5G in the Age of Experience: A New Platform for Creators

By John Godfrey, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Samsung Electronics America

The first quarter of 2020 is proving to be an exciting time for Samsung. We’ve seen unprecedented innovations unveiled at CES, and we are gearing up for a busy few weeks as we prepare for the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Event in San Francisco on February 11, as well as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of the month.

We expect to see real transformation in the world of 5G in 2020. Like its predecessor, 4G LTE, the exponential increase in performance rendered by 5G marks a generational change that will open new, unforeseen avenues for innovation that will transform our world. And that transformation is starting now.

Samsung has already introduced the Galaxy S10+ 5G and Note10+ 5G, giving Americans their first opportunity to experience what it’s like to have the power and speed of a fiber connection in the palm of their hands. In total, Samsung shipped more than 6.7 million Galaxy 5G devices worldwide in 2019.

Handhelds and tablets, blistering speed and all, mark only the beginning phases of a wireless revolution that will usher in the Age of Experience. While the pure speed of the network is important, it’s 5G’s low latency, massive throughput and other properties that make it a game changer, allowing devices, people, vehicles – everything – to exchange massive amounts of data on an unprecedented scale.

In a future connected by 5G and optimized by AI, all manner of sensors, instruments, appliances, vehicles and wearables will be able to share massive amounts of data in real time, realizing a vision of a truly connected society where the exchange of data is no longer an impediment. It’s these properties, plus the jaw-dropping speed, that make it such a compelling platform for human-centered innovation that solves problems and enhances people’s lives.

Speaking at the Samsung Keynote for CES 2020, Emily Becher, SVP and Head of Samsung NEXT Global, discusses how new innovation is transforming buildings, transportation systems and communities to be connected to infrastructure of a smart city.

At CES 2020, the full scale of 5G’s potential impact was on display, extending beyond handhelds and tablets into the realm of automotive technology, virtual and augmented reality, connected gaming and smart infrastructure.

At Samsung’s booth, we displayed the world’s first 5G-enabled telematics control system for a car, soon to be adopted by BMW. We also demonstrated how the combination of 5G, edge computing and AI will transform the urban transportation experience by enabling Vehicle-to-Everything communication, which will seamlessly connect cars to the rest of the city and make both drivers and pedestrians safer.

Samsung Digital Cockpit

These use cases and many others spanning healthcare, manufacturing and agriculture are still in early development, but it’s encouraging to see the visionary thinking surrounding 5G extend into new and exciting realms, because it’s only a taste of what’s to come.

To move 5G out of its early stages and into the business of building a truly connected society, innovators and creators need a robust platform on which to build. To that end, Samsung has also been quietly leading the way in the build-out of 5G networks in the U.S. and across the globe, where, in addition to devices, we provide wireless carriers with 5G networking solutions, powered by Samsung’s 5G chip, baseband, and radio solutions.

But more can be done to accelerate the buildout needed for 5G to flourish. At a panel in the Innovation Policy track at CES, I joined experts from across the 5G ecosystem in calling on the U.S. government to:

1. Designate additional low, mid and high-band spectrum for 5G
2. Modernize siting regulations and establish clear rules of the road when it comes to infrastructure deployment
3. Lead the way as a user of 5G for innovation in public services such as safety and transportation

For our 5G future to be fully realized, the extent of 5G’s transformative potential must be fully understood. To do that requires accelerating the rate of deployment so that new applications can thrive — and their creators have a complete platform on which to build.