Telecom Review organized a virtual panel on May 20th entitled “Beyond 5G: The endless benefits of 5G to operators”. The panel aimed to highlight what goes beyond 5G’s traditional definition and all the hype around it.
The audience joined a very interactive session chaired by Toni Eid, CEO and founder of Telecom Review Group, with the participation of Alex Sinclair, CTO, GSMA; Dr. Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO, TELUS; James Kirby, SVP & Head of EMEA Business, CSG; Dr. Mohamed Madkour, VP Global Wireless Networks Marketing and Solutions, Huawei; and Mohamed Al Marzooqi, VP Technology Synergies, Etisalat Group.
Toni Eid welcomed all participants and panelists and gave a brief introduction to the topic of the virtual panel. After all the introductions, he delved into the topics of the panel.
The session revolved around four main topics. The first topic was about the competition between OTTs and operators. Panelists shared their point of view on whether both industry players should cooperate or compete. All panelists agreed that 5G should change the relationship between OTTs and operators and that both parties should leverage the opportunities that this technology offers.
The moderator then asked about the ways to secure return on investment. Telcos have made significant investments in 5G but the panelists discussed whether those investments were enough. They also discussed which entities will be the source of ROI.
Income diversification was also on the agenda of the panel. With the numerous 5G applications and use cases, telecom operators have very diversified income sources that they need to tap.
The panelists wrapped up the discussion with the final topic of 5G being the pillar of a smart connected world. They all shared insights into what will be 5G’s greatest impact and use cases and how all industries will be able to benefit from it.
A poll was launched towards the end of the panel to gather statistics on the audience’s expectations on 5G. The results showed the impact that all the developments in 5G have had so far on the participants.
A Q&A session gave the participants the chance to interact with the panelists and ask about their opinion on different pertinent topics.
