The introduction of 3G and 4G had a revolutionary impact on other industries, such as transportation, fintech, and more, according to Khalid Khan.
The country’s inability to launch 5G technology, according to Omar Malik, Member Telecom, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications, is primarily due to economic instability and consumer affordability.
This was said by him on Wednesday during a webinar titled “Adopting 5G to Positively Impact Environment: A Roadmap for Pakistan” that was held locally by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. He continued by saying that the Ministry would start the Infrastructure Sharing Framework as soon as the cabinet gave its approval.
Spectrum and infrastructure sharing programmes will be instrumental in enhancing connectivity, minimising network outages, and minimising environmental effects.
He stated that since 2020, the total deployment of fibre optic in Pakistan has increased from 124,000 km to 190,000 km, citing a study done in collaboration with the World Bank that identified optic fibre penetration as a key barrier.
He also mentioned that consumer affordability and economic instability are other issues impeding the launch of 5G technology in the nation.
Brigadier Mohammad Yasin (retired), senior advisor emeritus, SDPI named political and economic instability, higher taxes on IT services, a lack of fibre optic infrastructure, expensive frequency spectrum, a lack of dollars, and unaffordable smartphone prices as the main obstacles that have contributed to a decline in investor interest, a decline in IT services, and a delay in the rollout of 5G in Pakistan.
The introduction of 3G and 4G had a revolutionary impact on other industries, such as transportation, fintech, and more, according to Khalid Khan, chairman of the Central Asian Cellular Forum.
He emphasised that the top exportable good is human resources and urged the promotion of competitive engineering skills to take advantage of the potential growth of the global IT sector.
Instead of viewing them as means of generating revenue, he urged the government to focus on the bigger picture of connectivity through supportive policy interventions.
In order to prevent consumers from switching back to 4G due to limited utility, Abdul Rehman Usmani, VP Network, Jazz, emphasised that rather than rushing the rollout of 5G, the best strategy is to develop use cases and a sustainable business model.
He emphasised the creation of a supportive ecosystem through R&D facilities, a sound regulatory framework, and spectrum priced in Pakistani Rupees (PKR).
Dr Fareeha Armughan, Research Fellow, SDPI, and Aslam Hayat, ICT Regulatory Expert, discuss the potential advantages of 5G in terms of energy efficiency, renewables uptake, resource management, greenhouse emissions reduction, and air quality.
Armughan and Hayat argue that launch of 5G technology can be used to help vulnerable communities in the economy and move the needle on poverty alleviation. Hayat also highlights the potential advantages of AI, IoT, sensors, and smart technologies in the transport sector.
The downsides, he pointed out, include a sharp increase in electricity demand and consumption, a rise in e-waste when consumers switch to the newest 5G-enabled devices, and adverse effects on the environment, biodiversity, habitats, and ecosystems as a result of infrastructure development.
Telecom and IT contribute 1.4 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but by 2030, economic and industrial digitalization will have a much larger impact, accounting for 50 percent of emissions, according to Fawad Sarwar, Solutions Architect at Ericsson in Australia.
He explained how the use of sensors, AI, and IoT enabled systems can lower emissions from the transportation and construction industries. He emphasised a three-pronged strategy to break the energy curve and lessen environmental impact, including sustainable network evolution, network expansion and modernization, and intelligent operation.
According to Maryam Shabbir Abbasi, research coordinator at the University of Vermont, developed nations have had success reducing emissions through industry adoption of 5G-enabled technologies. She emphasised that during climate disasters like the recent floods, 5G can improve early warning systems, connectivity, intelligence, and information dissemination for Pakistan.
Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director of SDPI, emphasised that the projected penetration of one trillion interconnected devices will result in a four-fold increase in lithium consumption and a significant rise in energy demand.
In order to meet the demand for energy, he emphasised new self-energizing and energy harvesting techniques as well as capturing electro-magnetic waves generated by these connected devices through micro-antennas.