Acceleration, transformation and 5G.

“We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier…” John F. Kennedy

We are in the midst of challenging times. Across the business community the global threat of COVID-19 has not only been a change agent, but an accelerant towards an uncertain future. Recent data shows that digital transformation both in the business and consumer realms has been accelerated by five years.

As many of us continue to work from home, we may be siloed, but in some ways,  we are also soaring.

Our customers have always desired simple and enhanced experiences, and this pandemic has fast-tracked the quest for businesses to create unique, “better ways” of doing things. 

You know what some these experiences are, from telehealth visits to take-out dining and grocery delivery to virtual classrooms and one of my favorites – virtual kickboxing classes.

5G is going to play a big role in shaping these experiences and many more.

WHAT 5G WILL DO

5G is ultra-fast. How fast? Well, technically speaking that depends on a number of factors including which flavor you use. AT&T was the first carrier to hit speeds of 2 Gigabits per second on a trial of its 5G+ network, which is  5G using our millimeter wave spectrum. That is 100 times faster than your average 4G LTE speeds. So. Fast. 5G using sub-6 GHz spectrum will take longer to become ultra-fast, but it eventually will. 

5G is eventually going to be ultra-low latency. Which is essentially the network response time. One timely use case for low latency is the potential to allow us to find a happy medium between remote work and in-person meetings using a combination of AR and VR. Imagine virtually sitting with colleagues or customers while being socially and geographically distant.

5G is going to provide mass connectivity. This is a big deal.

Wi-Fi allows around 250 connections per access point. 4G LTE raises that number to the tens of thousands. But we’ve all tried to use our smartphones in crowded sports stadiums (though not lately of course) with results that were less than ideal. 5G holds the promise that millions of endpoints could eventually be connected to one access point or antenna.

Why is mass connectivity perhaps the most exciting aspect of all? Because it opens up all sorts of possibilities for other breakthrough solutions like self-driving cars, smart factories and revolutionary breakthroughs in healthcare.

Ultimately, 5G has the potential to begin to meld our physical and digital worlds, something you may have heard referred to as “phygital.”

THE PRESENT STATE OF AT&T 5G

AT&T is currently deploying two flavors  of 5G.

At AT&T, the service we call 5G runs on sub-6 spectrum. That’s essentially the same spectrum band that your smartphone runs on today. Those radio waves do a great job of carrying your calls and data sessions over a wide geographic area and through the walls of buildings. 

But there’s also another flavor of 5G. We call it 5G+ and it runs on millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.  It’s ultra-fast and though it has propagation limitations, we are finding that we can bring  5G+ service to specific businesses - manufacturing plants, hospitals and stadiums with great results. 

To date, we offer  5G+ in parts of 35 cities, and sub6 5G in 190 markets, covering 179 million people across the U.S with plans to reach nationwide coverage this summer.

These two flavors of 5G are already having a significant impact on how some businesses work and engage with their customers. 

HOW 5G IS TRANSFORMING BUSINESS

Since last January, we’ve announced more than a dozen enterprise customers, with whom we’re co-innovating around 5G, IoT and edge computing. We are working with all of these customers to create the next generation of solutions that transform business and industries. 

Healthcare: 5G can facilitate the rapid adoption of IoT devices at home that monitor vital signs and send them to a healthcare provider. It’s easy to imagine how this could help healthcare providers diagnose COVID-19 (or future virus) positives and help contain the spread.

I’ve heard stories of doctors waiting until the evenings when their network traffic isn’t as high to send CT scan or MRI files to specialists or patients. With 5G, these images could one day be downloaded in less than a minute.

And I’d like to send a virtual high-five to the University of Southern California’s Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine. This is one AT&T Business customer that has been on the path to using our 5G, edge compute, AI and other emerging technologies to power its new state-of-the art, smart facility for cancer research, treatment and wellness education.

Education: What are students, like my daughters, to do as school begins again this fall? The options range from continuing remotely, to a hybrid learning model with combined in-person and online environments, to a full return to campus. While start dates and the answer to the “return to school plan” is still largely unknown, connectivity is a common denominator in all those decisions.

A better network could provide more opportunities for remote and hybrid learning situations, but also within populated classrooms.

The University of Miami was one of the first universities in the nation to explore 5G and edge computing to help enable interactive digital learning and R&D opportunities.

And students will eventually be able to physically interact with DNA models, see iconic works of art from every angle via VR/AR experiences, and much more.

Media: Our vision for the future of 5G is not only providing better experiences for digesting news, but also enabling reporters to tell their stories in the most engaging way possible. Wherever they may be.

Prior to COVID-19, you may have read that we began working with the Washington Post on the future of news gathering, production and digital storytelling. The goal was to make newsroom operations faster and more reliable. But they also want to explore what the future of digital storytelling could look like - from high-quality visuals to creating more immersive news experiences through augmented or virtual reality.

Entertainment: The future of entertainment will entail using  5G to both keep us safe at the venue and  provide spectacular experiences.

To keep us safe, we’re exploring how arenas can use technology to screen and monitor the health of visitors – once we return to the physical world of sports. This involves integrating 5G technologies, video, data analytics, artificial intelligence and thermal imaging to track things like temperature changes and provide near-real time situational awareness.

As an example of 5G-powered spectacular experiences, AT&T Business has been working with The Dallas Cowboys to launch the first 5G-enabled sports stadium. Experiences will range from opportunities for fans to virtually pose with five players for an Instagram photo op to doing a touchdown dance with a high-quality, 3D volumetric video of a Cowboys player.

FirstNet: I’d like you to take a moment to consider the risk that our first responders take every day and the crises they face.

And now just imagine the possibilities that might exist by bridging modern mobile technologies with first responder capabilities.

Consider the future potential to deploy a connected drone in an emergency condition to help improve situational awareness for firefighters, law enforcement, and paramedics arriving at the scene of an incident. 

We could also see new waves of connected gear like wearable cameras that could provide “see‐what‐I‐see capabilities” in near real‐time to support search and rescue. Imagine a firefighter who can see the layout of a building in her safety glasses to find those in need, far faster.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Today, every business is in the technology business. And every business relies on communication and connection.

In fact, digital transformation has really become business transformation. What’s exciting about 5G is its potential not just to transform customer experiences, but to be used for the good for the whole world, a world which I believe can be greatly enhanced in how we live, work and stay safe.

I’m personally very much looking forward to being part of what happens next as we continue to serve our clients and help you to reimagine what’s possible with 5G – across all industries and sectors – in your operations, innovations, and transformations.