The future delivery of intelligent services and the sustainable digitalization of industry can be enhanced through the ongoing integration of Internet of Things (IoT) smart sensors with the fifth-generation (5G) wireless ecosystems. 5G-IoT technologies are intended to support a variety of use cases, each with different requirements. These applications are so diverse and demanding that 5G networks must be adaptable to a wide variety of individual scenarios. One of the main use cases for 5G-IoT technologies is smart cities, which prioritize enhancing the quality of life, fostering teamwork, and resolving resource limitations. Typical smart city networks include a plethora of services related to smart buildings, smart offices, smart industry, smart universities, smart transportation, smart health, and more. This paper aims to explore role of 5G-IoT technologies for developing sustainable smart city systems, including the role of mobile operators to enable innovative smart city services

Deepfake and synthetic media technologies hold substantial promise for innovation in sectors such as entertainment, education, and healthcare. However, they also present significant risks, particularly in emerging economies with underdeveloped regulatory frameworks. This study proposes a comprehensive regulatory approach to balance the potential and risks of these technologies. The framework encompasses legal measures for consent and privacy, technical solutions for advanced detection tools and secure data management, and educational initiatives to enhance public awareness and digital literacy. By emphasizing collaboration with international bodies, technology companies, and community organizations, this framework aims to harness the benefits of deepfake technology while mitigating its risks, thereby fostering a safer and more ethical digital landscape in emerging economies.

In this paper an experimental system assisted by emerging digital technologies is developed, for monitoring and controlling invasive water hyacinth weed and rescue operation of freshwater lakes in Africa. The system is designed to integrate fifth generation ultra-reliable low latency communication (5G URLLC), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), underwater robots, smart environmental sensing with internet of things (IoT) and machine learning techniques for real time monitoring, managing, controlling and predicting the expansion of invasive water hyacinth weed. The experimental system for sensor data collection implemented on lake Tana in Ethiopia will be expanded to other fresh water lakes of Africa affected by water hyacinth weed. System modeling and data analytics based on sensor data will be performed to generate decision inference for controlling the growth of water hyacinth in the water bodies of the lake. Environmental data collection from other local sources will be integrated with sensor data for further system modeling and critical action analysis and implementation using machine learning algorithms to remove the main causes for the rapid expansion of water hyacinth throughout the lake.

The ongoing integration of Internet of Things (IoT) within Fifth-generation (5G) mobile ecosystem promises to provide smart and intelligent services meant to foster vertical industry digitalization. 5G-IoT private networks have become a popular choice of adoption by industry verticals in accelerating digital transformation across various sectors, thereby culminating in Industry 4.0. Research and development on 5G-IoT private networks has mainly focused on the technical aspect with less attention on the business side. This paper discusses viable business model options for 5G-IoT private networks for applications in diverse industry sectors and the attainment of economic value in terms of revenue maximization, cost minimization and sustainability.

International Telecommunications Unions (ITU) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) statistics show that over half of the world's population is still not connected to broadband Internet, let alone to get services based on emerging digital technologies. Most of these digitally excluded communities are situated in rural emerging economy countries and experience the brunt of the adverse effects of the digital divide. This paper presents the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Television White Space (TVWS) deployment ecosystem and the complementary projects for the provision of affordable broadband connectivity in rural and township communities in South Africa. Subsequently, the paper presents the socio-economic impact achieved by the four women and youth-owned beneficiary Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) Rural Network Operators (RNOs) which were supported by the CSIR in Phase I of the project. Furthermore, this paper briefly introduces the nine women and youth-owned beneficiary RNOs that will be supported in Phase II of the project.

Emerging Fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks and associated technologies are expected to provide multi-service wireless applications with diverse specifications intended to address not only consumer-based smartphone applications, but also the needs of various vertical industry markets (e.g., healthcare, education, energy, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and so forth). This paper extends 5G networks' technology orientation towards attaining economic value for all key 5G stakeholders, including customers, mobile network operators (MNOs), equipment vendors, public institutions, private enterprises, digital business start-ups and other third parties. Although several surveys and tutorials have discussed business models in connection with 5G networks, there is no comprehensive study on business models for emerging 5G networks from the MNO's perspective. In this survey article, we present and investigate key advances on business models for 5G networks and 5G MNOs in particular, from industry, use cases and research community perspectives. The paper focuses the theoretical business model concept from both strategic management and technological innovation perspectives. Thereafter, we discuss conventional business models for MNOs before presenting particular disruptive business models which can be considered for rolling out 5G networks with an aim to improve business efficiency. Additionally, the paper explores the emerging network deployment concept of private 5G networks and their related business models. Finally, we present some of the open research challenges and provide possible guidelines for implementing 5G business models based on various countries' socio-economic status and relevant 5G use cases applicable in a specific context of emerging economies.

Emerging 5G and future networks (5GFNs) will change the mobile communication business ecosystem by introducing multi-service wireless applications with diverse specifications. These smart and future-oriented wireless networks are intended to address not only consumer-based smartphone applications, but also the needs of various vertical industry markets (e.g., education, energy, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and so forth). 5GFNs are aimed at attaining economic value for all key stakeholders, including customers, mobile network operators (MNOs), equipment vendors, public institutions, private enterprises, digital business start-ups and various third parties. This paper discusses business model options for 5GFNs from the MNOs’ perspective.  We describe current MNOs’ business models and their shortcomings. Thereafter, we present emerging business models for 5GFNs which MNOs should consider when rolling out these networks.  

Connecting the Unconnected or under-connected (CTU) is the holy grail of transforming the lives of over 3 billion people around the globe with wireless Internet who are yet to experience its value in multiple ways. If this could be accomplished, its impact on the society would be enormous. This white paper from the IEEE Future Networks CTU Working Group endeavors to highlight the need to consider the CTU requirements in 5G and B5G networks in the standardization process, in the development of the use cases, and affordable solutions. In its Vision 2030 SDG (Sustainability Development Goals) the United Nations has proclaimed access to Internet as basic human right and has said that these goals cannot be achieved without affordable access to Internet by everyone on this planet. While there are numerous projects and initiatives ongoing around the world, these are fragmented and lack the critical mass and coordination to be able to impact the future standards, product development, and cost of deployment otherwise achievable by volume. Although difficult to pin down, to define a threshold for basic connectivity for all is important. But it would need to be flexible to adapt to changing times. It is the goal of the CTU group to create an open platform where the experts can bring their ideas, solutions, and potentially collaborate to create large global projects and influence the network service providers, manufacturers and their governments. This white paper defines the CTU working group's charter, scope, and provides a brief overview of the relevant stakeholders and linkages between them. Then the paper goes into the current status of the CTU landscape and where we want to reach to accomplish the vision of connecting everybody, especially those living in rural and remote areas. We present the various standards and industry fora and how they are interlinked. While technologies are available today, they need to be customized and optimized at the systems level to bring down the cost of the network in order to be affordable. In addition, the content needs to be relevant and in local languages to be useful, not to mention the need to offer innovative human computer interaction (HCI) solutions (that are not text based) so that people who are not literate or are digitally disadvantaged can easily use the devices and consume services. Another important area is that of flexible spectrum allocation regime at the lower range of the spectrum to increase reach and coverage. Use of renewable energy sources will enable deployment in remote areas where there is lack of power grid, or it is intermittent. Thus, this white paper identifies a number of technology gaps to be filled in by 5G and B5G networks, such that access is affordable and content and services are actually consumed by the targeted set of users. Technology aside, the need to develop innovative business models is a must to be commercially sustainable in the long-term. A number of such models, especially designed for the rural population, are proposed, such as Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) Freemium (Free + Premium), revenue sharing among the chain of service providers, subsidized billing by USOF (Universal Service Obligation Funds). Finally, the white paper presents a 10-year roadmap starting from the current state to 3 years, 5 years and 10 years.

Radio Frequency spectrum is the superhighway enabling a myriad of wireless ICT services and applications. Spectrum scarcity and expensive licensing cost has resulted in research and innovations by the CSIR, wireless network providers and telecom regulators, which helped to develop techniques to dynamically share & manage spectrum, thereby enabling efficient spectrum utilization. Spectrum management based on spectrum sharing techniques such as LSA & SAS are being considered by spectrum regulators, aiming at efficient use of spectrum as a scarce natural resource, while ensuring non-interference & fairness between different radio spectrum users and wireless services. This paper recommends the improvement of spectrum management by regulatory authorities using recent research and technologies developed for spectrum sharing and application of new spectrum licensing frameworks. The paper presents spectrum licensing & management approaches and focuses on the enabling role smart spectrum sharing can play in spectrum efficient and affordable broadband wireless networks. A comparative analysis of advantages and disadvantages of a regulator licensing spectrum, as compared to allowing mobile operators to sub-license allocated spectrum is also discussed in the paper.

In this paper, we present a conceptual system architecture for real-time monitoring, predicting and controlling of invasive water hyacinth in freshwater bodies through the use of emerging technologies. The proposed system is planned to be deployed as one of the rescue efforts to preserve the fresh water lakes of Africa. The case study and the system presented in this paper are based on the Lake Tana, situated near the city of Bahir Dar, in Ethiopia. The rescuing efforts of Lake Tana so far focused on removal of the weed by hand and using harvesting machines. With the weed invasion doubling every two weeks, the current approaches will not be able to control the rapid invasion of the weed, which is causing considerable socioeconomic losses. The proposed system architecture employs networked underwater robots, aerial drones and other environmental sensors for better mapping of the weed coverage in real-time, predicting the floating paths of the weed, and learning the favourable environmental conditions of the lake for eradicating the invasive weed. The advantages of the proposed technical intervention lie not only in accurate monitoring and fast removal of the weed, but also in facilitating data collection for better understanding of the underlying environmental and chemical conditions that facilitate the rapid infestation and growth of the invasive weed.