What are the implications of 5G for mobile operators?

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have accelerated 5G deployment across the globe to bring in high-speed and low-latency data transmissions for faster communication among in-house employees within an organization or different businesses or common people. 5G has shown us the new way of communicating and doing business and ever since the inception of COVID-19 globally, most of the businesses have moved online thus increasing the demand for sophisticated, robust and resilient network like 5G. Here, in this blog we are discussing about the advancements in networking technology due to evolution of 5G networks and how is it impacting operators with new opportunities to deal as they are working rigorously to deploy these fifth-generation networks for connecting the whole world with seamless network connectivity.

What are the improvements brought down by 5G?

Increase in network range – Network will be almost 24 X 7 with a higher coverage in geographical areas as it is expected to implement 1 million nodes in every sq.m to reach out to more and more users.
Faster than ever speed – 5G is the fastest networking technology in terms of speed when benchmarked with previous generations like 4G and 3G. After performing multiple 5G speed tests, it has been concluded that the ability of download speed of 5G is more than 10 Gbps and can download a full-length movie in a minimum span of 10 seconds.
Energy-efficient networks – Mobile operators always have a concern for huge energy consumption for better network performance. 5G technology will allow hundred times more significant traffic to be handled without increasing the overall consumption of network energy thus being more energy-efficient networks.
Less response times – Theoretically, it is mentioned that 5G has the latency of 1 ms (milliseconds) which is literally a reduced amount in latency from 4G and will have faster data transmission.
Large network of connected users – 5G can build up a large community where users are connected 100 times more than it was previously in 4G LTE networks without any network failure.

How is 5G impacting mobile operators?

Now, 5G definitely has many benefits that can be deployed for any specific business case to satiate industry-based demands which gives operators a plethora of opportunities to work upon in times like COVID-19 where network demand in every industry like healthcare, education, etc. has reached its peak. It is high time for MNOs to make themselves prepared strategically with better exposure to impact of 5G technology and various areas to enhance for better customer engagement and gain revenues as they continue to build 5G networks on a wider geographical area.

Need for intelligent virtual network resources – Virtualization of network is crucial with deployment of new architectures such as NFV, SDN technologies and ultimately reduce the cost of additional hardware needed to manage networks. With reduced number of physical devices, network can be easily segmented and is scalable with automation in place for dynamic deployment of assets and resources need to be done in near future and ensure that all devices are in sync and working properly in real-time as expected.
Create smart network applications’ marketplace – Slicing of network is something new that has evolved with 5G technology giving operators more opportunities to offer specialised services to businesses that is solely intended to serve their goals. Operators can create good partnership with tech enterprises to develop SaaS applications that customers use it when required. These kinds of applications and services can be placed in the marketplace and generally come at premium offerings giving operators a new revenue stream to gain profits from customers who are satisfied with these handy applications. Also, entering into such alliances with app developers save them from hassle and investing time in developing these sophisticated applications and just focus on their own line of expertise in strengthening networks that would be used to run those applications.
Organizing resources is key to get maximum benefits – Operators need to be equally mindful of the billing and account departments as to how much they want to charge for giving out their services to customers, any discount packages should be offered or not to lure more customer. All this takes a significant step towards overall analysis with proper planning of resources in order to achieve significant investment benefits for operators with 5G technology.

Conclusion

5G is not only a mere technology but also being regarded as a promise for businesses and enterprises to improve their productivity and efficiency and lead them towards their growth, for instance, as in times of corona where everything went digital due to lockdown norms. But, for operators is a lot more with various use cases for industries like healthcare, automotive, education that is being driven by this one-of-a-kind technology and developing those smart and resilient 5G networks needs dedicated efforts in 5G network testing before going live and help their customers with customized network services. This gives them an ample amount of opportunities to generate new revenue streams and strive to make their own place in the competitive market and make revolutionary attempts in 5G use cases to build the digital economy of the future.