Business Opportunities in the 5G Era

The long wait is over: 5G is becoming a reality. AT&T is launching 5G mobile service in twelve cities by the end of 2018. Sprint has announced its own list of cities for a 2019 launch. Verizon has launched the “5G Home” Internet service in several cities. A few phones are available which support the standards, and many more will be coming soon.

Have Telecom Operators Been Active in IoT Development? Where do the internet of things operations get their signals from? Learn more on our blog post.

In itself, though, 5G only means increased speed for those who can get it. Fulfilling its promise requires deploying new services. Achieving improved speed and latency requires major enhancements to the cellular infrastructure. It’s mostly unknown territory for service providers.

The question of what “5G” means hangs over the initial offerings. Sprint has called its offering “5G-like.” Verizon is using proprietary technology that isn’t fully 5G-compatible. This doesn’t mean they’re going off in different directions, but there are deviations from the standards that might cause concern. The 5G specifications still aren’t complete. Some use cases will have to wait for the finalized technology.

The infrastructure requirements

The use cases for 5G are grouped into three sets. Each requires different levels of infrastructure support.

• Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) includes cases requiring high data speed and broad coverage. It could pull customers away from existing broadband markets.
• Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) places strong requirements on reliability and latency. It covers cases such as autonomous vehicle operation and remote surgery. Delayed responses are unacceptable.
• Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) deals with a large number of devices in a localized area. Factories with many sensors and controllers are an example.

Enhanced Mobile Broadband

The first area likely to experience significant growth is eMBB. It’s an evolution of broadband services already available with 4G, not a clean break. However, 5G’s speed and latency improvements will allow applications that aren’t entirely practical today. Existing use cases can grow to new levels of quality and complexity.

Video can push the meaning of HD, offering higher frame rates and resolution. Gamers are always hungry for speed and responsiveness. New games will offer more detailed environments without compromising those metrics. Virtual reality will offer improved definition and keep up with complex user interactions.

Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications

URLLC may present the greatest technical challenge among the 5G use cases. Low latency requires short packets, while reliability calls for redundancy and retransmission. Small cell networks near the devices are necessary to accomplish both aims. Network slicing, the creation of multiple virtual networks in one physical infrastructure, will aid in constructing specialized networks. They will support limited functionality but deliver high performance.

This is an area which will open up new applications with an unprecedented level of real-time interaction. Mission-critical remote use of instrumentation will make good use of URLLC.

Massive Machine-Type Communication

With mMTC, the issue is volume rather than speed. Data rates could be as slow as 10 kb per second, and the devices connected to a cell could number up to a million. Low latency is a target, though it’s not as stringent as with URLLC. IoT-type devices often run on batteries and have to limit their power consumption. Communications are simple, and packet size is small.

This technology will allow “smart” buildings and factories with cooperating devices. The change could be as sweeping as the shift from manual work to robots. A whole building could function as one intricate machine.

5G Now and Where it Will be Soon

The immediate target for 5G is extended mobile broadband. It’s an evolutionary change, but it will let cellular service providers enter the broadband market and compete on favorable terms. The geographic areas where it is available will be limited at first and grow slowly.

The use cases under URLLC and mMTC represent entire new markets. The technology isn’t entirely there yet – and may not be until late in 2019. The market is business and institutional customers. Reaching it will take significant developments in software and infrastructure.

The next few years will see major changes in data communication markets thanks to 5G. These are uncertain times as the technology starts to become available, but they’re times with huge opportunities. How each company leverages 5G is totally up to them.

Have Telecom Operators Been Active in IoT Development? Where do the internet of things operations get their signals from? Learn more on our blog post.