Business case needs to be made for 5G end-to-end networks: Telus CTO

MISSISSAUGA — Telus Corp.’s chief technology officer said that the industry is struggling to make the business case for 5G end-to-end networks. Ibrahim Gedeon made the comments at a Monday morning panel on cloud, edge and 5G innovation in the digital economy at the 2021 edition of the Canadian Telecom Summit. “We’re all struggling with new revenues because every G is supposed to be cheaper yet we need to invest in edge, more infrastructure, we saw the record breaking… spectrum auction. Where do people think that the cost of the spectrum is coming from? It’s coming from the bottom line of all of us. So in terms of 5G end-to-end with new revenues we struggle to make the business case,” he said at the panel after Telus executive vice president of home solutions Zainul Mawji also criticized Canada’s spectrum policies. Gedeon added that without selling consumers or businesses on the better quality of experience with 5G, then Wifi “will just suffice” unless the industry can take the digital world to another level. “There are a lot of players in this market and different levels of readiness. 5G is not just a faster network it is going to be the platform of the future that innovation will reside upon so readiness will have multiple perspectives,” Gedeon said. Engineering manager at World Wide Technology, Abdel Fiali El Garch said, monetizing 5G networks will require a business model innovation “because 5G will enable new business models” as it's not all about faster data plan services. “If you take into account network splicing and taking into account opening the network to APIs then you can be more innovative about the business models you use for your customers. You can charge differently, you can ensure quality of service differently, etc.,” he said. He added that 5G will also be essential to cost reduction because it will allow for more automation and have an “indirect impact on the bottom line.” The panelists all agreed that 5G technology and the move to the digital economy won’t happen in a “big bang” but rather a slow rollout with a few early adopters. Global chief of technology at Interdynamix, Vanessa Little, said that Canada is very “risk averse” and because of its low population density, Canada’s telecoms companies “aren’t swimming in revenue” and the adoption of 5G technology for the Internet of Things will develop in similar ways to other disruptive technologies like Uber or Airbnb. “When you look at countries like in Asia Pacific they have immense population density so they can really take bigger risks because they have the funds to do so. Here in Canada it’s going to make more sense for not only the carriers but also the people that are consuming these network capabilities to develop a more ‘wait and see’ model because that’s the only way it works in Canada,” she said. Senior vice-president and chief technology officer at Cogeco, Zouheir Mansourati slightly disagreed, noting that all businesses recognize the need to act quickly and compete globally and that it was uncertainty over the benefits, not innovation, that could slow down the deployment of the latest technology. “Most consumers today are used to buying online and with their cellphones but they have to see a benefit to it. On the business side of things they will have to see how they can sell their products in a different way, they will have to see what benefits it can bring to reducing their costs, is it opening up their access to the markets much more quickly, is it exposing them in a broader sense to different market segments?” Mansourati said. Mansourati added that 5G is not the same everywhere and it depends on the location and coverage of the rollout along with how quickly the cost of bandwidth will drop. “If you look at the speed at which the cost of computing, the cost of memory, is dropping, it is much faster than the cost of bandwidth -- which is dropping still but not as fast. So that definitely encourages edge computing so you don’t have to carry data to the traditional cloud,” he said. -- Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Business case needs to be made for 5G end-to-end networks: Telus CTO

News | November 15, 2021

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Business case needs to be made for 5G end-to-end networks: Telus CTO

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