However, beyond these obstacles, there is increasing cause for optimism; business confidence is returning and the lifting of restrictions is in sight. As many businesses shift from continuity to growth mode, 5G presents another exciting cause for positivity. This emerging, transformative technology could have a major impact on the recovery from the pandemic, and now is the perfect time to investigate its business potential.
Why get excited?
There is a reason why many have labelled 5G as ‘game-changing’. In comparison with current 4G capabilities the step up in performance is exponential – network speeds are roughly 100 times faster and the number of devices supported per square kilometre jumps from 4,000 to around one million. While undoubtedly this presents huge benefits to consumers looking to stream Netflix without having to worry about bandwidth issues, the major value lies in business and industrial applications.
Speed and security for SMBs
5G provides immediate benefits for SMBs as an option for WAN failover. In the event of the primary WAN line dropping out, whether copper or fibre, 5G’s ability to establish immediate business continuity as a second WAN line could prove invaluable. Another major benefit to business is the jump up in connection speeds and bandwidth, which is why so many customers, keen to future-proof their networks, are upgrading to 5G. This also sidesteps the cost and complexity issues of installing multiple layers of WAN infrastructure.
Industry 4.0
Just as for consumers, 5G’s faster speeds, lower latency, and greater bandwidth present fantastic opportunities for industry. The manufacturing sector alone is projected to see an additional £5.2B thanks to these new 5G capabilities.There is simply no need to be locked into inflexible, immovable linear production lines, dealing with inaccurate asset tracking now that industry 4.0 and smart factory automation is within reach. Smarter factories means safer, more productive, efficient and sustainable systems, requiring less maintenance downtime and greater production flexibility.
5G also allows warehouses and factories to connect their indoor networks to their outdoor spaces. This opens up the automation of the manufacturing and supply chains process, from managing inventory to precisely tracking and synchronising of trucks.
Typically, factories face a major issue resulting from the differing and competing needs of their office and factory networks, each with their own wired and wireless WLANs, often producing poor or patchy internet with regular dropouts. 5G’s network slicing solves all these issues, avoiding network delay or interference with a high-quality internet service that can also maintain network security. 5G also makes perfect sense for new factories as the primary WAN, as it’s able to achieve manufacturing and supply chain automation for real-time vehicle movement monitoring and data synchronisation.