LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE 360 MENA, DUBAI: The GSMA’s chief regulatory officer John Giusti (pictured) hailed the outcome of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) as a major success for the global 5G industry.

Last week the ITU confirmed a decision to identify 26GHz, 40GHz and 66GHz spectrum bands for 5G at the climax of the month-long WRC-19 conference, held in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Reflecting on the importance of the event (held every four years) for the industry’s long-term future, Giusti stated: “If you fail this time you fail for the next four years. But this was not the case…WRC-19 delivered globally harmonised spectrum in mmWave in three bands”.

He noted “the capabilities of these ranges will really unlock the potential of new ultra-high speed services”, explaining the global identification of mmWave frequencies will help unlock the economies of scale needed to accelerate delivery of innovative and affordable 5G services around the world.

Services expected to be delivered over the identified frequencies include VR and AR applications, remote control of industrial robots, autonomous vehicles and consumer entertainment.

Giusti also hailed progress the industry already made in 5G rollouts, citing more than 40 commercial launches globally so far, with 75 planned in the near-term. GSMA Intelligence predicts 1.6 billion 5G connections by 2025.