What functions and advantages does 5G technology bring to enterprises?

As carriers pilot fifth-generation cellular networks, or 5G, most of the discussion has centered around the benefits 5G brings to consumers and smartphones. But enterprises can also gain significant advantages, starting with fixed wireless 5G (as a point-to-point broadband replacement) and eventually even mobile 5G.

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Let’s take a closer look at the capabilities and benefits that 5G brings to enterprises.

• The most discussed 5G feature is the speed and bandwidth improvement. With data rates up to 10 Gbps, 5G will be 10 to 100 times faster than existing 4G LTE technology. Cellular networks are now a potential technology for branch automation because WAN (wide area network) connections will finally have sufficient bandwidth. For enterprises, the real benefit of 5G may not be the actual bandwidth, but the pressure 5G will put on the existing WAN connection market to adjust its prices.
• 5G's low latency (as low as 1 millisecond) will be another key factor in WAN usage. Customers now primarily use MPLS or dedicated lines to achieve low latency in line-of-business applications. 5G's low latency may bring additional flexibility, allowing enterprises to abandon part of the MPLS infrastructure at the branch office and instead choose cheaper and more flexible 5G connections to the branch office. This is especially true in retail or shared infrastructure or very remote environments.
• In the same physical area where 4G LTE operates, 5G's density will support up to 100 times more devices while maintaining 999% availability. While this density may bring business advantages to mobile workers, the real benefit is increasing the size of the mobile customer market. Mobile commerce is growing faster than both retail and traditional computer-based commerce. More customers than ever are using mobile devices to shop online, so greater density will increase the overall addressable market.
• A 90% reduction in device power consumption means only a small power saving at the smartphone level. However, from an infrastructure perspective, especially for IoT devices, the energy savings could be significant. IoT devices combined with cellular 5G communications can help reduce power consumption in design and actual consumption. Remote devices can potentially have a much longer lifespan when running on batteries alone. Some studies have even shown that IoT sensor devices deployed in remote locations can achieve a 10-year remote battery life.
• Security is always a concern for mobile devices and IoT devices, as the latter are located at the edge of the enterprise network. 5G will provide stronger security than 4G LTE, including hardware security modules, key management services, wireless, secure elements, etc. This will help ensure the security of data transmitted over 5G networks, while also strengthening network endpoints.

Although 5G will bring these new features and advantages, the technology also has disadvantages. For example, the main disadvantage is that 5G antenna coverage is lower than 4G, which will result in a higher density of antennas required for the same coverage. However, overall, when the pilot is completed and 5G becomes popular, the real business benefits of 5G technology will become apparent.