] hype is happening. First thing I want to give you though, after all of that to cut through it or is a number that matters. And if there was one single number that is going to make the point of why 5G's going to be so big, it's the Qualcomm forecast that in 2020 there will be 200 million active users of 5G.

[00:04:53] That's not 2021 it's not 2025 they're talking about. Ladies and gentlemen this year, but Huawei not to be outdone. They've actually countered that and said they believe [00:05:06] that China alone will have 200,000,000 5G network users in 2020. Look, it really doesn't matter who you're going to believe. The truth here is that so much infrastructure has already been put in place.

[00:05:20] The handsets are coming in 2020 it's going to be fireworks, and 5G is definitely one of our big picks for 2020 so just lastly to wrap up pros and cons. Well without doubt, what's the real benefit here for the user experience? We always bring things back to the user and I think [00:05:40] that finally, the promise of these rich services and experience delivered either in a remote or a virtual capacity will be able to happen with 5G.

[00:05:49] People won't need fiber to the home if they have a 5G device. People will be able to have great services like telemedicine, remote working. This could be really huge for 2020 particularly with all the remote working and work from home that has kicked off in the first part of the year. I mentioned earlier if there's a con to this whole thing, there's some real concerns around [00:06:14] radiation around all the different radio frequencies that are used here. I mean, the only way they can get these speeds is to get busy on a number of different frequencies with a lot of throughput. We heard stories in both the Netherlands and Japan of birds mysteriously dying around 5G towers.

[00:06:31] So yeah, there is a bit to be worried about. There's a lot of conjecture and conversation there, but the real impact here is regardless of the pros and the cons, one truth remains, 5G is going to be absolutely huge in 2020. So if you want to know more about [00:06:48] 5G, if you want to get the masterclass, if you want to download the whole keynote, or if you want to know about anything else, that's an essential skill for an innovator, hop over to BottomUp.io and get all the goodies there. I'm your host, Mike Parsons. It was great having you on the show today. We'll see you next time.