[powerpress]

High Tech Forum Founder Richard Bennett recently sat down with Shane Tews, chief policy officer at 463 Communications, a firm that advises high-tech organizations on Internet policy. Tews also works on cybersecurity issues at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy. Tews has dealt with Internet security and domain issues as VP of global policy for Verisign, and she’s currently vice-chair at the board of directors of the Internet Education Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes a decentralized global Internet.

Tews and Bennett discussed the ATIS 5G conference, in which network engineering leaders met recently to discuss the future of networking. The actual players developing 5G systems and standards met to share their visions. “The most expansive view was from Cisco because they see a need for a better Internet,” Bennett explained, explaining there’s a need for more than simply adding a faster radio into existing systems.

Currently most of the US uses a 4G standard – the fourth generation of cellular standards. The US was the first country in the world to deploy 4G – also known as LTE – at such a massive scale. 5G will be faster and smarter, with lower latency, Bennett said. “Historically the cellular network was designed for telephone calls,” but with each new standard, more data functionality was added, he said. “We’re at the cusp now of a voice capability emerging on LTE,” a data-only network.

What can we expect with the fifth generation? Click play to find out…