5G, the fifth generation of mobile and future of wireless, is set to unleash an exciting set of technological solutions and applications that will fundamentally change the way we connect with the world around us. It will offer a convergence in policy, engineering, and economics and chart a new path in which connectivity is simply a feature of our lives – it will be innate to everything we do.

Even as wireless carriers are already rolling out 5G trials across the U.S., to keep pace with activity happening internationally and bring this transformative network to fruition in a timely fashion, policymakers must make a few more key moves.

First, states and municipalities must streamline policies to infrastructure deployment.  Old siting and permitting rules designed for large cell towers must be modernized for today’s smaller and less intrusive technologies – most critically the deployment of small cell antennas in their communities.  Small cells,  shoebox-sized antennas, are critical to building more dense networks needed to enable 5G.

Next, and equally important, is that the federal government – namely, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – must do its part as well. Commissioner Brendan Carr has led the way on streamlining policies regarding infrastructure at the federal level; however, physical infrastructure is only one-half of the solution.  Invisible infrastructure is equally important, and the FCC could be doing more to unlock the spectrum resources needed to power the next generation of mobile connectivity.