5G: A Revolution Unfolding

We are standing at a unique edge. The Internet has been reinvented. Innovative technologies have been embraced. Businesses have built an array of digital capabilities. These shifts are turning us from the current digital innovations to an evolutionary continuum: Web3 and Metaverse. However, competing in this new era will require a fundamental revolution to work for us. A truly competitive skill—both for what the future world will resemble and what the organization will require to succeed. This is where 5G, 6G, and beyond come into the picture.

The next-gen of wireless connectivity, 5G+, is not just an upgrade. It's a new revolution unearthing infinite possibilities for a converging digital future. The demand for the same is becoming ubiquitous across the dimensions of consumers, society, and enterprises to resolve business, environmental & social challenges. The reason is: It drastically improves latency, speed, reliability, and power consumption while supporting more connections. According to BCG, today’s connectivity levels have saved from 150 million to 300 million jobs, safeguarding $8 trillion in global GDP.

Now that, high-speed 5G telecom services have rolled out to the top players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Adani Data Networks in India's mobile market, the players have been intrigued. As the future of 5G+ connectivity advances and unfolds, it is evident that in this new normal— telecom and future connectivity will act as a virtual foundation to provide all services like remote, education, entertainment, digital business, manufacturing, retail, etc.

Mckinsey Connectivity Evolution 2020 research confirms that by 2030 implementation of the most promising use cases in mobility, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail can potentially increase global GDP by $1.2 trillion to $2 trillion. Maximum connected countries will capture the largest share of the pie. The only recommendation is — one needs to thoroughly understand the industry, ecosystem, and its application in real-life. ?Most importantly, elements like fast-changing app dynamics, edge computing maturity, and partnership.

Another essential point to note here is: that India's speed to mature networks and fast-maturing enterprises is not just limited to urban centres. It is gradually shifting toward semi-urban or rural centres. The good part is that 5G will soon become the technology of choice for critical communications that need the utmost quality and reliability.?

As 5G progresses, telco operators will need to become next-gen orchestrators. The aim is to develop new capabilities to build a sophisticated tech environment and develop enterprise service competencies in adherence to vertical & customer demands. These competencies and capabilities will act as the driver for hyper scaling, edge computing, infrastructure automation, ready-made platforms, and virtualized & increased network capacity.

The pandemic is a testament to its value. We can witness its use cases in online education, telemedicine, and more. Industries would need to drive bigger collaboration across functions and value streams to attain desired value.

However, this collaboration creates another giant problem: how players would decide on the monetization, commercials & distribution against the investment in the value chain and how they would analyze the feasibility of use cases. Most importantly, primary issues like partner maturity, talent availability, and data security & privacy. With AI maturing faster than we think, we have a solution for some of the complexities; yet the war is open, and most enterprises are stuck in between.

5G+ is a journey that is yet to begin. However, several questions still need to be thought about cautiously. To name a few: Policy makers need to identify hybrid licenses; build a connected inclusion view in the country both from a coverage & quality perspective, and make some of the uses cases financially viable. In short, it calls for a shared economy.

In conclusion, 5G will provide a new platform for innovation to all companies in every domain. The transformation of this potential into reality depends on whether next-gen orchestrators can clear away the barriers and forge new models. One evident thing is the world will soon be more connected—setting the stage for disruption and innovation altogether.

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