Embracing 5G: How is it Transforming Consumer IT Landscape?

By: Heena Juneja, Senior Industry Analyst, Growth Opportunity Analytics – TechVision, Frost & Sullivan

We are moving to a technology immersed environment where virtually and in reality, every aspect of our personal and professional lives involves the use of technology. Whether one wants to connect with his/her loved ones, book a cab to work, order a meal at home, send emails to clients, operate a machine, or ship a large consignment, everything is dependent on technology. This is nothing but consumerization of IT, where every task in our day-to-day life is carried out with the help of IT. Technology has not only made our lives easier but also efficient and faster. In many cases, use of technology has led to cost savings and in regions like North America, technology has solved issues related to shortage of labor.

As we enter the era of 5G (5^th generation connectivity with Speed: 1-10Gbps and latency – 1 ms) after passing through various stages of 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, organizations are re-strategizing to make their operations smoother and sharper, further paving way to consumerization of tech. While many parts of the world still rely on 4G and 4G LTE, 5G is beginning to gain traction and expand its reach.5G is expected to have a significant impact on the consumerization of IT, as it promises faster data transfer speeds, lower latency, and greater capacity, revolutionizing the way we connect and communicate with each other, as well as the way businesses operate in today’s hyper-connected era. In this article, we will dive into the consumerization of IT and the influence of 5G, focusing on the potential benefits for both businesses and consumers. The biggest step that we have seen in the commercialization of IT is the adoption of mobile phones and laptops, followed by connected devices in an enterprise and/or industries.

The Influence of 5G

5G will enable businesses to support more devices and applications simultaneously, leading to improved productivity and better customer experiences. 5G will be the foundational pillar to groundbreaking applications across industries which will in turn point the way to mass adoption of different technologies. The democratization of 5G is empowered by the below:

• Artificial Intelligence: 5G and AI are inter-knitted in such a way that one will be incomplete without the other. Together these techs will kick-off the connected intelligence environments. 5G will ease out the functioning of heavy AI applications, simultaneously AI will enable smooth functioning of 5G and network optimization to a significant extent.
• Smart Devices, Smart Cities, Connected Environments: This is an area where 5G will make the biggest impact by providing connectivity to billions of devices together without any lag. IoT devices will be able to connect to networks faster and in more reliably way. 5G will handle the majority of the workload, facilitating seamless communication among devices and enabling Industry 4.0 applications. This will help businesses to safely connect to networks by simultaneously collecting and analysing data in real-time which will help them make better decisions based on that data.
• Autonomous Vehicles: 5G will facilitate vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, enabling real-time management of on-road vehicle operations. The faster connectivity will ensure safer and efficient transportation.
• Entertainment: With faster download and upload speeds, consumers will be able to stream high-quality video content with minimal buffering, download large files in seconds, and play online games with low latency. It will stabilize the use of AR/VR (supporting Metaverse applications) and holographic technologies that will provide immersive experiences with low latency and high-quality graphics, making them more accessible and useful. 5G will also democratize live broadcasting, helping media production houses with a platform to stream events and sports, which was previously ignored due to need of high bandwidth. Streaming platforms can deliver 4K and 8K content seamlessly, transforming how we consume media and interact with digital content.
• Digital Healthcare: 5G era will also be the onset of remote surgeries, robotic surgeries, usage of in-body devices (body ingrained chips), wearables, IoMT (Internet of Medical Things), and other real-time data transfer applications to monitor humans and their smooth living. Surgeons can perform complex procedures remotely with precision, and ambulances equipped with 5G can transmit critical patient data to hospitals in transit, potentially saving lives through faster response times.

These applications have struggled until 5G launched and are gaining momentum ever since 5G has come into play. There is a rapid emergence of new applications in the above-mentioned areas/technologies. Further, applications of 5G play an important role are 3D printing, drones, robotics, data analytics, cloud computing and much more.

However, this is not all. 5G does bring a lot of challenges related to infrastructure upgradation, which can also be time intensive. Lack of 5G-enabled devices, spectrum allocation, interoperability, security (need for proper regulations and guidelines) and the cost associated with the entire implementation of 5G are some of the other challenges. Not every country and company can afford the high costs associated with 5G.  In order to eliminate the obstacles.in the development and deployment of 5G, Governments play an essential role, where they can only bear the cost of developing and implementing 5G infrastructure.

As per GSMA, the investment in 5G will reach $ 1 Trillion worldwide by 2025. Regions such as Americas, Middle East are rapidly growing in the number of 5G subscriptions. Also, EU and Asia-Pacific countries are actively participating in the development of 5G. Many countries across the world are investing to bridge the gap and remove the digital divide by offering the same level of internet access to urban, rural as well as other underserved areas. This improved connectivity will bring numerous opportunities such as educational opportunities to rural students (removing occurrences of isolation as happened during COVID), agricultural practices, telemedicine services and much more.  Several major telecom companies such as Verizon, AT&T, Ericsson, Nokia are participating actively to bridge the gap.

The societal impact of 5G has not been comprehended to a larger extent. R&D is underway to understand the significant ramifications of this technology. Some positive potential societal implications can include generation of new job roles and efficient energy usage. There is a need for responsible consumption where cities/communities promote growth but in a sustainable way which can be provided by 5G as it is more systematic and standardized. 5G provides improved network efficiency, eliminating unnecessary items and provide efficient pathways to transmit information that helps to save energy. This way 5G will promote economic growth as well.

Future Focus

5G when co-existing with other networks is expected to improve the quality of life and bring economic prosperity. Companies must frame an effective strategy and hire skilled professionals for leading projects that commercialize IT across different teams in an organization. This will include combination of different technologies and their capabilities for different tasks, which will foster innovative and efficient tech environments equipped with focused solutions. 5G’s faster speeds will enable many use cases which have been dormant or slow moving in the past. Every stakeholder in the 5G environment be it the government, telecom companies, other tech companies or adopters of 5G – all will have to work in conjunction towards the development of 5G and overcome challenges.

Mass adoption of 5G across businesses will capitalize on new bundled services and new business models by providing innovative services and combining different services to offer a packaged solution. Maturity of 5G will happen in phases, with each phase enabling some functional drivers making it more and more impactful.

5G will catalyse consumer’s daily lives by sanctioning impactful use cases and elevating the overall lifestyle. The technology equipped future that many have imagined in sci-fi, is here now. 5G era will be an onset of exciting times as it will support massive transformation in many industries enabling applications that will enable innovations leading us to a futuristic world.