5G-based Converged Electric Power Grid and ICT Infrastructure

This paper examines and explores the potential of how the capabilities of the emerging Fifth-Generation (5G) cellular technologies can be integrated with the power grid to enable the realization of a truly smart grid. Based on time-to-market strategy, we identify and propose two different 5G-based business and architectural models that enable a truly converged power grid-ICT infrastructure, namely, near-term model and long-term model.