Accelerating the digital revolution with 5G

It is estimated that a 5G network will be able to increase median download speeds by up to 10 times. In fact, Bharti Airtel – India’s premier digital solutions provider – has already successfully demonstrated a live 5G service over a commercial network in the city of Hyderabad in early 2021, and is testing 5G in major metros. While telcos and ICT providers are eager to realize the business potential and benefits of the 5G revolution, let us understand more about the opportunities 5G opens up for businesses.

5G – Creating a network of opportunities
The arrival of 5G will give enterprises the freedom to innovate, experiment, and transform their processes, solutions, and services to make them future-ready. It will enable them to optimally leverage IoT, AR/VR, edge computing, and other emerging technologies to create new and enhanced experiences for enterprises and their customers. 5G is set to empower companies to resolve the business challenges that persisted because of the network constraints. While the possibilities seem endless, there are certain technologies that will get a major boost right from the word go. Here is a glance:

Complementing edge data centers. The coming together of 5G and edge computing will give companies a key opportunity to dramatically improve efficiencies and attain a competitive advantage. In recent years, OTT operators, gaming companies, and real-time experience-based businesses have moved toward edge data centers to bring their applications and services closer to customers in the quest for delivering an uninterrupted experience. 5G perfectly complements this core objective of edge data centers, i.e., to decrease latency and boost the speed of data processing. The use-cases of merging edge computing and 5G are nearly endless, including real-time monitoring of enterprise assets, autonomous vehicles, live streaming of events, online games, and more.

Optimizing IoT. 5G is also poised to accelerate the adoption of IoT devices. Many experts believe that IoT and 5G are made for each other. With 5G’s reliability and lower latency, smart and intelligent devices can function at their optimum level, simplifying a number of business processes. On the other hand, the total number of IoT devices is expected to reach 25.4 billion in 2030, which in turn considerably increases data generation. This calls for a network that can fulfil the demand of those billions of devices for near-real-time data processing. As 5G will facilitate faster data throughput and ultra-reliable, low-latency communication, it will enable enterprises to realize the true potential of IoT and explore newer use-cases.

Cybersecurity imperative.5G networks come with heightened cybersecurity risks as they have way more nodes than their predecessors, which means cybercriminals have a larger scope of infiltration. Since this technology will pave the way for seamless remote working, autonomous vehicles, telehealth, and other emergent technologies, it will also be an attractive target for cybercriminals to exploit valuable information and cause massive disruption. This cybersecurity issue becomes graver in this hyper-connected world created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Any instance of compromised network or connected devices can create society-wide impacts. That is why 5G is being incorporated with advanced security right at the base level to leave no room for cybercriminals to exploit.

5G = Future readiness
5G is going to radically change the demand-and-supply ecosystem, creating numerous opportunities for telcos, enterprises, and entire ecosystem. But translating 5G’s immensity into reality requires vision, investment, and well-planned strategies. Therefore, it is essential for the business community to look for a 5G provider that has a proven track record of successful implementations and hiccups-free service along with an ecosystem for end-to-end delivery.