Is 5G as Transformative as it is made out to be?

Telcos or Communications Service Providers (CSP) are rolling out ultra-high-speed fifth-generation (5G) technology around the globe, some in mid-band range (also referred as sub 6 GHz) and some in mmWave band frequency spectrum. The new generation network is promising data throughput up to 50 times faster than existing generation of mobile networks (4G/LTE). But is this the only reason why there is so much hype around 5G?

We all would remember that the first 5G networks were launched as a pilot in late 2019 in major cities around the world. That is more or less in line with the pattern of major decadal upgrades in mobile networks. The last upgrade in 2010 to 4G/LTE networks was transformative in its own right. It drove the proliferation of apps which has changed our society in several ways. World Economic Forum thinks that 5G can deliver social value across 11 key areas that correspond to 11 of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Primarily, 5G differs from earlier generations in terms of speed, bandwidth and latency (or Round Trip Delay). But that comes at a cost. IEEE thinks that 5G is expected to consume up to three times the energy it takes to power the LTE networks due to the increase in the number of base stations. And this is especially true when 5G deployments are done on mmWave frequencies wherein the need for small cells (and associated infrastructure) is more pronounced.

In addition to this, the CAPEX requirement to deploy such an infrastructure is very high as is the implementation effort. Due to the Covid impact in multiple regions, the rollout seems to have been deferred considerably. According to Everest Group, the pandemic has led to a reallocation of capital, delays in the release of 5G specifications, supply chain limitations, and postponement of spectrum auctions. This has led to slower than usual adoption rate globally on 5G and hence the delayed RoI.

But with all this, the enthusiasm and excitement around 5G does not seem to be dampening.

 As per GSMA, 5G is more than a new generation of technologies; it denotes a whole new era in which connectivity will become increasingly fluid and flexible. 5G technologies are expected to contribute $2.2 trillion to the global economy between 2024 and 2034. In my view, the transformative power of 5G is due to its more profound impact in case of Enterprise use cases rather than for Consumer use cases. Key sectors such as manufacturing, utilities and mining will benefit the most from this new generation and that will generate the socio-economic impact from such a technology. 5G networks will increasingly become a preferred solution to deliver wireless connectivity for critical communications, industrial IoT, enterprise & campus environments, and public venues.

 From technology perspective, my view is that 5G is getting benefitted due to several transformational advancements that have happened in the space of networks, namely, Virtualization of core network functions, Disaggregation of Radio Access Networks (RAN), Mobile Edge Computing, Private Networks and Closed loop automation (Autonomous Networks). It may be argued that Private Networks is a manifestation of these technologies itself. All these technologies have attained a considerable amount of acceptance and maturity in the industry now. And hence the use cases of Enterprises and Consumers can be served better now than was the case with earlier mobile generations. This is not to undermine the inherent advantages of 5G on mmWave band deployment, beamforming etc. But from the operational flexibility, performance and ease of operations, the aforementioned technologies have a much deeper impact in realization of real world use cases.

 Thoughts welcome!