Page 11 - SAMENA Trends - March 2020

COVID-19 VS TELECOM INDUSTRY SAMENA TRENDS

remote training programs aimed Data Records or latest IoT generated
at enhancing public awareness data, through which new trends in 5G USE-CASE OF RELEVANCE: 5G Solutions and
toward epidemics, should be used to citizen mobility and incidents of Capabilities Used to Contain COVID-19 Spread in China
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, it has put tremendous
augment approaches for managing infection outbreaks can be identified pressure on public healthcare systems and epidemic
widespread occurrences of infectious in solutions that are expanding to response mechanisms across the world. In China,
diseases. Considering the nature include not only medical data from telecommunications operators collaborated with
of COVID-19, which has already hospitals but also user-generated technology providers to rapidly set up a specific 5G
reached more than 166 countries, roaming and Social Media data network dedicated to equipping hospitals to contain,
test, and treat a high number of COVID-19 infections. To a
proving that it will not be tackled by as well internet search engine considerable extent, China’s ability to overcome COVID-19
regionally fragmented responses, queries. Needless to say, any data spread has been powered by technological capability, such
there is a strong need for us to build aggregation and utilization remains as that provided through 5G in collaboration with telecom
a set of united technology-policy- in need of fulfilling cybersecurity and operators and the national healthcare system. The ready
collaboration fronts at a global level data protection requirements; an availability of some systems that were immediately put in
place was made possible through healthcare use-cases
to fight infectious diseases and altogether different subject area of envisioned as a part of 5G solutions portfolio. Banking on
challenges of similar scale. great breadth. inherent key advantages over 4G in terms of speed, latency,
number of connection points and range, 5G, in tandem
In the Broadband Taking the previous work done by with innovative applications, was central to addressing the
Commission's Work- the Broadband Commission, the ITU, COVID-19 situation.
ing Group's report, one and leading private sector associa- 5G-equipped solutions allowed for accurate monitoring in
tions and technology companies on
public areas; thermal imaging for contagion monitoring;
of the Industry's most epidemic surveillance and control, communication support with HD remote diagnosis through
promising discussion the Industry’s collective imagination SMART ambulances during patient transfer and care;
keeping hospitals connected to collaborate in real-time
— as well as availability of Artificial
areas, "Big Data analy- Intelligence, Remote Sensing, IoT, with large data bandwidths and stable transmission; remote
5G platforms for consultation effectiveness including with
sis", was also empha- Robotics, Image Processing, Aug- remote imaging and robotics.
sized on as a potential ment Reality, Virtual Reality, Cloud Technology solutions made it easier to collect and transmit
and
Communication,
Computing
means to help prevent and of course, extremely high and large information quickly to hospitals, so they could develop
treatment and quarantine plans. To achieve this, the
the spread of infec- efficient connectivity characteristics network needed to provide fast, stable data transmission.
inherent to 5G — may help explicate
Similarly, remote medical consultation, which required
tious disease with ICT. how we could have contained the real-time video conferencing and image transmission,
adverse impact of COVID-19 earlier via 5G-based teleconferencing was achieved, supporting
In the Broadband Commission’s on, while maintaining the globaliza- 4k ultra HD conferencing and data transmission, which
required network speeds of at least 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps.
Working Group’s report, one of tion spirit and ensuring continuity in
the Industry’s most promising communication; preventing a sense After China’s COVID-19 struggle, 5G network and 4K SMART
discussion areas, “Big Data of dismay; and thwarting economic ambulances have transformed the medical emergency
analysis”, was also emphasized on meltdown. This is so, because 5G’s response model, digitizing operation, mobilizing treatment
as a potential means to help prevent benefits extend far beyond end-user to data collection and real-time communication, while
improving treatment efficiency and effectiveness.
the spread of infectious disease digital experience and into other ex-
with ICT. There are multiple ways, isting industries as well as emerging Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS),
including the use of traditional Call industry segments. which is at the core of the 5G SMART healthcare ecosystem,
has also emerged as an important technology innovation
area. In the battle against COVID-19 in China, remote
imaging proved to be effective in a pilot program at Wuhan
Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) Hospital, another
temporary facility built exclusively for virus patients, via
5G platforms, achieving real time feedback, diagnosis, and
reducing the burden of front-line workers.

Moreover, real-time collaboration reached another level
of refinement. As case studies and medical data needed
to be consolidated and shared promptly, providing
valuable reference for other hospitals and scientific
research institutions, 5G networks made this happen in
a stable and efficient manner. While 4G can meet basic
data transmission needs, with rapid increases in data
volume and mounting demand for remote, HD-video
based treatment, there is a substantial need for upgraded
networks with faster connections and more bandwidth.

11 MARCH 2020