5G event on the Gold Coast kicks off to help usher in mobile revolution

WITH a wave of emerging tech trends, mobile connectivity is about to undergo a “transformational” change — and consumers are set to win big.

THE new generation of mobile technology is fast approaching and Telstra CEO Andy Penn is staking his company’s future — and likely his job — on it.

The arrival of 5G technology promises to revolutionise all sorts of industries and give you more mobile data than you can poke a stick at.

This week Australia is hosting a gathering of the international standards body for mobile technology as well as hundreds of industry experts at an event on the Gold Coast to make the critical decisions around establishing the international standards that will underpin 5G networks.

“It’s going to be an important milestone this week,” Telstra CEO Andy Penn told news.com.au. “These guys are ratifying the standards, which will really be the first commercial standards for 5G.”

The industry has high hopes for the next generation of mobile technology, expecting it to unlock a raft of new consumer and business applications that telcos will be able to cash in on. Telstra is leading the charge with Optus hot on its heals, while a proposed merger between Vodafone and TPG will likely give rise to a new challenger in the race for 5G.

‘TEN TIMES THE CAPACITY’

The jump from 2G to 3G took us beyond just call and text and enabled the data consumption on smartphones we now take for granted, although at the time it was unclear as to why that was such a worthwhile idea.

Due to the explosion of data with the rise of data-hungry apps and HD mobile streaming on 4G networks, the same debate hasn’t existed around the need for 5G. Adoption of mobile tech has also been increasing — it took 4G took just five years to reach 2.5 billion people, compared to eight years for 3G.

“As we look into the future and look at the phenomenal growth in demand for streaming and data volumes over the network, frankly telcos won’t be able to cope with that without this technology transition,” Mr Penn said.

But the dramatic boost in capacity is expected to pave the way for a host of applications not yet dreamt up. For the Telstra boss, it’s a case of build it and they will come.

“Firstly, we’ve got 10 times the capacity for a lower cost per bit of data. It’s going to enable more media and better quality media,” he said.

“The second thing is it’s faster and dramatically reduces latency. So for things that require that really quick response time like robotics, autonomous driving or even in consumer gaming, that’s where the latency is going to become important.”

When 5G rolls out in earnest along with 5G compatible smartphones sometime late next year, consumers will be able to enjoy super fast downloads, high quality streaming and gaming, and advancements in emerging trends like augmented reality. 5G will also underpin advances in robotics and be vital for autonomous vehicles.

Mobile streaming, mobile gaming and augmented reality will require 5G to flourish. Picture: Indranil Mukherjee

THE 5G RACE

We are still in the early stage of the 5G rollout but Telstra has been aggressive in pursuing milestones. It recently achieved the world’s first end-to-end 5G non-stand-alone data call on a commercial mobile network and in August, it switched on 5G site on the Gold Coast despite the complete lack of commercially available 5G devices — a move which Mr Penn said would enable robust testing outside of the lab when the equipment becomes available.

The company’s 5G rollout is underpinned by around $5 billion in mobile network investment over the three years from 30 June, 2019. It’s all a part of Mr Penn’s long held assertion that Telstra must become a “world class technology company” to meet the demands put on a modern telco provider.

“Nothing has changed philosophically from my point of view. It’s only ever been about what does the telco of the future need to be,” he said.

“5G is very important but it’s not coming on its own. 5G is arriving at the same time as software defined networks, big data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT). It’s all these technologies coming together that are going to make a transformational difference.”

MORE: IoT called ‘The biggest business transformation in history’

Telstra CEO Andy Penn delivers the company's full year results at their HQ in Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis

The new generation of mobile technology comes as there is a growing number of consumer goods and devices being connected on networks. “5G is being built for a world where there will be millions, if not billions, of connected sensors and devices which are not handsets or tablets,” Mr Penn said.

Last month, Telstra unveiled its first consumer product range that will seek to leverage this new IoT world. The forthcoming tracking and monitoring products are designed to allow Telstra customers to monitor the location of their valuable belongings such as their wallet, pet, toolbox or car from their smartphone.

While Mr Penn thinks IoT can add value for consumers, most of the use cases are taking place within industry. “On the enterprise side, we’re doing lots on logistics, mining, smart metering, agritech and other sectors,” he said.

For instance, network connected monitoring and tracking systems could help drought stricken farmers in Australia better manage their crops or animals in conditions where resource efficiency is paramount.

“I was in Dubbo the week before last with a farmer and he’s already deploying quite a lot of sensor based technology to allow him to manage his farming more efficiently,” Mr Penn said. “I think the thing about agriculture, indeed any industry today, is they’re all competing on a global scale regardless of how local the business is so agritech is really important area and 5G is going to be important to the evolution of that industry.”

Mr Penn said Picture: William West

GETTING IT RIGHT FOR AUSTRALIA

In his keynote address at the Gold Coast event this morning, the Telstra boss cheekily reminded those in attendance about the importance of the four day event, pointing to one study which forecasts that by 2035, 5G will enable $US12 trillion in economic output globally and support some 22 million jobs.

But before that can happen the industry standards that will ensure global compatibility must be nutted out. Australia’s strong role in this process will help ensure our unique conditions — namely a large land mass and small population — don’t hold us back.

“We have a particular set of demographic and topographical characteristics that effect Australia. Simply put we’re a very large country with a small population and getting some of the challenges that creates for mobile technology integrated into the standards means radio access equipment and the handsets that get manufactured operate more efficiently in an environment like Australia,” Mr Penn said.

“For example, if range of coverage is optimised at a higher distance, then that’s good for Australia because we have the challenge of covering longer distances. Historically that (standard optimisation) has not been the case.”

The Telstra chief is confident the telco is one of the best positioned in the world to take advantage of 5G and said Telstra customers could expect to be among the first to experience the benefits.