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5G future revealed as NGMN gathers leading global operators for briefing on industry use cases building on 5G

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Earlier today, the NGMN Alliance successfully brought together key global operators to showcase unique 5G use cases beyond mobile broadband at its press and industry briefing at Mobile World Congress.

Barcelona, Spain – Taking place on the Deutsche Telekom stand with more than 150 attendees, NGMN welcomed speakers from AT&T, China Mobile, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom itself. Covering 4G and 5G campus network solutions in industrial and entertainment industries, smart energy, remote medical healthcare, factory automation and 5G powered maintenance for Industry 4.0, the briefing explored 5G expectations in key vertical industries and the next steps the industry needs to take to overcome key challenges.

“The 5G use cases beyond mobile broadband presented during the briefing have truly highlighted the impact of 5G on fundamental vertical industries,” said NGMN CEO Peter Meissner. “The presentations given by some of the industry’s leading operators have clearly shown the potential that 5G has to transform a variety of industries and the challenges that we must all now work on overcoming in the journey towards 5G.”

Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon, Senior Vice President at Orange Labs Networks and Chairman of the NGMN Board, introduced the session by explaining the potential operator strategies of 5G introduction – starting with enhanced mobile broadband for consumers that seamlessly builds on current networks and then extending towards to the industry focused applications with URLLC ultra reliable low latency communications capabilities.

The use cases presented covered a broad range of applications:

  • Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon, Senior Vice President at Orange Labs Networks, kicked off the session by revealing why immersive experience for Industry 4.0 needs 5G.
  • Igal Elbaz, Senior Vice President of Wireless Technology at AT&T, discussed the creation of a 5G zone at the Magic Leap campus in Florida, enabling developers and creators to test applications and devices on a 5G network as the product is being built.
  • Guangyi Liu, Wireless CTO of China Mobile Research Institute, China Mobile, explained how the unique capabilities of 5G technology will enable a different level of automation in energy networks.
  • Seizo Onoe, Chief Technology Architect at NTT DOCOMO and President of DOCOMO Technology, highlighted the medical healthcare trials with partners on 5G remote and mobile diagnosis.
  • Arash Ashouriha, Senior Vice President of Technology Architecture & Innovation at Deutsche Telekom, showcased the 4G and 5G campus network solutions available to industry customers, and the dual slice approach that integrates public and private LTE and 5G connectivity.
  • Luke Ibbetson, Vodafone Group R&D Director, closed the presentations by discussing the transformation of factory automation, with a focus on spectrum licensing.

Following the presentations NGMN welcomed questions from the audience which covered a variety of topics, including 5G security, network sharing, QoS of E2E architecture and the role of operators in private networks for vertical industries.

“The briefing reflects the NGMN board’s focus on the strategic priorities for the organisation going forward,” said Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon. “We look forward to continuing these crucial discussions together guiding the evolution of 5G technology.”