When 4G unlocked the app economy, 5G stands ready to unlock higher bandwidth, near real-time responses, the industrial internet of Things (IIoT), and mission-critical products and applications. It has the potential to significantly improve productivity, optimize service quality and reduce costs, leading to greater economic output and consumer willingness to pay for goods and services, according to Saurabh Kumar SahuMD and Head – Communications, Media and Technology, Accenture in India.
Indian Outlook
India is all set to accelerate digital penetration in the country as it gears up to adopt 5G. By the end of 2030, there are expected to be 611.97 million 5G connections in India, he said Purushothaman KGPartner and Telecom Sector Leader, KPMG in India
The Government of India has set the 5G auction at the end of July 2022 and the time frame for the start of the rollout is estimated to be August-September 2022.
“5G will inevitably increase the data footprint as companies begin to work on use cases that will be data-intensive. For processing large amounts of data, data centers, edge devices and cloud infrastructure will play a crucial role. Therefore, organizations will inevitably have to consider moving to an agile and sustainable architecture for their data centers or cloud infrastructure,” said Sahu.
Should companies start experimenting with 5G use cases?
Globally, 5G as a technology is still in its infancy, so India is not necessarily catching up, but is starting its journey at the right time. IT leaders in India should start the journey immediately, as the time it takes to solidify use cases, build a business case and manage regulations will take time, Sahu insisted.
Purushothaman believes that IT leaders are already experimenting with the potential 5G use cases, developing POC and investing in infrastructure development, making them ready to seize the opportunity of 5G rollout.
“The most traction of 5G use cases has been seen in the manufacturing sector with key focus themes to optimize operations, improve efficiency and maintain quality, followed by Healthcare, Government & Public, Telecom and Media & Entertainment he added.
5G will have an almost immediate impact over the next five years. For enterprises, it will make the concept of ‘smart factories’ and ‘connected workplaces’ a reality.
“Advanced wireless technologies can play a critical role in a company’s ability to connect its equipment and devices and are important to an organization’s ability to fully leverage each technology. However, security risks arising from many unprotected network access points, as well as a lack of backward compatibility with the existing systems and devices, are challenges that must be overcome as advanced wireless technologies mature,” said Peeyush VaishPartner and Telecom Sector Leader, Deloitte India.
The impact of 5G on cloud and data center
5G will change the paradigm of data centers with the massive amount of data transfer that 5G networks will carry at faster speeds, Purushothaman said. Edge data centers need to evolve to support such volume and speed with a seamless and interference-free architecture.
“Unlike traditional data centers, the goal will be to build a distributed data center solution that enables them to deliver services efficiently across their geographic reach. Due to the ultra-low latency of 5G, it requires shift data processing as close as possible to the destination locations. The edge data centers need to be built to meet the expected demand for MEC-based 5G services,” he added.
Cloud computing would have a long-term impact on the new digital age, thanks to improved wireless technologies such as 5G. To accelerate their transformation journeys, companies are already building hybrid cloud architectures and deploying new cloud-based apps.
“As a result, organizations will face a massive influx of data sets that will open the door for new technologies to help businesses unlock intelligence and use data effectively for increased profitability and improved customer service. By leveraging cloud services at the edge, 5G enables data-intensive businesses such as manufacturing, retail and logistics to centrally manage their operations. 5G will help deliver deep analytics, AI and machine learning to data centers,” Vaish said.