The Mobility of 5G
Michael Conway
Director at Renaissance | Cyber Security | Encryption Devices | Business Continuity
As the 5G network coverage improves across the country, it opens up new business possibilities. The new working patterns that have emerged from lockdown disruption are well known. Fully remote jobs are common, and hybrid working patterns have become the expected norm for many knowledge workers.
Indeed, many people now expect some remote work to be allowed in their job, and if it’s not available, they are willing to move employers. For businesses, this means that to hire and retain the talent they want, they will need to support hybrid work. Previously for remote work to be successful, it required good broadband connectivity at the employee’s home or the use of publicly available WiFi that your security teams were willing to trust with the addition of cybersecurity solutions to protect data using public access. In other cases, remote workers may have travelled to shared working spaces and used trusted third-party networks. But shared working spaces are just another form of branch office. For many people, they do not deliver on their hybrid working expectations.
Factors Driving the Uptake of 5G
The spread and uptake of 5G mobile networking is revolutionising how people work across many businesses. There are several factors driving the uptake of 5G.
Ireland's 5G Coverage
One significant driver is availability. Ireland’s 5G network coverage is well advanced, as shown on the Outdoor Mobile Coverage Map from the Commission for Communications Regulation (see ref 1). As the map shows, there is significant 5G coverage from Eir, Three, and Vodafone. Dublin has the most coverage, as expected, but Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and many other small cities and towns have 5G coverage from one or all of the three primary mobile network providers. Opensignal have a report on the Ireland Mobile Network Experience that covers 5G availability (see ref 2).
The “if you build it, they will come” maxim is in play for 5G networks. The carriers have built out the networks to provide good coverage, and people are buying smart devices and mobile contracts that can take advantage of the available bandwidth and network speeds. This drives more revenue into the network provides and incentivises them to improve and expand the 5G coverage.
Hybrid Working
The popularity and growing expectation of remote and hybrid working opportunities also drive the uptake in 5G network use. As more people choose to forgo the daily commute to work wherever is the most convenient, they need to be able to collaborate using the digital tools that we all now use. Video conferencing applications, in particular, need good connectivity to avoid the frozen screens or broken audio issues we’ve all experienced. High-speed and reliable 5G (as described above) enables people to cut ties to specific locations and work from almost anywhere without worrying about network issues.
Retail Opportunities
More and more technology is making its way into retailing. And these technologies need the fast and reliable network connectivity that 5G mobile networks deliver. The obvious use is the rise of digital and contactless payment options that are now the norm.
Technology is also impacting retailing via automated stock control and ordering systems. Many of these use data from till systems to count sales and automatically replenish stock from warehouses. But sensor systems also monitor stock levels and environmental conditions that need controlling. Chilled shelving for perishable products is an example, where digital sensors can sound an alert and raise a support ticket if there is a problem with cooling systems.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The previous example of monitoring an environment for issues and generating alerts is a typical use case for IoT sensors and devices. More and more of our built physical environment is getting digitised via IoT. In many places, relying on WiFi for network connectivity is not feasible, but using a fast and reliable 5G network is ideal.
The uses for IoT devices and the 5G network to support them are almost endless. The deployment of smart technology into the physical world will be a significant use case and driver of the expansion of 5G networks. Of course, this widespread use of IoT devices has cybersecurity implications, but that’s a topic for another day.
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Edge Computing
Another technology that goes hand-in-hand with IoT deployment that’s driving the uptake of 5G networks is Edge Computing. This involves distributing small units of computing resources to locations near the edge of the network rather than relying solely on cloud or private data centres.
The objective is to bring the processing closer to the data sources. By processing data and making decisions at the edge, sending it back to a central or regional data centre for processing is unnecessary. This reduces the bandwidth required on the WAN, cuts down on costs and energy consumption, improves local response times, and contributes to a more environmentally friendly IT infrastructure.
5G connectivity is crucial for the improvement in local response times. Edge processing nodes need to be able to communicate with sensors and other data-gathering endpoints as quickly as possible to deliver real-time decision-making. The speed of 5G networks is ideally suited for this. As a result, the spread of 5G and Edge Computing are often seen as two sides of the same coin when related to business use.
See ref 3 to download a copy of the 2022 State of the Edge report. It takes an in-depth look at the current edge computing ecosystem via connectivity, location, and application infrastructure themes.
Enabling 5G on Existing Networks
The low latency and high-speed networking benefits of 5G are fundamental to the delivery of the smart buildings and services that are emerging. While the public 5G network coverage is now good and still growing, there are locations where you might want to have 5G features and benefits on a network you control. This is possible via the products from Renaissance partner Zyxel.
Zyxel 5G NR Solutions
Zyxel 5G NR Solutions enable you to deliver gigabit-grade speeds into locations that need it, even in areas unreachable by wires. When wired connections are available, the Zyxel 5G NR products integrate with and enhance WiFi 6 networks. Zyxel 5G NR Solutions incorporate a complete range of outdoor and indoor devices to extend 5G connectivity to your locations. You can think of the Zyxel 5G NR Solutions as 5G extenders for your business locations. They do much more than this of course. And Zyxel has extensive options for MSPs to deliver 5G networking to their clients. See ref 4 for details.
Conclusion - The Mobility of 5G
The digitisation of everything from shopping to manufacturing will drive the improvement and the use of 5G networks. The low latency and high speeds that 5G provides are ideal for transforming real-world buildings into smart locations.
When combined with shifting working patterns, using 5G mobile networks will drive usage and improvements in both the networks and the smart technologies that use them. Extending 5G connectivity into businesses, healthcare providers, and educational campuses with extenders that integrate with existing wired and wireless networking will deliver a seamless user experience.
Contact Renaissance to talk with a vendor who can assist you in adopting 5G and ensure you do so with cybersecurity defence in place.
References
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