Society is becoming less dependent on physical cash. Convenience and recent measures to reduce the transfer of germs and viruses have hastened the use of contactless payment. In fact, MasterCard predicts that by 2021, 90 per cent of all transactions will be cashless, with 82 per cent of consumers currently preferring “cleaner” contactless transactions over handling bills and coins.

Read more: Tapping into the demand for contactless payment

Telecom Review was at CES and found several new ideas for our readers. Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon Ride platform at CES, which it envisions as the autonomous driving platform for the future. Today, the company already supplies numerous automakers with its semiconductors for telematics and Bluetooth connectivity, but in the future, Qualcomm wants to power everything from active safety systems to autonomous driving technology.

Read more: Qualcomm claims progress on autonomous driving technology

With the aim of promoting competition and reducing prices for consumers, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) introduced last year lower rates for wholesale access to high-speed networks. The federal government expressed its concerns that such a decision might undermine investments in Canada’s communications networks, especially in rural and remote areas.

Read more: The wholesale rates battle in Canada

As cities slowly open up and residents start to move around more, investments in future-ready technology are more important than ever. In partnership with UBC and the City of Kelowna, Rogers announced that it is launching Canada’s first 5G pilot of smart city transportation technology in a real-world setting.

Read more: Canada pilots first 5G smart city