The Economic Benefits of 5G

Driven by telecommunications’ ability to empower communities, Ana Rua leads New York Government Affairs City & State strategy at the nation’s largest provider of shared wireless infrastructure, Crown Castle. An immigrant from Colombia, Rua has spent her career in New York paying it forward on the American Dream by working with the intention of social responsibility at public and private institutions. Prior to her role at Crown Castle, Rua was part of the team that spearheaded Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $500M initiative to connect the most rural and remote regions of New York State with high-speed internet access, traveling to 56 of the state’s 62 counties to facilitate the program’s implementation. Also, at Governor Cuomo’s office, she inherited a $70 million portfolio of legacy projects in dire need of management and by coordinating with utilities, establishing availability of services and ensuring minority and women-owned businesses got seat at the table, the projects are now on track and on-budget. In her current work for Crown Castle, where she paves the way for next generation wireless infrastructure with the aim of transforming the digital landscape of the region. By educating and informing residents, influencers, municipal staff, and elected officials, she helps shape public policy and opinion, generates advocates, and builds community relationships with the objective of connecting those in disenfranchised and far-reaching communities with tools to empower themselves via telecommunications. “I get a tremendous sense of purpose because I work in this industry that has a fundamental focus to make people’s lives easier, better and more connected,” she says.

Theodore S. Rappaport (S’83–M’84–SM’91–F’98) is currently the David Lee/Ernst Weber Professor with New York University (NYU) and holds faculty appointments in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, the Courant Computer Science Department, and the NYU Langone School of Medicine. He is also the Founder and the Director of NYU WIRELESS, a multidisciplinary research center focused on the future of wireless communications and applications. His research has led the way for modern wireless communication systems. In 1987, his Ph.D. at Purdue University provided fundamental knowledge of indoor wireless channels used to create the first Wi-Fi standard (IEEE 802.11), and he conducted fundamental work that led to the first US Digital cellphone standards, TDMA IS-54/IS-136, and CDMA IS-95. He and his students engineered the world’s first public Wi-Fi hotspots, and more recently, his work proved the viability of millimeter waves for mobile communications, and the global wireless industry adopted his vision for 5th generation (5G) cellphone networks. He founded three academic wireless research centers at Virginia Tech, The University of Texas, and NYU that have produced thousands of engineers and educators, since 1990, and he has coauthored over 300 papers and twenty books, including the most cited books on wireless communications, adaptive antennas, wireless simulation, and millimeter-wave communications. He co-founded two wireless companies, TSR Technologies and Wireless Valley Communication, which were sold to publicly traded companies, and he has advised many others. He co-founded the Virginia Tech Symposium on Wireless Communications in 1991, the Texas Wireless Summit in 2003, and the Brooklyn 5G Summit (B5GS) in 2014. He has more than 100 patents, serves on the Technological Advisory Council of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is a Fellow of the Radio Club of America and the National Academy of Inventors, a life member of the American Radio Relay League, a licensed professional engineer in Texas and Virginia, and an amateur radio operator (N9NB). He has received ASEE’s Terman Award, The Sir Monty Finniston Medal from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society’s James R. Evans Avant Garde and Stu Meyer Awards, the IEEE Education Society William E. Sayle Award for achievement in education, the IEEE Communications Society Armstrong Award, and the Armstrong Medal from the Radio Club of America.

Caitlin has spent her professional career crafting and deploying communications campaigns that impact public policy and corporate reputation. As spokeswoman for New Yorkers for 5G, she works to educate residents, businesses, and decision makers about the efforts underway to deliver fast online access, as well as the importance of increasing next-generation connectivity and advocating for policies that will bring 5G service to every New Yorker.