VIDEO INTERVIEW: Anticipating that 5G will eventually become the dominant way to communicate, Theodore Sizer, VP of wireless research at Bell Labs – Alcatel-Lucent’s R&D arm – views the next-generation of mobile technology “less as a wireless standard than as a communications revolution”.

So pervasive does he think 5G will be, Dr Sizer told Mobile World Live that a much more inclusive standardisation process would be required than for previous generations of technology.

If apps and content are to work well on 5G, maintained the Bell Labs man, then app and content providers would need to work “hand in glove” with people who are providing the networks and terminals.

And when 5G starts to get traction, in the 2020-25 timeframe according to Dr Sizer, he sees exciting new possibilities. “The folks innovating [when 5G arrives] will never have known a world that had a tether,” he said. “They’re going to create new ways of communicating.”

Courtesy of outdoor 4G and indoor WiFi, Dr Sizer thinks the days of wireline-connected devices are already numbered.

“I believe, very soon, that the last five metres of the connection will be wireless no matter what,” he said.

Dr Sizer also anticipates that network operators and so-called OTT players will work much closer together in the future. “Both sides want the same thing,” he said, “which is good quality experience for their customers.”

Watch the full video interview here.