CIOopinion OPINION
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IF YOU CONSIDER THAT DATA CONSUMPTION IN A 5G ERA DOUBLES THE POWER CONSUMPTION OF TELECOM NETWORKS , THE PICTURE GETS EVEN MORE DIRE .
Fred Saayman , Huawei Business Unit : Executive , Pinnacle ICT
5G drives the need for network energy solutions
Fred Saayman , Huawei Business Unit : Executive ,
Pinnacle ICT , a South African technology distributor , explains the importance of the on-going need for sustainable and efficient energy as the 5G era doubles the power consumption of telecom networks .
It is estimated that within five years , the number of connections between people and other people , people and things and things to other things will number more than 100 billion .
Add to this the increasing uptake of 5G networks , as well as new services including online healthcare and education , smart homes , telemedicine , virtual and Augmented Reality , autonomous cars and it ' s easy to see why broader network connections , higher bandwidth and computing that is closer to users are in demand .
In addition , the world has witnessed incredible new technologies that enable surgeons to supervise operations based on real-time 5G ultra HD imaging . Big Data and analytics are helping businesses pinpoint trends and customer needs with astonishing accuracy . Artificial Intelligence is no longer in the realm of science fiction , it is converging with 5G and the Internet of Things ( IoT ) to bring us a world where all things will be intelligent and connected .
While all these technological breakthroughs are helping streamline our work and personal lives , they are seeing energy consumption soar to previously unheard of levels . All these ICTs consume vast amounts of energy and many ICT organisations are the biggest culprits in their countries when it comes to their carbon footprints . Moreover , there in increasing pressure from various watchdogs , the community , and governments to improve energy efficiencies across the board .
Furthermore , the ever increasing amount of devices and services running online 38 INTELLIGENTCIO www . intelligentcio . com