Mobile Magazine November 2021 | Page 16

TRAILBLAZER

Delivering on the 5G Hype

Name : Robert Franks Job Title : Managing Director Company : West Midlands 5G The benefits of 5G to our economies and daily lives get hyped up a lot . Operators ( who , to be fair , have invested an awful lot of money in their shiny new 5G networks ) paint glowing portraits of a world full of smart cities , driverless cars , and interactive mixed reality experiences , where 5G lifts us all into a hyper-connected , hyperefficient existence filled with rich , meaningful experiences . Finally , they say , the future is now .

However , as with many new technologies with the potential to represent a fundamental , generational leap in the way we live , work , and play , the hype train looks like it might be outrunning reality for the moment . Yes , there have been some stunning use cases for 5G , from blisteringly fast internet and multimedia events to better automation solutions in manufacturing . But , in many cases , 5G is just letting us do what we already do faster and better . The top to bottom transformation of our daily

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Years in telecoms lives is still buffering it would seem . One organisation working to bridge the gap between 5G hype and reality is West Midlands 5G . The UK firm is driving significant steps in the rollout of 5G , the development of the necessary infrastructure to support new use cases , and the use cases themselves . And driving West Midlands 5G ’ s efforts is Robert Franks , the company ’ s Managing Director .
“ WM5G offers the opportunity to deliver innovation that makes a real difference to people , businesses and public services on a grand scale ,” said Franks upon his appointment in July of 2019 .
Franks is a seasoned veteran of the UK ’ s telecommunications industry . Previous to joining West Midlands 5G , he worked as the Director of Digital for leading UK network operator O2 . While at O2 , he launched and scaled innovative and profitable business units for the company , including sectors such as WiFi , Internet of Things , messaging , payments , data analytics , advertising and FinTech . He also led O2 ’ s startup accelerator .
Before that he spent five years in executive roles at T-Mobile , which he came to following a stint at Orange . Essentially , over the past twenty years , he ’ s touched just about every major player in the UK ’ s telecom sector .
Now , he ’ s bringing his extensive experience and expertise to West Midlands 5G , accelerating the deployment of 5G networks - testing , proving , and scaling innovative new use cases for the next generation of communications technology .
West Midlands 5G , under Franks ’
16 November 2021