Blockchain and 5G: Greatest Promise Is to Transform the Developing World

The biggest topic in the mobile industry over the last few years has been 5G. In an industry that has been starved for innovation in this interregnum between the launch of the iPhone and the full-scale integration of next-generation technologies like augmented reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain, the introduction of the 5G network has become a sort of catch-all for carriers and handset manufacturers to lean on as the promise of the future of innovation being just around the corner - a feature worth paying a premium for and upgrading that smartphone you bought just a year or two ago.

While this year might be an important one for carriers and smartphone manufacturers to sell the latest model of the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, the more crucial year for 5G might be 2021 when those networks aim to roll out their products to the developing world.

Amon has additionally said he expects mid-band 5G to spread into Peru, Nigeria, smaller European markets and developing countries in Asia, ranging from Cambodia to Sri Lanka.

Despite all the promises of a sci-fi reality from self-driving cars to better AI-powered insights, the most immediate promise of 5G is how it might support the technology we already have in place: our mobile phones.

In the developing world especially, 5G could be the most ground-breaking of game-changers.

While smartphone usage in the developing world ranges from about 24% in India to just over 50% in Brazil, the millions in the developing world still heavily rely on feature phones or "Dumb phones" - more people have access to a mobile phone than they do to electricity.

When 5G does finally enter the developing world, it will be most useful in servicing what will probably remain a limited infrastructure.

There's no reason to think the process can't repeat itself across the world in the 2020s, but it will require 5G to get those robust, localized networks running, along with improved front-end interfaces across a variety of mobile experiences to support those networks.

On the front end, it's hard to argue with SMS and text as an interface in the developing world, even as messaging apps like WhatsApp are gaining steam in popularity.

Blockchain can secure mobile banking networks that will have to secure transactions on a very granular level, while 5G itself will make sure these complex networks don't strain under the weight of blockchains.