Canada
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November 13, 2019 – According to a new report by CWTA, cities and rural communities will see significant economic and quality-of-life benefits as 5G is deployed across Canada. The economic impact should reach $40B of annual GDP uplift by 2026, with 250,000 permanent jobs added during the same time. Additional advancements will likely also be spurred in energy management, precision agriculture and rural connectivity. CWTA president and CEO Robert Ghiz introduced the report at the CENGN summit in Ottawa this month by saying “5G has the potential to improve everyone’s quality of life, no matter where they live.”
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November 5, 2019 – A new 5G-powered smart campus will be launching at the University of British Columbia to test 5G applications in a real-world setting. UBC made the announcement with Rogers, who began a multi-million dollar partnership with the University in 2018 to fund 5G research. Other 5G projects ongoing at UBC include earthquake and tsunami detection, digital mining involving autonomous trucks, and a mobility service that combines different modes of transportation to give consumers on-demand options.
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November 13, 2019 – McGill’s Office for Science and Society recently published an article about the health impact of electro-magnetic fields. Richard Margolese MD concluded there has been no evidence that cellular technology has harmed people. As to potential future harm, "we have the tools to discover and confirm it,” Margolese wrote. He then contrasted mobile telecom technology with the scientific risks surrounding tobacco, pesticides and asbestos. “Just because we can see the towers does not mean they are any more of a threat. The energy from a cellphone is 1 million times weaker than a light bulb,” he said.
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Global 5G
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November 18, 2019 – The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) recently responded to a parliamentary inquiry into the health effects of 5G in Australia. “Higher frequencies do not mean higher exposure levels,” ARPANSA said, emphasizing that “there is no established evidence for health effects.” It noted the energy absorbed into the body is too low to create any “significant heating of tissue,” while there is also “no established evidence that low-level exposure to radio waves causes cancer.”
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November 19, 2019 – As a result of disagreements between the French finance ministry and its telecom regulator, Arcep, France will likely postpone its 5G spectrum auction three months later than its original December 2019 timeframe. Disputes concern the auction floor price, as well as the amount of spectrum to be sold. “All positions haven’t yet converged between Arcep and the government,” sources said, noting that "difficulties" can emerge in the final details of the procedure, but “it shouldn’t take much more time now.”
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November 12, 2019 – China’s plans to develop 6G have been announced at a time when its largest operators are beginning to roll out 5G on a national basis. Chinese government ministries and research institutes reported this month that they have convened a 6G R&D group. According to Queen’s University professor David Skillicorn, however, “6G is just a pure attempt to make themselves look good by coming up with two-letter combinations, it costs nothing to say you’re working on a number that’s one bigger.”
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November 14, 2019 – SK Telecom has signed an agreement with the Korean National Policy Agency (KNPA) and the Korea Road Traffic Authority (KoROAD) to develop 5G technologies for transportation. Under the agreement, SK Telecom will use KNPA’s traffic signal information to update the arrival time and route information it offers on its T Map service. The carrier and KoROAD will also develop a testbed for a 5G traffic signal system, seeking to transform traffic signal devices into a reliable, 5G-based infrastructure.
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November 19, 2019 – According to mobile chip supplier Qualcomm, 450 million 5G smartphone handsets are expected to be shipped in 2021, with an additional 750 million by 2022. The commercialization of 5G in China – as well as the availability of chipsets across different price ranges – are expected to accelerate the adoption of 5G mobile technology. This represents a 125% increase over its previous 2020 estimate, with the figures being based on Qualcomm’s close relationship with smartphone manufacturers worldwide.
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October 31, 2019 – 5G Americas’ new report finds that operators can maximize return on investment by using machine learning (ML) to improve small cell siting. Reliable baseline data about where equipment is located is necessary to deliver capacity. As 2D mapping does not consider where network load comes from in multistory buildings, 3D mapping becomes more useful. To this end, ML can feed data into rich software models that calculate haul, fibre availability, street furniture and the frequencies used in specific locations.
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