After being selected by Jio and Australia’s National Broadband Network Co., telecom solutions provider Ericsson is putting further research efforts into optimizing the impact of 5G. The vendor released the “Future Value of Mobile in Emerging Markets” analyzing the impact of multiple 5G deployment options to enhance mobile broadband and fixed wireless access (FWA) across 15 national emerging markets.

The report conducted by Analysys Mason finds that with policy and regulatory support, all 15 countries could see GDP growth through 2035 “with an estimated three-to-seven-fold cost-to-benefit ratio,” according to a press release about the report.

Alongside the company's latest Mobility Report which found that 5G is the "fastest-scaling mobile connectivity generation," Ericsson says fully realizing 5G's potential impact will rely on layered, inter-sector coaction.

“A new era of cooperation and collaboration between government and industry is required to achieve the full potential of limitless connectivity,” Ericsson Head of Government and Policy Advocacy Gabriel Solomon told SDxCentral.

“In some markets policies are set to deliver this. In others they are not and policy changes are required. Governments and regulators can provide helpful guardrails to propel industry forwards by advancing policies that incentivize investment in the 5G platform, enable scalable and sustainable innovation on it, and encourage the take up and use of the innovative services and solutions it makes possible," he said.

Solomon explained a set of “quick-win” considerations for policy makers to foster industry incentive, including maximizing spectrum availability and releasing spectrum into the market under “investment-friendly conditions,” removing hurdles that delay or add cost to deployment, and allowing sustainable market structures to evolve.

Additionally, Solomon believes policy makers can offer infrastructure investment “an adrenaline shot” by putting forth temporary tax credits for investments like “digital and green tech” – advocated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He also credited public services as an anchor for 5G long-term demand that will pull investment forward, adding that there will need to be cross-sector collaboration to enable services “on top of the open 5G platform.”

“We need to consider that while GDP benefits are a public good, 5G will be built out with private investment. This is the reason why policy makers should aim to realize the public good by ensuring the private sector has the optimal policy and regulatory environment in which to invest,” he explained.