Page 4 - SAMENA Trends - March 2020

EDITORIAL SAMENA TRENDS

Collaborated Action amidst Health Crisis Situations in the Era of 5G

SAMENA Council's decade-long practice The COVID-19 crisis has also prompted the UN
of annually congregating leaders and the Broadband Commission to adopt a new action
change-makers of the Industry was met with plan. With the new Coronavirus continuing
an unprecedented and debilitating challenge to ravage many nations around the globe
this year in the form COVID-19 contagion. and beginning to make in-roads in countries
less well-equipped to handle a major health
This, however, allowed the Council to focus emergency, immediate action is the need of
on the then-defined agenda of the Leaders' the hour, to ensure no one is left behind in
Summit from a different angle, in order to humanity's collective response to the crisis,
stay connected with both regional decision- and to benefit from ICTs. Commissioners and
makers and global ICT movers and shakers, their organizations are urgently collaborating
and to draw attention to opportunities in to compile and disseminate a repository of
advancing the cause of fostering beneficial tangible actions based on the three pillars of
use of ICTs, particularly those powered by 5G. resilient connectivity, affordable access, and Bocar A. BA
safe use of online services for informed and Chief Executive Officer & Board
The current health situation may just be educated societies, to mitigate the impact Member
the right to re-think collaboration and of the COVID-19 pandemic and ease the SAMENA Telecommunications
develop a new decision-making culture, immediate adverse impacts for economies Council
centered on the imperative to accelerate and societies.
5G implementation. In the current crisis, On March 23, the FBI warned that
ICT infrastructure has emerged among the During the current challenging times, school closings due to COVID-19
most important reliability pillars for the the Telecom Industry's current response present an increased risk of child
society, with 5G technologies allowing for to COVID-19 — by Telecom Operators, exploitation. Similar warnings have
various applications to be deployed swiftly, Digital Space Players, Tech Providers, come from many NGOs such as the
using high bandwidths, supporting massive and Policy Makers and Regulators alike — Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
connections, and providing low-latency in have been satisfactory, with steps taken in the UK, the National Center for
data transmission for real-time services. steps in their common fight against the Missing and Exploited Children
To this effect, 5G requires stakeholder new pandemic, which include increasing (NCMEC) in the US and UNICEF.
engagement, urgency, decision-making network bandwidths, scaling customer
momentum, overcoming regulatory, policy, relations resources by offering free upgrades, When life gets back to normal in the
and investment sustainability hurdles and, encouraging end-users to utilize internet coming months, SAMENA Council
release of resources to support 5G. bandwidth intelligently, and temporarily will re-initiate its planning for the
making additional spectrum resources Leaders' Summit 2020, tentatively
This edition of TRENDS gives a glimpse of available where most needed. scheduled to be held later in
how 5G is now in action within the healthcare June this year. Because what we
sector, feeding SAMENA Council and Unfortunately, however, as we deal with now need is a 5G cultural shift,
Members' concept of "5G+X"; and how there COVID-19, a major issue has also emerged with numerous use-cases of 5G
is an ever-rising need to leverage broadband in the shape of child online safety and awaiting to be unearthed; in light of
technologies to connect the unconnected. exploitation risks. There have been numerous the current use of 5G and the proven
The Internet provides access to employment recent reports of the increased risk to children benefits observed from its in some
opportunities, education, healthcare, when they spend more unsupervised time on leading markets, it is critical that 5G
agriculture, financial services, entertainment the internet as a result of the Corona crises, be looked at with fresh perspectives
— and, in the current health crisis, access to closed schools and millions of people social and with an eye on its beneficial use
remote health monitoring. distancing or in quarantine. in the future.

4 MARCH 2020