5G technology will achieve significantly greater performance standards and will offer

• a download speed of up to 20 GB per second, 200 times faster than with the current technology,
• a less than one-millisecond latency against 50 milliseconds for 4G technology which will offer less lag or delay,
• a much higher connection density of one million devices per km2 from a standard of 2,000 devices per km2, from connected vehicles and IoT to streaming of HD video and virtual reality,
• higher reliability decreasing dropped calls and increasing the viability in connected automobiles and digital health, and
• a better promise to be flexible, efficient, and agile to address specific needs.

This greater performance will accelerate the development of new and existing technologies. It will also allow network slicing, meaning the same physical infrastructure could hold several logical networks.

With this, an internet service provider could provide various services with different performance characteristics on the same physical network to meet a particular need like download speed, latency, or download usage limits (provided network slicing is allowed by the relevant policy).

5G unleashes tremendous business opportunities in various industries.

• Disrupts competition – It launches new categories of products and services, leverages real-time data and actionable insights, and accelerates time to revenue. It allows entire groups to be set up in remote distributed areas quickly. It could be helpful in areas where conventional providers are usually not viable, allowing individuals to connect to head office systems.

For instance, startups can test and target new markets and industries by quickly and cost-effectively setting up office or retail operations nearer to their target customer base.

• Unleashes innovation – It enables ultra-high reliable edge computing and delivers immersive experiences with low latency, allowing companies to distribute relevant content at fast speeds. Besides, improved rural connectivity can develop rural economies when people commence, operate, and grow businesses. SMEs can engage with local rural suppliers to bring new products at lower costs offering greater convenience, independence, and customer choice.
• Transforms operations – Smart and connected devices enhance productivity, automation, and machine learning streamlines costs, and artificial intelligence identifies risks and opportunities.

These three elements can transform operations.

Opportunities with 5G

Let us look at a few industries with opportunities for service providers.

Healthcare – 5G’s low latency permits massive data to be sent to doctors in real-time without hindrance, enabling exchanging patient health data between patients and stakeholders.

5G impacts how quickly and frequently we share data with remote monitoring and wearable devices, paving the way for remote procedures such as robotic surgery with reliance on HD image streaming and high throughput communication.

Agriculture – Using 5G-enhanced IoT technology, farmers can optimize agricultural workflows such as water management, maturity monitoring, livestock safety, and crop management. Farmers can receive real-time information to observe and automate their agricultural systems, increasing profitability and improving safety and efficiency.

Transportation – 5G will connect vehicles, roadside infrastructure, road management systems, and incident response systems changing how individuals and good travel. It will increase visibility and control over transportation networks, including public buses and private logistics.

Insurance – Efficient data sharing enables insurers to provide tailored quotes for customers. Increased quality of wearable 5G enabled healthcare devices enables health insurers to provide ‘positive reinforcement’ policies.

Moreover, real-time data and reports could also be sent to car insurance companies following a customer’s incident, capturing crucial data such as speed, location, vehicle maintenance record, environmental factors, and performance videos.

Media – By 2025, the value of immersive media (AR, VR, cloud computing) can become USD 18 Bn. By 2028, global 5G media revenues can grow to USD 756 Bn.

New and improved experiences enable consumers to experience personalized OTT content, stream and interact with live events in 360, view hyper-relevant intelligent ads, capture and share captivating 3D volumetric video, create on-the-go high-powered remote workstations, and access console-quality near zero-delay cloud gaming anywhere on any device.

Manufacturing – In a factory setting, 5G will sustain augmented reality to support training, maintenance, and repair and could further enable manufacturers to leverage AI, IoT, and automation to help ‘smart factories’ to become more flexible and efficient while enhancing safety.

Supply chain management – 5G-enabled sensors installed on products would provide real-time data to the fingertips of decision-makers and managers who can identify the location, ambient temperature, moisture, pressure, and any other data critical to efficient supply chain management.

It could eliminate or minimize the losses stemming from human error or misplaced containers. An increasing level of management intelligence to the supply chain could potentially increase production, streamline logistical workflow, and reduce costs.

Retail – 5G, edge computing, and AI enable retailers to enter a new era of data-driven insights and innovation accelerating business outcomes. It is estimated that by 2025, the global smart retail market’s value will be USD 58.23 Bn.

The industry can break free from structural limitations using real-time and predictive analytics at the edge. It can predict demand, optimize pricing, align staffing needs, automate restocking with smart shelves, enhance supply chain logistics, and push remote marketing updates with digital signage.

What’s Next for Service Providers?

The 2020 pandemic gave impetus to further immersive and real-time experiences. Multinational corporations like Intel, Verizon, Nokia, TCS, Ericsson are partnering with innovators, startups, and enterprising students from universities to find breakthroughs in public safety, gaming, education, retail, and many other industries.

Service providers must establish high-quality 5G coverage early to attract revenue opportunities, leverage ecosystem partnership to capture a share of the USD 31 Tn addressable consumer revenues that will flow over 5G.

Additionally, communications service providers must

• unlock insights and extract value from data,
• see use cases/digital services to differentiate their offerings, and bundle use cases,
• enable cloudification to deliver network flexibility,
• facilitate rapid data transfer with edge computing, and
• empower industry collaboration by driving global standards, open-source software, and spectrum availability.

Draup’s sales intelligence platform enables service providers, startups, and enterprises to learn prospects’ business intentions and key signals and trends. It converts insights to action points, allowing their sales teams to address pain points in their pitches and target enterprises with their solutions.