Hundreds of telecommunications experts from all over the world were in Spokane Thursday for a conference focused on the uses of 5G technology.
The 3GPP organization hosted a week long conference at the Spokane Convention Center and the Davenport Grand. The Lilac City served as the backdrop for intense, innovative, and collaborative conversations about the future of communications. A conference that brings together some of the greatest minds in telecommunications to solve problems.
“It's always a bit of a magical process that we are going through. That many competitors and people sitting at the same table start arguing about issues and in the end we agree on something and most of the things we agree on we see in reality five, ten years later. And we are really working for the benefits of the people,” 3GPP Chairman Georg Mayer said.
We have all been there. We cannot get service to make a call or that important text just will not go through and we walk around searching for a signal. Tech experts believe 5G is the key to solving service problems.
The 3GPP organization has been working for years to expand the use of 5G networks which experts say will mean faster, better service on our phones. According to these tech industry insiders 5G can be used to automate cars and machines.
"Planes and cars, but also in equipment you might use in a factory or for first responders, we use it in ambulances and police cars and in many many settings,” 3GPP Chairman Erik Guttman said. "Vehicles, things that we are shipping around, medical equipment, all different facets of life can be communicative."
The 5G technology has already been tested on cells phones and it should be available soon. And now the conversation is on how this new technology can be used in the future.
"There is so much potential in 5G both on the consumer space for people in their everyday life as well as in several industries,” said 3GPP Chairman Balazs Bertenyi said.