ABSTRACT
National Communications Infrastructure (NCI) is gradually becoming the most vital artery for nation entities. It is central to a country’s economy, development, people’s well-being and national security. NCI is not a single entity rather an ecosystem of many players- including government, related regulatory and development planning bodies (RDBs), service operators, investors, to inventors and maverick visionaries. Over the illustrated 144 years of journey NCIs’ has grown to support billions of voice calls, NCIs have also seen the incorporation of airwaves for voice-call mobility with the addition of radio telephony network into the infrastructure while also supporting radio and TV. Only since 1990s with the advent of the internet and web it started supporting other applications. While yet another mobile generation 5G is promoted by telecommunication industry, in 2020, it is clearer that traditional voice calls will not even remain among the dominant applications. At the dawn of 2020 there is also a wave of new technology trends from Fog Computing, Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Internet-of-Things (IOT), Blockchain to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Smart City and Industry 4.0/5.0. They all require communication way beyond voice telephony. This chapter takes a closer look into a set of massively disruptive emergent technologies that are on the horizon including 5G transition. It provides overview of each and analyzes their communication needs from future NCI. National planners in the developing world should find it useful as they take the daunting task of delineating their NCIs beyond telephony and beyond 2020.
