5G - a Trillion Dollar Opportunity

The Government of India has set the 5G auction at the end of July 2022 and the time frame for the beginning of rollout is estimated to be August-September 2022. 5G represents a transformational platform technology that is set to boost innovation and unlock global economic growth. That also means a new future of customer anticipation and expectation, creating new challenges and opportunities for telecommunications operators.

India is all set to accelerate the digital penetration in the country as it is ready to adopt 5G. By the end of 2030 there are expected to be 611.97 million 5G connections in India. As the Indian market is primed for the launch of 5G—the next generation of mobile broadband—many industries will see an exponential boost. 5G will also drive the need for larger data storage as we head towards a data economy.

As the app economy has been unlocked by 4G, 5G is poised to unlock higher bandwidth, near real-time responses, the industrial Internet of Things and mission-critical products and applications. Leading to increased economic output and consumer willingness to pay for goods and services, it has the potential to significantly improve productivity, optimize service quality and reduce costs.

Experts say 5G will inevitably increase the data footprint as enterprises start to work on use cases that will be data intensive. To process large volumes of data, data centers, edge devices and cloud infrastructure will play a crucial role. Therefore, inevitably organizations will need to consider moving to a nimble and sustainable architecture for their data centers or cloud infrastructure.

Advanced wireless technologies can play a critical part in a company’s ability to link its equipment and devices that are important to an organization’s ability to fully utilize each technology. However, security risks arising from many unprotected network entry points, as well as a lack of backward compatibility with the existing systems and devices are challenges that must be overcome as sophisticated wireless technologies mature.

Going forward, 5G is set to make an impact almost instantly within the coming five years. For enterprises, it will make the concept of ‘smart factories’ and ‘connected workplaces’ a reality.

Experts say organizations will face a massive influx of data sets which will open the door for new technologies to assist businesses in unlocking intelligence and effectively utilizing data for increased profitability and improved customer service.

By using cloud services at the edge, 5G will enable data-intensive businesses like manufacturing, retail, and logistics to manage operations centrally. 5G will aid in the delivery of deep analytics, AI, and machine learning to data centers.