It's no mystery that COVID-19 disrupted the technology industry. Bob O'Donnell joins us to discuss the innovation impacts of broadband and 5G.

COVID-19 dramatically changed how we communicate, increasing the need for fast, consistent broadband. The broadband industry globally builds around two and a half years of capacity ahead of time. High internet usage spikes from COVID resulted in broadband capacity exhaustion 14 days after March 1, 2020. The spikes were due to people working from home and kids being home from school. Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft, etc., all came together to improve the problems.

A strong work-from-home environment is the byproduct of the shift from in-person to remote. To build out their mobile workstations, people invest in high-quality PCs, monitors, cameras, platforms, etc. Bob believes there will continue to be an “explosion of installs” of different video calling platforms.

Competition in the tech world has seen accelerated growth since COVID-19 started. There are four or five video conferencing platforms most people are currently using. Zoom, for instance, released 320 new features last year. When it comes to microchips, things have never been more competitive. Intel and AMD are working with global governments on semiconductor and supply chain issues. Technological innovations are continuously rolling out.

When it comes to 5G innovation, most of the world started out using mid-band frequencies. The U.S started with low and high-band frequencies. Mid-band turned out to be the fastest, leaving U.S 5G efforts off to a slow start. Like Y2K, everybody knew 5G was coming but did not plan for it properly. However, things are now starting to pick up.

The world's leading proponents on 5G private networks, Vodafone Germany recently unveiled a private network at Porsche's main factory. Everything at the factory runs on a 5G network, which does real-time tuning on the car while it's on a test track. Bob is currently working on a study of private 5G and how companies are implementing it. Everybody is talking about private 5G and its potential impacts from chip manufacturers to software, devices, and networks.

Bob O'Donnell is the President, Founder, and Chief Analyst of TECHnalysis Research. The firm's research and O'Donnell's opinions are also regularly used by major media outlets, including Bloomberg TV, CNBC, CNN, Investor's Business Daily, the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, and more.

O'Donnell writes regular columns for USAToday and Forbes and a weekly blog for Tech.pinions.com published on TechSpot, SeekingAlpha, and LinkedIn. Before founding TECHnalysis Research, Bob served as Program Vice President, Clients, and Displays for industry research firm IDC. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

To know more about Bob O'Donnell and innovation impacts, listen to this week's show: Bob O'Donnell of TECHnalysis Research — What Innovation Will Impact You?