A new Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. report, “Environmental sustainability and a greener economy: The transformative role of 5G” highlights the many ways 5G technology can achieve critically needed sustainability benefits and calls for joint efforts by industry and government to accelerate 5G adoption.
The report finds that 5G can transform and positively impact industries across the globe by creating new products and processes that support environmental sustainability. Importantly, the report shows how 5G enabled sustainability is an economic opportunity with major potential for increased revenues, profit margins, and productivity – as well as a range of other business benefits.
With 5G, industries and organizations can increase their overall sustainability and competitive advantage by significantly improving greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, pesticide usage, and energy consumption.
The report calls for accelerated deployment of 5G networks and 5G uses cases, as well as enhanced investments in 5G technology leadership and a robust global semiconductor ecosystem, to ensure these urgent sustainability advantages are realized sooner.
Key findings from the report shows the rollout of 5G in the U.S. alone is expected to:
- Create as many as 300,000 new green jobs by 2030. The roles of data scientist, data engineering and software engineering will gain traction as companies rely more and more on 5G.
- Enable the reduction of 374 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, which is equivalent to taking 81 million passenger vehicles off U.S. roads for one year.
- Save 410 billion gallons of water nationwide, the equivalent of water usage in 4+ million homes, by offering increased insight into usage patterns and leakage issues.
- Reduce pesticide usage in the United States by 50% with unmanned aerial vehicles for remote sensing and spray application.
- Increase fuel efficiency by 20% through optimized lane management systems and traffic management systems enabled by C-V2X.
“Environmental sustainability is absolutely imperative and we are working actively with our partners across many industries to leverage 5G to reduce carbon footprints and conserve resources,” said Cristiano Amon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm Incorporated. “Governments and industry can do much more to unleash the sustainability benefits of 5G by accelerating the deployment of 5G networks and use cases, investing in 5G technology and ensuring a robust global semiconductor ecosystem. As a 5G technology leader, Qualcomm aims to play an even larger role in the digital and green transformation of industries to provide 5G-enabled sustainability benefits to societies and economies around the world.”
The full report is available for download at
To learn more about the global and domestic economic benefits of 5G, reference Qualcomm Technologies-sponsored studies from IHS Markit and Accenture, respectively.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch, and expansion of 5G. When we connected the phone to the internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today, our foundational technologies enable the mobile ecosystem and are found in every 3G, 4G and 5G smartphone. We bring the benefits of mobile to new industries, including automotive, the internet of things, and computing, and are leading the way to a world where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly.
Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.