Last week, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing examining a number of legislative proposals to improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure.
Testifying at the hearing, Brad Gillen, the Executive Vice President of CTIA, noted that “nations from Asia to Europe are investing heavily in 5G, but none of those countries can match the dynamism of the U.S. wireless industry.”
Verizon is at the forefront of this vision for America’s future, because we’re building the modern network infrastructure all over the country that will make it a reality. We live in a digital world. From our daily lives to our global economy, whether we’re relaxing at home with family, connecting with colleagues across the country, or powering global financial markets, today’s world relies on high-speed connectivity.
Ten years ago, connectivity was about connecting people. Today, it’s moved beyond that, creating a seamless ecosystem of devices, applications, and platforms that bring new levels of automation, convenience, and dynamism to our world.
And it’s growing – experts predict that the Internet of Things (IOT) will grow to more than 20 billion connected things by 2020. Through these new technologies, made possible by wireless connectivity, humans will have the power to do more.
We call it Humanability at Verizon, and we are partnering with visionaries from just about every industry you can imagine, using data and technology to innovative ideas into reality, building traffic systems that save lives and reduce pollution, delivering lifesaving medical services regardless of where a patient is located, and protecting our first responders while they protect us.
Our commitment to expanding Humanability is why we’re investing in infrastructure to bring 5G to communities around the country and deliver next-generation wireless connectivity that will fuel the innovations of tomorrow. We’ve already announced that 5G will be up and running in Sacramento, California later this year, along with several other communities to be announced soon.
To accelerate the benefits of 5G, we need elected leaders at every level of government to adopt smart policies that support the deployment of new infrastructure. Fortunately, policymakers are already moving in the right direction.
Leaders on both sides of the aisle and across the federal government have sent strong signals that it’s time to double down on America’s future in 5G, and time to start finding ways to accelerate deployment, remove regulatory barriers, connect local communities and close the digital divide. Just recently, Congress has introduced a flurry of new infrastructure bills, the impetus for the hearing noted above. Additionally, there is broad bipartisan support for including broadband in any new federal infrastructure bill.
We’re excited by these first steps, and encourage policymakers to push these efforts forward. Working together, we can modernize our infrastructure and make the promise of next-generation technologies a reality. Verizon is excited to be working with communities across America to deliver the networks of tomorrow today. Pro-investment infrastructure policies at every level of government coupled with cutting-edge next-generation networks are key components of ensuring America’s continued global leadership in broadband technology.