Recent research by GSMA, a trade body that represents mobile operators around the world, has shown that if mobile companies venture into providing innovative 5G services across different industries, the global GDP can increase by $565 billion, and tax revenue by $152 billion, from 2020 to 2034. The report titled “Socio-Economic Benefits of 5G Services Provided in mmWave Bands” was launched December 12th, 2018 in London. The research was carried out by TMG, a consulting firm specializing in the information and communication technologies sector on behalf of the GSMA.
These next-generation innovative 5G services would enhance access to healthcare, education, and mobility whilst ensuring pollution is reduced and safety is guaranteed. All these can only be achieved if governments around the world support the identification of sufficient millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum for the mobile industry at the next ITU World Radiocommunications Conference in 2019.
GSMA is the first to survey the impact of the mmWave spectrum on the overall contribution of 5G services on the global economy. The mmWave would carry the highest capacity of the network’s services.
The head of spectrum GSMA, Brett Tarnutzer says 5G offers more services for mobile operators. “The global mobile ecosystem knows how to make spectrum work to deliver a better future. Mobile operators have a history of maximizing the impact of our spectrum resources and no one else has done more to transform spectrum allocations into services that are changing people’s lives. Planning spectrum is essential to enable the highest 5G performance and government backing for mmWave mobile spectrum at WRC-19 will unlock the greatest value from 5G deployments for their citizens” he said “More than 5 billion people already rely on the mobile ecosystem to deliver services that are integral to their daily lives and fundamental to the economic sustainability of the communities they live in. 5G can offer more benefits and a whole new range of services to even more people, but this will not be possible without access to this vital spectrum.”
Wireless communication networks have evolved over time from the 1G network to the 4G network. However, as networks have advanced, likewise have they run out of bandwidth. Hence, the solution is to add more bandwidth by using the frequency spectrum in the mmWave frequency range. The mmWave has the perfect characteristics to support very high data transfer rates and ultra-reliable, low latency capabilities, which will support new use cases and deliver the benefits of 5G to consumers and businesses around the world.
The mmWave 5G would not only provide people with ultra-fast broadband services, but it would also give room for innovation through enhanced remote health sector and education, industrial automation, virtual and augmented reality, and many others.
The report recommends governments to embrace the mmWave 5G services. It would aid development to the global world at large, especially the underdeveloped countries like some African countries. African countries should seize the opportunity to benefit from the mmWave 5G services. It would help bring about innovation to various sectors as well as help grow their GDP.
