Discover the most promising trends in telecommunications from John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA 

What is the future of communications? What major innovations are likely to come with the full deployment of 5G? What are the trends in mobile telecommunications that could change our lives? 

Fundación Innovación Bankinter continues its #FutureTalks, an initiative that aims to bring Spanish society closer to the most disruptive trends of today and that will mark the future. To this end, #FutureTalks features the world’s leading experts.   

This time, we had the opportunity to meet one of the world’s leading experts on trends and innovations in the telecommunications sector: John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA ltd. and responsible, within the GSMA association, for the organization of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the association’s publications and the industry’s research service. 

If you were not able to attend the event live, we invite you to watch it, as John provides us with very interesting insights into the future of communications, as well as the MWC itself: 

 Before summarizing some of the most interesting ideas and insights that John Hoffman has left us, we would like to share some relevant data about his career: 

John Hoffman’s trajectory

Prior to joining the GSMA, the global organization that unifies the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovations critical to society and the economy, John served as CEO of fastmobile, Inc. a provider of software-based network operator solutions, and was president and CEO of Roamware, Inc. a global provider of voice and data roaming solutions.  

In addition, he has held executive positions with several mobile telecommunications companies, including BellSouth, Pocket Communications and SONOFON, and has been an independent consultant to the mobile industry, leading projects with GSMA, BellSouth, Palm and PCSOne, among others. 

Thoughts on the future of communications

Below, we collect some of the ideas and insights shared by John Hoffman in this #FutureTalks: 

Major trends in telecommunications

Industry trends and upcoming innovations can be grouped into six major macro trends: 

1.- CloudNet, as an evolution of cloud computing. 

2.- FinTech and the importance of mobile devices in this area. 

3.- 5G connectivity and its possibilities for innovative solutions applied, for example, to smart cities. 

4.- Internet of Everything, as an evolution of IoT (Internet of Things). 

5.- Advanced artificial intelligence 

6.- Technological horizons: towards 6G and WiFi-7. 

With a seventh transverse macrotrend: sustainability. The mobile phone industry has been recognized by the UN as one of the most groundbreaking sectors from the point of view of sustainability and, in fact, GSMA has partnership agreements with, among others, the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 

In addition to these macrotrends, two others should be highlighted: 

• The metaverse and its potential. As John points, we are still at a very early stage and we cannot be sure if it will be the next great technological revolution that will change everyone’s life or, on the contrary, if it is a bubble created by the big technology companies. In any case, the metaverse will continue to be a topic of discussion and it will be very interesting to see how it evolves. 

• The trend called Tech-for-Good, which in this sector they call Connectivity-for-Good, i.e. how we use mobile technology for the common good and how to increase trust in technology. 

MWC and innovation

The Mobile World Congress brings together more than 1,000 startup founders with its 4YFN initiative. The GSMA launches initiatives to help these entrepreneurs to find new markets, access capital, find customers, etc. It is an ecosystem of great interest for entrepreneurs and investors, where one of its most attractive features is the networking that can be created. 

From this initiative, some very innovative startups are presented, such as this year’s award winner, HumanITcare, from the field of digital health and which makes use of artificial intelligence to improve access to medical care. 

On the other hand, in order for innovations to be successful, they work closely with international organizations and public administrations to ensure that the regulatory environment is not an obstacle and that all issues of international compatibility can be regulated, from the availability of the spectrum to taxation, which favor greater expansion of innovations.  

Industry 4.0 and 5G  

The industry digitization is in full swing. Particularly around 5G, as a way to use private networks in their manufacturing facilities, for communication and process automation, with very low latency between different geographical locations, allowing remote control of facilities, higher degrees of automation and significant increases in efficiency and productivity. 

The future of telecommunications

As for mobile devices, they are evolving according to three trends:  

• The proliferation of the number of connected devices, especially IoT (at the time of writing, 10,548 million mobile devices are connected, and the pace of growth can be followed live here). 
• The evolution of the hardware and software technologies of the devices themselves and of the telecommunications networks, including the deployment of 5G, the new eSIMs and iSIMs, technologies that are embedded in the handsets instead of traditional SIMs. Also the artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities embedded in devices with the so-called tinyAI or miniaturized artificial intelligence. And, in addition, the deployment of technology that enables voice calls over the 4G data network (known as VoLTE) and new technologies and protocols that will enable Self-Sovereing Identity (SSI) solutions.  
• The change in user behavior, where there is a convergence between the digital and the physical, towards a phygital environment. 

The most innovative solutions are found in the confluence of technologies that leverage each other: 5G+ IoT+Cloud+IA+Big Data, evolving towards a future where services, products and data are consumed and used by an ecosystem made up of people and IoT devices, interacting with each other with minimal friction. 

5G’s potential

Regarding the market, 5G deployment is happening right now and has not yet reached the point where it is the dominant technology over 4G. John forecasts that this will happen, in the more mature markets such as Spain, in 2023-2024 and, globally, in 2029. As of today, there are around 1 billion 5G devices, which will reach 5 billion by the end of the decade. 

5G is being deployed at much higher rates than the adoption rates of 2G, 3G and 4G. Partly due to the pandemic and partly due to the evolution of the other technologies discussed in the previous point. John highlights the importance that the telecommunications sector has played during the pandemic, bringing people closer together during the toughest moments of confinement. 

In fact, of the new devices being launched on the market, 63% of sales already correspond to 5G devices. 

From the end-user point of view, as 5G is adopted, the use of streaming content, cloud services and smart electronic devices for individual use (wearables) or for smart home solutions is increasing. 

IoT is the biggest source of mobile growth

If today there are around 13 billion connected IoT devices, already surpassing the number of personal lines, over the decade this figure is expected to multiply by 3, reaching around 40 billion connected devices. Everything we call Smart today (Smart agriculture, Smart city, Smart vehicle, Smart home, Smart factory, etc.) will have embedded IoT devices. You can learn about the type of solutions and innovations that are taking place in this field in the article Internet of things: innovative solutions to major challenges -in Spanish-. 

Waves of innovation

Innovation in telecommunications has been led by Europe in the 2G and 3G generations. John is very knowledgeable about all of them and, in fact, participated in our Future Trends Forum think tank on 3G/UMTS in 2005. Innovations around 4G have been led by the US and the big tech companies (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple) and innovations around 5G have been led by China and specifically Huawei, until it has become a matter of international geopolitics, and the US is investing a lot of money to take the innovative lead. The big unknown at the moment is who will lead 6G and whether 5G compatibility between China and the US will be maintained. 

Communications as enablers of innovation

As our expert Fernando Alfaro insists to all students in the Akademia program, telecommunications are, along with energy, the great levers of innovation. And John illustrates this with the growing importance of connectivity in all areas of the economy: from agriculture to financial services, through industry, transport, logistics, health or public services, the innovations that are taking place today would not be possible without the enormous advances that have taken place and will continue to take place in telecommunications. 

The future of telecommunications involves more personalization and greater and better accessibility to products and services, while protecting the privacy of individuals 

If you are interested in the telecommunications sector and the innovations that will change the world, be sure to watch this #FutureTalks: 

 Don’t miss other #FutureTalks we’ve held, covering topics of great interest: 

• Quantum computing, with Dario Gil 

• The future of education, with Ángel Cabrera 
• The future of space, with Jeffrey Manber and Charles Bolden