Cities 'need to be more telco-friendly' to reap 5G rewards

5G has the potential to transform US cities, creating new revenue and jobs. However, to reap these benefits, municipal leaders need to be more 'telco-friendly' and take steps to encourage telecom operators to invest in deploying next-generation infrastructure. This is according to new research from Accenture.

Deploying the next generation of high-speed 5G wireless networks could create up to 3 million jobs and add approximately $500 billion to US GDP through direct and indirect potential benefits, the new Accenture report says.

Accenture’s analysis says that wireless operators will invest as much as $275 billion nationwide over seven years as they build out 5G. Estimates highlight that the wireless industry’s investment in deploying 5G could create direct impacts of 350,000 new construction jobs and a total of approximately 850,000 jobs in the United States when considering suppliers and other partners cumulatively over the seven years of network build-out. The broader economic benefits from 5G could create an additional 2.2 million jobs in communities across the country.

Tejas Rao, Managing Director and Mobile Offering Network lead for Accenture’s North America practice, says, “The report findings show what an incredible opportunity there is in local economies. 5G-powered smart city solutions applied to the management of vehicle traffic and electrical grids alone could produce an estimate of $160 billion in benefits and savings for local communities and their residents. These 5G attributes will enable cities to reduce commute times, improve public safety and generate significant smart-grid efficiencies.”

Sanjay Dhar, Managing Director in Accenture’s North American Strategy practice, adds, “Full realization of the economic growth and cost savings will depend on how robustly 5G networks are deployed locally, and will require different approaches in local communities from those used in the past.”

Noting that achieving the full benefits, speed and capacity of 5G will require hundreds of thousands of new, shoebox-sized small cells, the study calls upon municipal leaders to consider a new approach to wireless siting policies. The study strongly suggests changes such as streamlining local permitting and regulations to account for the size and number of small cells needed, improving access to public rights of way, and changing wireless antenna fee structures to support the new small cell deployment model.

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