5G impacts: 3 things we’re excited about for 2023

Teams at Verizon work with technology innovators in lots of different business segments—some you might expect, and some that might surprise you—as they bring new products and capabilities to life for customers. What are members of these teams excited about for the year ahead?

Here, we highlight the perspectives of four Verizon team members who work day-to-day at a deeper level to get their perspectives¹ on what has them excited about important 5G technologies, including developments around live events, with the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and overall 5G innovations. What you’ll see: 5G could enable even more amazing experiences.

Events: Impacting fan experiences and facility operations

Some of the technology that we’ve been working on with the National Hockey League (NHL)² and New Jersey Devils by leveraging the 5G infrastructure at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey—things like real-time stats overlaid in augmented reality (AR) experiences—have really helped us understand the benefits of mobile edge computing (MEC) for fan experiences at events. And Verizon 5G Multi-View during the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500, the 2022 Winter X Games and the 2022 Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix really showed a desire—from fans, broadcasters, teams and more—for low-latency video that can provide different near real-time views and experiences during an event. And, of course, we continue to do a lot of interesting work with data—player biometrics, ball tracking and other real-time data that can be compared to historical data to improve athlete performance or guide coaching strategy decisions—at the Phoenix Suns Verizon 5G Performance Center. Our work earned us a nomination for Sports Business Journal’s Technology Collaboration of the Year award.

These point to what we could see in 2023 and beyond. We’re likely to see more personalized content, whether it’s through second-screen experiences that augment a broadcast (such as content for your phone or laptop that’s shared in near real time and adds to an event broadcast experience) or near real-time data overlays that work with AR wearables. There’s likely to be more demand for low-latency, near-real-time video, both for fan experiences and for event staff and teams. We’re also seeing opportunities for 5G private networks that can help with near real-time communications at venues—things like staff communication that includes near real-time video and data. There are also opportunities to separate event operations and performance tech from fan experiences and interactions so that one doesn’t impact the other.

—Harsha Viswanathan, Senior Manager of Product Development, and Eric Greendyk, Senior Manager of System Architecture, Technology and Product Development

IIoT: Supporting the grid as electrification goes big

Last year, our IIoT group was largely about the automotive and industrial OEM space. A big focus in 2023 will be utilities, particularly electric.

Increasingly, there’s a connection between automotive and utilities. More and more cars are going electric, but if any significant percentage of vehicles on the road were to go electric overnight, our power grid likely wouldn’t be able to handle it. The grid needs to be more flexible, more intelligent and better connected in order to handle the electricity demands that will stem from the electric vehicle revolution. The combined work of vehicle manufacturers, utilities and carriers like Verizon could help to solve that issue. For example, 5G has the potential to help enable near-real-time data transfer and communication that could help utilities with intelligent demand response that would quickly balance the load during peak demand or recharging times. This could better streamline energy management and could help make costs more predictable.

That’s what has me excited about 2023—I’m excited to see what develops in this area as EVs become more popular.

—Erik Varney, Managing Director - Telematics and Industrial IoT, Verizon

Innovations: Putting more 5G-enabled edge computing to work

In 2022, we saw Industry 4.0 (a change in industry focusing on machine learning, automation, interconnectivity and data) take a huge leap forward due to 5G and MEC, with increasingly interesting applications of IIoT with collaborative robotics and new forms of automation. (MEC brings computing power closer to the edge of the network -- instead of keeping it at a distant data center -- to significantly reduce latency and increase response times.) These industrial developments have paved the way for new consumer applications that are poised to become a reality in the next year.

I think we’ll see more projects in 2023 that take advantage of 5G-enabled MEC. The output of this development will be exciting: more interesting AR applications, new styles of mobile multi-player gaming and new developments with connected vehicles. The past several years have been about envisioning what’s possible in a world like this; 2023 will be all about putting it into practice.

—Joshua Ness, Senior Manager, Verizon 5G Labs

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1. Contents edited for length and clarity.

2. NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. © NHL 2023. All Rights Reserved.