Jornal Internacional de Redes de Sensores e Comunicações de Dados

Internet of Things and the Economics of 5G-Based Sector Coupling

Abstract

Guenter Knieps

Sector coupling has traditionally been a rather narrow concept to analyze synergies of urban system integration with particular focus on transport, energy and waste systems. The evolution of the fifth generation (5G) networks with its fixed and mobile convergence fundamentally enlarges the potentials of sector coupling in network industries. 5G has the character of an application-agnostic General-Purpose Technology (GPT) building a critical input for a large and open set of downstream Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Due to this vertical relationship vertical sector coupling gains particular relevance in all network industries and beyond in many areas of the App economy. Moreover, the potentials of 5G based horizontal sector coupling increases.