(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: With the launch of 5G mobile network after 2018, advance ICT technologies will create infinite number of new business opportunities, especially in markets with high Internet penetration such as Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, says an industry expert.
These new business cases will come from a wide range of fields such as smart cities, e-houses, and Internet of Things (IoT), as over 50 billion devices are to be connected by 2020 worldwide.
“The development of 5G mobile network is basically not about speed and technology. It’s more about enabling customers to create new areas of businesses and revenues. A new set of services, especially with regard to smart cities and IoT, which is expected to change urban lifestyle dramatically,” Danny Atme, Head of West Middle East Region, Nokia, told The Peninsula. Commenting on the time-frame of the commercial launch of 5G mobile network, he added: “Effectively, the specification of 5G is ongoing, which is expected to be finalised globally toward the end of 2018. But Nokia, along with its partners, is conducting pre-5G demonstrations about its latest innovations, including its new ‘AirScale Radio Access’, which is expected to be the standardised solution for 5G.”
Nokia, said Atme, will be demonstrating more 5G capabilities over the next two years, including the two major Olympic events in Korea and Japan. The chief technology officer at Nokia said that 5G network and smart cities can go hand-in-hand. When it comes to the scope and application of IoT and smart technologies, sky is the limit.
New tech can be used for smart cities and smart parking
“It can be anything that we can dream about.”
Citing an example, he said that initiatives taken in Qatar and other GCC countries, in terms of driverless cars or connected cars, is itself a big area for the use of such technologies. Connected cars and other equipment will be able to communicate with each other, indicating changes in traffic conditions. Motorists, without even seeing what is ahead, the car ahead will communicate back to the drivers so that they can take decisions accordingly.
He further explained that these technologies may also find use in smart parking, smart metering, e-houses, smart power grids, smart cities and scores of other sectors. “Imagine establishing communication with your home, car, fridge, washing machine and smart clothing through billions of censors and interconnected devices communicating with each other.”
Asked about the market size of smart technologies such as IoT for Qatar or the region, he said that there are not any major studies done locally to estimate the size, but a lot of demands can be seen coming from scores of countries which will be matched here in Qatar.
“Qatar is an innovator to start with. Ooredoo Qatar, together with Nokia, is in the forefront of innovation over the last few years. For example, we were the first to demonstrate the LTE-Advanced with carrier aggregation, whereby we have shown a speed in access of 600mbps, using three carrier aggregation. We have also demonstrated combining TD (Time division) and FD (Frequency division) LTE over 10 carrier aggregation,” he added.
“At ITU event in December 2015, demonstrated download speed of 4.1gbps, a record-breaking speed never shown anywhere in the world. So when it comes to innovation of smart technologies, Qatar is much head.”
The Peninsula