Cities and rural communities in Canada will experience economic and other benefits once 5G is employed, according to a new report from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.
The report predicts that the economic impact will reach $40 billion CAD of annual GDP uplift by 2026. It also estimates that 250,000 permanent jobs will be added to the economy.
5G presents a number of opportunities for innovation in the communications industry and will fuel new business models. It will also generate new sources of growth for the industry in the upcoming years, according to the report.
The key benefits of 5G will likely appear in the following categories: transportations and mobility, precision agriculture, energy management and rural connectivity. In terms of rural connectivity, 5G will allow for efficient broadband rollout to underserved areas.
“Many people assume that new network technology will only benefit residents and businesses in our largest cities, however this report shows that this is clearly not the case,” said Robert Ghiz, president & CEO of CWTA, in a press release.
The next generation of the wireless network is likely not coming to Canada until 2021 at the earliest, and even then some decisions in the space have not been made, including whether Huawei will participate in the rollout.
Additionally, 12 companies including Telus and Rogers recently got a hold of 600 MHz spectrum licences, which operators are hoping to use in the rollout of their upcoming 5G networks. The auction was introduced by Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains since Canada doesn’t have all the spectrum necessary to fully deploy 5G networks.
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