Letter from the Editor

It wasn’t that long ago when a phone was a lumpy mechanical eyesore that hung on the wall, with its gnarled cord tethering its handset to the base. Back then, if you needed information, you spun an analog dial to reach the operator, cracked open the phone book (and called to get business hours, directions, or order take away), or went to the library to find the information you were seeking. Fast-forward to now, and most of us have what would then be considered a supercomputer in our pockets.

Mobile connectivity has touched virtually everyone in one form or another. Whether we’re conducting banking, paying bills, looking up local business hours, navigating in our cars, video calling our friends and family, or researching the latest clinical studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic; our mobile devices are there for us and access to over 40 zettabytes of data is just a click away – with an estimated 1,000 petabytes of new data being generated daily.

In just a few decades, we’ve seen an evolution from first generation (1G) to the fifth generation (5G) of wireless services. This evolution took us from what was more akin to a networked walkie talkie, to an AI- and GPS-enabled smart computer with unprecedented bandwidth, processing, graphics, and speed. It’s truly remarkable, and it hasn’t been easy. Many of us have probably taken this for granted as we fill our social media feeds with our latest meal of selfie. But pervasive mobile connectivity has connected us globally in ways never before thought possible.

The advancements that have been made across the various technologies to make this possible are truly astonishing, and the new use cases that are now possible as a result are equally remarkable. 6G, or the sixth generation of wireless service is now on the horizon. Wireless networks have permeated airplanes, businesses, cars, farms, homes, hospitals, ships, and more. They have even extended past the horizon as LEO, GEO, and MEO satellite constellations pepper the sky outside the Earth’s atmosphere. But with these advancements comes complexity, risks, and the importance of ensuring that pervasive mobility is accessible to all. Which is why this issue of Pipeline is so relevant.

In this issue of Pipeline, we look at pervasive mobility in all its complexity. RAZ Mobility shows us the importance of Making Mobile Devices More Accessible for those living with intellectual disabilities and dementia. Aayush Bhatnagar of Reliance Jio shares 10 Ingredients for Realizing the 5G Promise and shares his 5G predictions for 2022. The Chair of the ETSI Industry Specification Group on Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (ISG RIS) weighs in on a new standard for 6G mobile services. Telstra provides perspective on The New Space Race and how satellite connectivity and terrestrial networks are coming together to create the network of tomorrow. Aira Technologies reveal how Machine Learning is Supercharging Bluetooth Performance; and ST Engineering iDirect explores how hybrid networks are being leveraged for Ubiquitous Wireless Connectivity on land, in the air and at sea. Expereo reviews key considerations for Enterprise Transformation in APAC with SD-WAN and SASE; and Federos explains how closed-loop assurance is unifying Service Assurance in the 5G Era. Everynet describes how Massive IoT can transform how businesses effectively deliver products, evolve the customer experience, enable innovation, and create new business models; and The NGMN Alliance discusses the disaggregation of mobile networks and the changes that are Paving the Way for Cloud-Native Mobile Networks. All this plus the latest industry news and more.

We hope you enjoy this and every issue of Pipeline,

Scott St. John
Managing Editor
Pipeline
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