3 predictions for the Data Center Market: AI will drive adoption of new technologies; DC operators will increase their use of new AI to maximize employee productivity; and advanced technologies like 5G start to find their way in the data center.
Do you know which use cases 5G is realistically expected to support by 2025? Or how it will be possible for 5G to deliver on its multifaceted promise by then? Attend this webinar and learn: What 5G is (now) and it will be (by 2025), Which 5G use cases are likely to change our world by 2025 (maybe autonomous vehicles, maybe not…), Which near- and long-term 5G network challenges worry operators the most and why, from specific domains (e.g., radio access) to end-to-end network slicing, and What is needed to ensure that 5G fully delivers by 2025, if not earlier, and what can be done starting today.
We’re only a few days into the New Year and all we can say is the outlook is uncertain. The enthusiastic hype that has filled the news in the past with promises of 5G solving the world’s problems has turned to skepticism. “Smart” cities are being discussed as not such a smart idea anymore. The latest battles in the “pole wars” we’ve written about before now focus on placement of small cells for 4G/5G, not on installing aerial fiber optic cables.
The next generation of bend-improved fibers will be a critical tool for network providers and operators working to support 5G.
The shift to 5G feels like a tech revolution happening in slow motion. In 2019, AT&T and Verizon, the two largest American carriers, lit up their 5G networks in a small number of cities. Handset makers released only a handful of phones compatible with the new standard. The overwhelming majority of us saw no meaningful improvement to our cellular networks.
AT&T and Deloitte University will bring 5G network connectivity and edge computing services to Deloitte to help the college transform the future of digital corporate learning and workplace collaboration in the university’s 700,000 sq. ft. leadership and learning center located near Dallas in Westlake, Texas. The new communications platform will help enable DU to explore new technologies and innovations to enhance experiential learning programs and overall guest experiences. MEC and 5G will be installed at the center to support specific use cases.
As cities get smarter, they are becoming more livable and more responsive—and today we are seeing only a preview of what technology could eventually do in the urban environment. Now technology is being injected more directly into the lives of residents. Smartphones have become the keys to the city, putting instant information about transit, traffic, health services, safety alerts, and community news into millions of hands.
To assure reliability and performance, and avoid potential problems such as insertion loss (weakened signal), back reflection (signal is diverted back to its source), or a total system shutdown, it’s essential that all connections are perfectly clean. This is especially important with a 5G network because every milliwatt of power is necessary for optimum connectivity and peak performance.
5G means that, for the first time, last-mile latency will often be less than backbone latency. If your data center is a long way from lots of your customers, your quality of service will be poorer (i.e. noticeably slower) than competitors with physically closer data centers. The potential answer to this problem has been around for a while – edge and fog computing. These may finally come into their own as last-mile latency drops and the sheer volume of data from the IoT skyrockets.
This week, I read an article stating that 5G “gives developers the ability to scale up projects more easily because there’s no need to build extensive fiber-optic networks to keep data flowing.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, fiber is the essential backbone for all 5G networks to operate, for fronthaul, midhaul, backhaul, and the densification needed to network between small cells.
