The development of consensus cellular standards – a field in which Ericsson has long played a leading role, from 2G to 5G and beyond – is one of history’s most successful examples of this process, providing enormous benefits to economies and societies globally. Today, the benefits of mobile broadband – including 5G with its faster speeds, ultra-low latency and greater bandwidth – are well understood.
But the benefits of standardization in general are less widely appreciated. Standardization helps drive a global economy that’s better connected, more trustworthy and more conducive to growth and innovation. It’s also a process that is highly dependent on a “virtuous cycle” of R&D, patent licensing and re-investment that’s been key to the rapid advance of cellular technology. Standards may be often misunderstood and unappreciated, but protecting them – and that cycle of innovation powered by patents and licensing – is crucial.
Enhancing trust
Technology standards play a significant role in building trust throughout the entire global economy. For consumers, standards ensure interoperability and compatibility, preventing “walled garden” ecosystems where a single company’s products only work with each other. Conformity to international standards reassures consumers that products and services are safe and efficient.
As for businesses, standards boost trust for them too. After all, technical standards are the product of consensus, counting on input from manufacturers, vendors, operators, end users, interest groups and governments. This consensus-led approach makes for a more predictable market and engenders trust between its players. This trust is essential in fostering collaboration, expanding global trade, and limiting excessive red tape. Businesses of all sizes and in every sector stand to benefit.
Facilitating growth
In addition to gains in trustworthiness, standardization also produces a global economy that’s more conducive to international business growth.
In our interconnected global economy, access to international markets can make or break business prospects. For companies – big brands and SMEs alike – to be able to grow, employ more people, modernize their operations, and contribute to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the communities where they operate, they need to expand their global footprint, whether through exports or affiliates.
Standardization enables this global reach by making it possible for companies to sell the same products in a variety of countries, without having to make costly changes in each market they enter. The result is massive repeatability of a product in markets all over the world, creating economies of scale, helping businesses grow and ultimately also lowering the costs for consumers. This is particularly beneficial for new players in the market. Once they’ve adopted technical standards, they can create a scalable and global product offering from the get-go.
Enabling impactful innovation
Finally, alongside enhanced growth, standardization also helps to spur global innovation. One reason comes down to the collaborative nature of standardization. Innovating alone is never as quick as doing so collaboratively. By building focus and cohesion in the emerging stages of technology development, standardization helps inventors strike the right balance between competition and cooperation and offers them a shared platform from which to innovate.
A second reason has to do with compatibility. In any field, compatibility with existing systems, processes and devices is a crucial factor in the success of new innovations. Standards guarantee this compatibility, meaning that successful technologies can proliferate and achieve their potential impact more rapidly.
But to achieve this collaboration and compatibility requires a unique process where many different inventors and companies – including competitors – all bring their ideas to the table at once. It means that companies invest billions of dollars into R&D, yet share the fruits of that labor before commercialization begins. That’s also why patents and licensing are so important to this ecosystem – and why threats to disrupt the cycle could slow down the progress of innovation, or risk losing the compatibility between connected devices from different manufacturers.
The key to a connected world
Working at Ericsson over the years, I’ve seen firsthand the essential role that standardization plays in connecting our world. By coming together around shared standards, telecommunications companies like ours have been able to co-develop an efficient, high-performance global cellular network that’s been a platform for some of the most exciting technological developments of our time.
Devices don’t just work together by chance. Imagine two mobile devices produced by two different manufacturers based on opposite sides of the planet – how do we guarantee interoperability between these devices? The answer is standards, to which everyone has access.
Today, these open standards are the bedrock of an interconnected global mobile network that benefits consumers, industry and society as a whole. Looking ahead, the next generation of cellular standards only promises to deliver more exciting opportunities.
