Why 5G Isn't About Faster Phones (And What It's Really For)

Think 5G is about faster phones? That's what telecom companies want consumers to believe. The truth is far more interesting. In this episode, Elena Fersman (VP and Head of AI Innovation at Ericsson) reveals what 5G networks are really built for: industries, not consumers. Through network slicing, edge computing, and cognitive systems, 5G creates the infrastructure that makes AI applications possible at scale—from remote surgery where milliseconds matter, to AR/VR without wearing a backpack of GPUs, to factory floors with autonomous heavy machinery. Elena also shares surprising stories: how establishing a simple communication link led to 20% fuel savings for a shipping company, why autonomous networks are safer than human operators (the elevator operator analogy is perfect), and why Ericsson's trustworthy AI research has been running for 15 years. If you're an IT leader trying to understand where networks and AI intersect, or you're struggling with AI deployment and don't know where to start, this conversation cuts through the hype with practical frameworks and real-world examples from someone who's been in the trenches for two decades. Chapters: 00:00 - The Risk of Not Deploying AI 03:05 - The AI RAN Alliance: AI and Networks as Symbiotic Partners 10:03 - Why 5G Is Built for Industries, Not Consumers 13:54 - How AI Optimizes Networks (Energy, Predictions, Handoffs) 21:06 - Cognitive Networks and Self-Organization 29:02 - Real-World Impact: 20% Fuel Savings for Shipping 30:52 - What Makes AI Projects Scale vs Fail 41:11 - The Critical First Step: Data Management Over Algorithms 57:25 - Confessions of an AI Brain: The Positive Future 1:01:02 - Why Autonomous Systems Are Safer Than Humans -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to. That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo. --- IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You can listen to Why 5G Isn't About Faster Phones (And What It's Really For) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Why 5G Isn't About Faster Phones (And What It's Really For) is an episode from IT Visionaries by Mission.

This episode is 01:09:33 long.

This episode was published on Mar 19, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from IT Visionaries when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.