USA

For Darrin Thomas, supporting South Carolina’s African American-owned businesses is a top priority. Through his Columbia, SC-based business, Black Pages South, his mission is “to educate, to enlighten, and to empower the minority and the African American community.”

Black Pages South is an online network of small businesses, consumers, and corporate partners, and it promotes the efforts of minority businesses to help expand their reach and impact.

According to Darrin, connectivity is key, and 5G “equates to speed and accessibility,” which will have “a profound impact” on the businesses he helps to promote.

As he reflects on how his businesses has evolved over nearly 30 years as well as the challenges put forth by the global pandemic today, he notes that in order to realize the possibilities with 5G, “the enhancements and investments we make now, will really determine where and what we will look like.” To that end, he encourages policymakers to think about “where they want to be 20 years from now?”

To learn more about Black Pages South, click here; and to watch Darrin’s Faces of 5G video, click here.

Now that so many of us have become accustomed to working from home, one question that might come up is does 5G really matter anymore? After all, most people are probably connecting to the internet, and all of their work colleagues, with their in-home Wi-Fi via a broadband connection such as a cable modem. Why would they need a different type of fast wireless connection?

View full article in USA Today.

“The events unfolding across the country that are rooted in hate are contradictory with our beliefs as a company and leave me with a feeling of regret and sadness.  Verizon is fiercely committed to diversity and inclusion across all spectrums because it makes us and the world better. I am hopeful that the rest of the country will come to understand that valuing everyone equally is the best way forward. We cannot commit to a brand purpose of moving the world forward unless we are committed to helping ensure we move it forward for everyone. We stand united as one Verizon,” Hans Vestberg, Verizon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

View full statement from Verizon.

Here’s this week’s rundown of the top 5 stories of 5G news about emerging and innovative technologies. To follow the series, check back here every week and look out for #5Gin5 posts from @Facesof5G.

1. New Virtual 5G Innovation Lab— 5G labs are popping up globally, but Verizon is taking their latest 5G lab to the next level with their newly acquired BlueJeans technology. The virtual lab was created to help accelerate the development of new 5G solutions and applications for consumers, businesses, and government agencies. “We’re building our 5G Ultra Wideband network to develop and enable the 5G innovations that will support changing the behavior of consumers, businesses and entire industries,” says Kyle Malady, Chief Technology Officer at Verizon. Read more here.
2. U.S. Agency Advising Developing Countries about 5G— TheU.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is expanding its Digital Development Advisors Program to serve more of its missions around the world. “Most developing countries are not at a point where they’re able to make 5G decisions yet. But by having people placed in those [partner] countries, they will act as formal or informal advisors to that [telecommunications] ministry to ensure that when they make decisions on 5G, they are looking at systems that are safe and secure,” says USAID Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick. Read more here.
3. Game Developers Excited for 5G— 5G technology is set to boost technology companies, and game developers in California are no exception. Bandwidth-heavy technologies such as AR will soon rely on 5G connectivity to power their applications. “5G capabilities allow for emerging gaming technologies that struggle on existing networks to flourish,” according to Santa Clarita Valley’s The Signal. Read more here.
4. 5G Opens Doors for New Apps— The coronavirus pandemic rapidly increased our reliance on networks for telehealth, telework, and online learning, and 5G will bring even more connected capabilities. Jason Lee, program manager of the advanced technology platform at MaRS Discovery District discusses the “circle of collaboration” and how “innovators are a very important piece of this puzzle.” Read more here.
5. 5G Business Use Cases for IoT— Frank Gillett, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research says “we’re about to get a new generation, the once-every-decade version of the telco connection and there’s a bunch of magical, wonderful, stupendous improvements in 5G that mean you shouldn’t have to compromise.” Read more here.