5G networks need to ensure interoperability through open standards

As military and civilian agencies eye the use of fifth-generation wireless tech, officials representing both agree that a key to success is ensuring interoperability between networks and devices through open standards. So far, the Department of Defense (DOD) has led the government’s effort to trial 5G by offering its bases to telecommunications companies as testing grounds for the technology. Early versions of telecommunications networks lacked the ability for devices to be used across different companies’ networks; that’s a scenario officials want to avoid, and to do so both government officials and private sector companies must work together to ensure open standards. “Today you don’t need to think, ‘am I with an AT&T phone in a Verizon network or a T Mobile phone in an AT&T network,'” said Eric Burger, a research professor and technical program director at the Next G Alliance. “It all just works.”