Each month, the global ICT industry changes in appreciable ways. August 2017 was no exception. Over the past month, we saw many developments in the areas of 5G, smart cities, and spectrum.

Read on to find out what telecom industry topics were trending in August 2017, in the second edition of PTC Social Media Month in Review.

More Growth in China

There were several noteworthy news items regarding China. The country’s cloud market grew 56% in 2016. With the next technological race appearing to be AI, many experts believe that China has the right combination of circumstances to become the global leader. Meanwhile, China Unicom raised $11.7b in private capital from Alibaba, Tencent, and others. But with growth also come setbacks. China was the most attacked country by DDoS in Q2 2017.

Spectrum Takes Front and Center

It’s September and that means Spectrum Futures 2017 (18-19 September in Bangkok) is right around the corner. In case you missed it, check out Dean Bubley’s blog post, “A Futurist’s View of Spectrum,” for a fascinating look at how spectrum policy could impact our collective future. Similarly, this piece from RCR Wireless News discusses five factors driving the need for better spectrum awareness.

Smart Cities Ramping Up. We are reading more and more about how smart city projects are making big cities safer, cleaner, and more energy efficient. Governments across the world are looking for creative ways to plan and fund these projects. Chicago is one of the latest examples. In Singapore, nuTonomy is looking to have its driverless taxi service launched next year.

Enabling 5G

As ever, 5G remains an ever-present topic of discussion. While Huawei and Cambodia’s mobile operator Smart Axiata made headlines by successfully rolling out a 4.5G network in the country, much of the talk was around technologies that will enable widespread 5G networks. Small cell and DAS deployments as well as both geostationary and non-geostationary satellites will play important roles in supporting key-use cases.