5G: Overhyped or Undersold?

Business leaders will soon be pummeled with 5G marketing claims. And expect a ton of overselling. Even so, the fifth generation of cellular networking technology delivers breakthroughs in service provision, bandwidth, agility and data processing power. In fact, 5G is the largest communications innovation we’ve experienced since the worldwide expansion of broadband internet.

What should business leaders know about 5G?

The most significant 5G attribute is that it will likely replace traditional broadband internet and the term “wireless” will seem as antiquated as “cordless.” Here’s how:

Download speeds will be 100, perhaps even 1,000 times faster, reducing the time it takes a movie to download from 20 minutes to a couple of seconds. Latency, the time it takes to retrieve data from one point to another, will decrease by a whopping 5,000 percent. 5G pilots have delivered 99.99 percent network reliability while using wider capacity to connected devices at unprecedented scale.

Shipments of 5G-enabled smartphones are forecast to reach two million units worldwide by the end of 2019. Apple will release its 5G phone in 2025 while Samsung’s 5G phone (the S10) is available now; Motorola’s newly released phone supports Verizon’s 5G network.

In the enterprise, 25 percent of global supply chains will use 5G to enable digital transformation (especially the Internet of Things (IoT)) by 2023.

How will 5G be deployed?

In retail and apparel, 5G will migrate existing applications to a far smoother customer experience. 5G, with IoT devices, sensors and diagnostics, will let customers virtually try on clothing and have access to these next-generation experiences anytime they want, from wherever they are.

In the perishable and fresh food products sector, 5G’s extended bandwidth, speed and reliability will provide farmers with real-time data to track and automate their agricultural systems, as well as increase efficiency in planting and picking ripe food.

In factory automation, 5G mobile networks will play an important role in the transition to IoT architectures as it enables virtual automation solutions.

In transportation and mobility, self-driving car companies will use 5G’s extra speed to connect with many more devices at once, and with far more reliability. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication via a cloud server will also get a huge boost from 5G.

Healthcare leaders will use 5G’s massive connection power and fast speeds to transform healthcare delivery across the globe. With 5G, physicians could make recommendations and submit real-time prescriptions after a short but highly productive video call.

In public safety, police will conduct more accurate facial recognition while improving the ability to read the license plates of cars in motion with even more accuracy. IoT and 5G will also enhance the use of fingerprint sensors for on-the-scene identification of criminals or victims.

How should you address 5G issues in your planning?

Brands that market connected solutions should formally document how 5G mobile networks will impact their existing and future value propositions, and how their organizations need to change to support these new propositions. In addition, all business and technology leaders should consider how 5G can make big contributions to supply chain management, especially for initiatives that involve IoT and end-to-end supply chain networks.

Business leaders must understand that 5G deployments will occur over several years as vendors chart their own roadmaps (e.g., Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, NEC, Nokia, Samsung and ZTE). Expect inconsistent service across markets and carriers.

Meanwhile, business leaders in communication services providers (CSPs) should differentiate 5G service from 4G service by highlighting 5G’s more flexible network capability, real-time policy control and potential to dramatically improve the user experience and customer satisfaction.