Enterprises generally believe that 5G has great potential but still face cost and security pressures

Early on February 27, a new global study by Accenture showed that although the vast majority of companies believe that 5G will be the most revolutionary network evolution they have ever experienced, many companies are still worried about the security risks brought about by using the new infrastructure.

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The Accelerating the 5G Business Future report examines the views of more than 2,600 business and technology decision-makers across 12 industries in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. It aims to accurately portray how businesses understand 5G, how they have adopted it so far, and what they believe its potential impact will be. The interviews focus on recurring questions from the study published in 2019 (conducted in November and December 2018), which cover the same topics, and this year delve deeper into security, consulting and monetization.

The survey results fundamentally show that as the world realizes the huge potential of 5G technology, enterprises that adopt 5G technology are very optimistic about the prospects of 5G. This is very favorable, and people's awareness of 5G is constantly improving. For example, 85% of respondents said that they expect to use 5G to support mobile employees in the field within the next four years, which is higher than 68% in the same survey a year ago.

As many as 79% of respondents expect 5G to have a significant impact on their organization, with 57% expecting it to be revolutionary. Compared to previous communications networks, less than a quarter (24%) of respondents believe the impact of 4G will be revolutionary.

The survey also showed that business leaders are already weighing the potential costs of adapting to the 5G revolution.

5G operating costs were seen as a hot topic, with four in five (80%) respondents believing that the cost of managing their IT infrastructure and applications will increase as 5G technology is implemented. Nearly a third (31%) believe the upfront costs of implementing 5G are too high.

The research also found that businesses have realised that they need external support to unlock the potential of 5G. Nearly three quarters (72%) of respondents said they need help imagining the possibilities of future 5G connected solutions, and the proportion of businesses expecting to develop 5G applications in-house has dropped from 23% to 14% in the past year.

Not only that, enterprises are also skeptical about the security behind 5G. More than a third (35%) of respondents expressed concerns about the security of 5G, compared with 32% in last year's survey. In addition, more than three-fifths of respondents (62%) expressed concerns that 5G will make them more vulnerable to cyberattacks and believed that most of the risks will start at the user level, whether it is equipment or people.

“The connection between 5G and its perceived security risks is complex,” said George Nazi, senior managing director and communications and media industry leader at Accenture. “According to our research, executives believe 5G can help ensure their business is secure, but 5G network architecture also presents inherent challenges in areas such as user privacy, the number of connected devices and networks, service access and supply chain integrity.”

Nonetheless, the survey shows that businesses are considering how to respond to these challenges, with three quarters (74%) of respondents saying they expect to redefine security-related policies and procedures with the advent of 5G.

Nazi added: “With the right business strategy and ecosystem collaboration, the use cases and business outcomes for 5G around the world are very compelling. Communications service providers should act now to ensure they are at the heart of the 5G ecosystem to unlock the potential growth.”