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5G

Image: 5G

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Capitalizing on the 5G promise

The technical capabilities of 5G are being widely discussed, but it is much more than a speed evolution of previous generations. As well as enhancing existing services, 5G has the potential to open up huge new opportunities such as those presented by the Internet of Everything, smart devices, cars and even cities.

What is 5G?

The details specifications are still evolving but some of the key goals are already clear.

  • Lightning speed: Companies leading the charge have said that 5G speeds could be up to 100 times faster than 4G LTE speeds, enabling services to make use of ultra-high definition video and other bandwidth hungry applications.
  • Ultra-reliability and Low latency: With 5G, latency can be reduced by more than a factor of 10. This, coupled with enhanced levels of security and reliability, opens up a world of new opportunities in areas such as connected cars, digital health and more, which are simply not viable today.
  • Massive Machine Type Comms (mMTC) Existing systems were designed for one device per subscriber and relatively large data volumes, they cannot support billions of devices nor their different demands, such as passing tiny amounts of data efficiently. 5G’s ability to do this will unlock massive opportunities in the Internet of Everything.
  • Network slicing: Different applications have different requirements on the network, they need different combinations of the characteristics detailed above and can bear different price points. 5G will allow operators to deliver what is required through ‘slicing’.

5G presents an opportunity to utilize these innovations to both evolve existing business models and open new ones. Communications service providers are well placed to take a significant slice of this opportunity, playing a variety of ecosystem roles.

Capitalizing on the 5G opportunity

5G promises to be a true revolution rather than an evolution. In order to capitalize, operators must make sure their business is prepared. In many cases this not only requires deploying the new technology but also executing on significant business transformation.

Much of the focus on 5G today has been on how we technologically innovate – on things like spectrum and regulation and the underlying technology, but focusing on this aspect alone and ignoring the wider business implications will mean that enterprises may miss many of the true growth opportunities that 5G represents.

For example, being able to cost effectively work with a myriad of ecosystem partners by automating operations, supported with new highly automated OSS/BSS solutions. Businesses will also have to think about how they change their approach and the position of the customer, using concepts like design thinking to put the customer at the center of the process and then use deep analytics to understand that customer lifecycle, continuously engage them and provide services they want dynamically at the time they want.

All of that leads to a business that is continuously evolving; one that embraces open innovation and agility and increases the ability of the whole business to respond at the speed of the market. Creating a truly adaptive digital businesses and seizes the opportunities of 5G and other technologies as they arise.

5G: Are you ready?

Enabling this holistic transformation is TM Forum’s focus through our work in areas such as Open APIs, a new Digital Platform Reference Architecture, ZOOM and much more.

Get involved in a number of 5G initiatives 

5G
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Collection of articles, research reports, videos and more

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Topics

  • Themes
    • Data & AI
    • Autonomous Operations
    • Cloud Native IT & Networks
    • Ecosystems
    • People & Planet
  • Business Architecture
  • Business Assurance
  • Digital Transformation & Maturity
  • Face of Digital Leadership
  • IoE & Digital Ecosystems

Featured Resources & Events

DOWNLOAD

Report

5G monetization: Operational imperatives - understand how dependent 5G success is on OSS/BSS transformation and learn how to build business cases for OSS/BSS products that will enable 5G service differentiation.

CATALYSTS

Catalyst projects

Explore Catalyst projects working on 5G use cases and proof of concepts.

DOWNLOAD

Report

This initial report begins to describe the ways 5G ecosystems will be monetized.

5G NewsSee All »

The role of configuration management in 5G evolution
Article
5G Networks
The role of configuration management in 5G evolution
Mar 25
Taha Yaycı
Singtel’s Paragon signifies a platform milestone
Article
Ecosystem management B2B services + 6 More
Singtel’s Paragon signifies a platform milestone
Jan 25
Dean Ramsay
e& UAE’s acting CTIO looks ahead to 6G and convergence with AI
Article
5G Networks + 1 More
e& UAE’s acting CTIO looks ahead to 6G and convergence with AI
Jan 25
News Room
Why simulated networks are the key to realizing the promise of 5G
Proof Of Concept
5G Artificial Intelligence (AI) + 3 More
Why simulated networks are the key to realizing the promise of 5G
Jan 25
Ryan Andrew
George Glass

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George Glass
[email protected]

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