Applications for 5G in the federal government

Ulf Ewaldsson, senior vice president and chief network officer at T-Mobile US, explained how 5G can help federal agencies accomplish their goals.

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This week on Federal Tech Talk, host John Gilroy interviewed Ulf Ewaldsson, senior vice president and chief network officer at T-Mobile US. He has spent an entire career in advanced communications and is well known in the 5G community. He applied his considerable experience to show how 5G can help federal agencies accomplish their goals.

Ulf Ewaldsson, senior VP, Chief Network Officer, T-Mobile US

The interview began with a basic definition of the concept of 5G, and then detailed some of the applications for large federal systems. In a somewhat facetious manner, Ewaldsson said, “I have seen all the G’s.”

One myth he debunked is the perception that 5G is solely for consumers. This is probably because of all the notoriety autonomous cars have gotten. 5G allows sensors to communicate, and you can have sensors in data centers, manufacturing facilities, or even in satellites. 5G allows them the ability to send data to each other rapidly.

He noted that the real application for the speed and flexibility for 5G will be in the enterprise.

Ewaldsson also reviewed the herculean efforts T-Mobile has made in being the first to deploy 5G in the United States — an accomplishment despite the COVID restrictions.

When the inevitable question of security came up, Ewaldsson explained the way that the “pipes” inside of a 5G connect can be used to increase cybersecurity.  One way to look at 5G services is they are a fast, wide area network for millions of people. A software-defined network can be flexible enough to prevent and react to cyber threats.

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