Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg covered a lot of ground in his keynote at CES, the first time the annual event was forced to be held virtually amid the ongoing global pandemic.

While the current state and yet-to-be-seen opportunities of 5G were the primary theme of his presentation, Vestberg also addressed social and racial injustice and the rapid changes that have occurred during the last 10 months due to the COVID-19 crisis. 

“Our world has changed, and it keeps changing,” he said. “There’s a reason why we can’t be together this year for CES. We have experienced a year of many crises — a pandemic, an economic crisis, and social and racial injustice. It’s been a year of unrest.”

Pandemic Quickens Digitization by 5-7 Years

As infections and the resulting deaths of COVID-19 spread around the world throughout 2020, “we leapfrogged five to seven years in the digital revolution. This mass shift sped up the timeline for work from home, distance learning, and telemedicine,” Vestberg said.

“We knew it was coming, but it was closer than we realized. Now, instead of being our future, it’s our present,” he said. “The future of productivity is now the current reality of work. The future of learning is now the current reality of school.”

Vestberg framed these changes against the backdrop of 5G, claiming the burgeoning technology will empower people and help society overcome many challenges, but not everyone appreciates or enjoys the impact these changes have had on their personal and professional lives.

Millions of students, teachers, and parents are struggling with remote learning. Businesses and professionals of all types have been caught unprepared and uncertain about the best path forward, and many governments around the world are buckling under the pressure of the most catastrophic series of events the world has experienced in decades, perhaps longer.

Connectivity has never been more important, but the notion that 5G just simply “makes things better,” as Vestberg claimed, is not a view shared or even considered by the most vulnerable individuals or businesses.

5G has, in small pockets, changed how people experience entertainment and it will continue to foster innovation, but there isn’t a clear line from 5G to utopia, as Vestberg and his counterparts in technology often proselytize.

Verizon’s Aspirational View of 5G

Vestberg showcased 5G’s ability to change society for the better through remote work and learning, remote surgery, drone deliveries, live music and sports, robotics for disaster response, and traffic management. “The power of 5G extends beyond a super fast network,” he said. “It’s the platform for us to build the future we want, the businesses we want, the consumer applications we desire, and the society we believe in.”

He also posited that 5G will allow more people to stay home, cloistered from the outside world, suggesting that student field trips, training, and education could be experienced by people that have historically been left out of those opportunities. 

“As we begin 2021, we’re empowering teachers and students to follow their curiosity wherever a network can take them,” Vestberg said. “Through the power of 5G, we can bridge the digital divide for students and learners of all ages, helping everyone experience art and culture in a completely new way.”

It’s a noble pursuit, but financial and social realities still put much of this vision out of reach for millions of people. Verizon, like some of its competitors, has undertaken a digital inclusion initiative to provide free connectivity, technology, and skills to under-resourced middle schools and high schools in the U.S. The operator has committed to equip 100 schools with 5G in the coming years.

5G Legacy Rests With Users

Vestberg ended his presentation by turning over his stage time to Black Pumas for a music performance streamed from The Wiltern, an iconic venue in Los Angeles that Verizon has outfitted with its 5G Ultra Wideband Service for a live, multi-camera experience.

“Music has the power to bridge distances and to heal. … Over the past year, music has brought moments of comfort to the millions of people struggling with the loss of loved ones or the effects of the economic downturn,” he said. “As live music comes back, we will be ready to make it better than ever.”

While 5G opens up myriad new possibilities, according to Vestberg, the operator also views its 5G network as “something timeless: the human need to connect, to reach out, to share our stories, and to hear the stories of others. That has been especially important since the beginning of the pandemic, and so many have lost so much,” he said.

“The legacy of 5G depends 100% on the people who use it. My own hope and my own aspiration is more than often we will use it for good —  for learning, for sharing, for growing, for preserving and protecting, for community building, and finding ways to reap the greatest outcomes for everyone in our society.”