Telecoms.com periodically invites expert third parties to share their views on the industry’s most pressing issues. In this piece Pradeep Bhardwaj, Senior Strategy Director and Head of Industry Standards at Syniverse, looks at the considerations that come with applying 5G tech to the smart city space.

2019 may have been the year that 5G networks finally started to get deployed, but 2020 is already bringing a significant number of commercial rollouts of this next generation of connectivity. But there is still a long way to go before we see 5G delivering upon its full promise of enabling market verticals, massive Internet of Things (MIoT), critical communications, public safety and a plethora of other advanced applications and use cases. The technology is still evolving and several hurdles exist that must be overcome. Particularly there continues to be several unknowns about the intricacies of enterprise partnerships for 5G applications, and how they can be properly monetized.

Among the many innovations of the future that 5G will enable, smart cities will be one of the most revolutionary. The development of smart cities is in its early stage and mobile technologies like 5G and its successors have a huge opportunity and a crucial role to play in this space. Internet of Things (IoT) provides the foundation for smart cities and 5G being a key enabling technology for IoT, would be inextricably linked to the success story of these highly connected cities of the future. Much of the emphasis so far has been focused on laying the groundwork: the adoption of the framework that delivers the various essentials/elements of a smart city. But now that the framework is being built, mobile operators are able to launch the next phase of implementation by utilizing the new 5G networks.

While the full potential of widespread 5G is yet to be seen, there is still work to be done in clearing the path for this technology – and early adopters need to consider both the benefits and the challenges of such an approach. Though the immediate impact of higher speed and lower lag time for mobile data offers immense upsides, there are several lesser known concerns around 5G networks that are worth exploring.