From 5G to satellites, GlobalLogic Ireland MD Carmel Owens on how the comms industry is powering innovation for a better-connected planet.
In an era where bytes travel faster than sound waves, the communications industry stands at the vanguard of digital transformation. From fibre optic cables snaking across our seas to the expanding forests of 5G towers, the communications sector is powering innovation across our lives, industries and societies.
The 5G leap
The fifth generation of mobile networks isn’t just about faster downloads – it’s a seismic shift. We’re entering a world of massive device connectivity. Communications giants are investing billions to build a digital superhighway. But, beyond speed, 5G will redefine industries. Think remote surgery, autonomous vehicles and smart cities.
The shift to 5G is bringing about an era of ultra-low latency, massive device connectivity and augmented reality, with potential use cases that will rock our world.
5G will power smart cities, fuelling a future of innovation and efficiency. Imagine traffic lights that adjust in real time and energy grids that optimise consumption. It will underpin universal healthcare, taking remote surgeries and patient monitoring from pilot projects to a run-of-the-mill reality. It will make autonomous vehicles the norm and bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds, making augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences even more immersive.
Advanced and frontier connectivity
Not so long ago, a phone was just a phone. Today, it’s a pocket-sized command centre. Communications companies have transformed from carriers to architects of connectivity ecosystems. They stitch together continents with submarine cables, create constellations from satellites, and beam Wi-Fi around the globe.
Advanced connectivity is like the dependable workhorse that keeps users connected day in and day out. Mobile, broadband and short-range providers are continuously upgrading infrastructure and rolling out new technologies that provide seamless connections, faster speeds and reduced latency while supporting more connected devices across the globe.
Frontier connectivity is, in comparison, more revolutionary. It’s pushing boundaries and venturing into uncharted territories. Its geographical footprint is limited at present, but it aims to bring internet access to even the most remote corners of the world.
The evolution of voice interaction
Gone are the days of dialling a phone number and speaking to a human operator. Or worse still, being met with a soul-destroying robotic interactive voice response (IVR) system telling us to press 1 for billing, 2 for technical support etc, etc, etc. Modern chatbots have taken the phone out of the picture, replacing a maze of options with a simple typed Q&A.
Beyond chatbots, natural language processing (NLP) means AI systems now compute context, accents and colloquialisms. They can decipher spoken words and translate them into actionable commands. The rise of voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant point to the next stage in the evolution of communication.
We’re already seeing deep learning, trained on vast datasets, generating machine voices that are virtually indistinguishable from humans. We’re on the precipice of instant translation from verbal or written inputs to and from both widely spoken and minority languages.
Highways in the sky
The communications industry is consolidating two seemingly disparate innovations – cloud computing and satellite technology – to bring seamless connectivity to the most remote parts of the world. Companies continue to launch satellites while cloud providers build Edge data centres all over the world – and they’re also combining.
Leading cloud providers such as Google, Microsoft and AWS are forging alliances with satellite operators such as SpaceX, SES, and Telesat. These partnerships will extend the cloud’s reach, create seamless connections and take us closer to the Edge, where connectivity, data insights and real-time analytics reach end users at the touch of a button.
Northern Sky Research predicts that the cloud-satellite market will reach $32bn and generate upwards of 240 exabytes of traffic by 2031. It suggests cloud will play a key role in bridging gaps between the traditional aerospace sector, downstream end users, and middle-layer organisations going forward.
The unison between cloud and satellite is shaking up the ecosystem, promising businesses dramatic jumps in efficiency, revenue growth and agility. It’s also lowering the barriers to entry for space-derived data services and reshaping connectivity, data processing and digital service delivery across the globe.
Guarding our digital borders
As data flows increase, so do cyberthreats. Communications companies encrypt our messages, monitor threats and fight off would-be attackers. But it’s a cat-and-mouse game. The more connected we become, the more vulnerabilities emerge.
Presently, the industry is actively defending our interconnected world, investing in robust defences, fortifying networks and implementing more stringent authentication measures.
Over the last decade or so, we’ve also seen biometric authentication move from spy movies to the palms of our hands. More and more, we’re moving away from traditional passwords and multifactor verification to fingerprint scans and facial recognition.
The next wave
Looking forward, we’ll see AI play a much larger defensive role, including machine learning algorithms analysing vast quantities of fast-moving network traffic, detecting anomalies in real time and predicting threats.
In collaboration with governments, industry bodies and private businesses, the communications sector will propel information sharing, threat intelligence and collective defences.
As advancements unfold, the communications industry will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping how we connect, communicate and collaborate, now and in the future.
By Carmel Owens
Athlone-based Carmel Owens is MD of digital-engineering leader GlobalLogic in Ireland. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the IT sector, having previously held senior executive roles with leading indigenous and multinational technology players, including SQS (Expleo), Version 1, Dell EMC and Sungard Availability Services.
At GlobalLogic, Carmel is responsible for spearheading continued growth, shaping the company’s strategy and overseeing daily business operations. She was named Person of the Year at the 2024 Tech Excellence Awards in association with IP Telecom.
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