The whole world is watching and waiting for 5G. But do we know what we are waiting for? As of last month, twenty-one US cities have already launched with at least one carrier (AT&T remains at the top for most cities launched). 5G means more bandwidth and faster speeds for accessing data, yes. But do we really know what that means? The spread of 5G sparks anticipation about the transformation of health care, new modes of experiential education, and smart traffic controls. If the arrival of 5G will severely disrupt the networks running our businesses, how do we prepare and protect them?
How to 5G Proof Your Business:
Think ahead for opportunity. With 5G speed, mobile computing will no longer have the bandwidth restrictions it has today. Consequently, real-time video applications are likely to grow more popular with their newfound ease-of-use and practicality. Augmented reality is another potential area of increased business interest and feasibility.
Plan for network and infrastructure changes. This is something you should give a lot of thought to and attack in stages. Networks and the traffic they carry could grow exponentially with 5G. A Gartner report shows that 5G will also introduce new network management techniques such as core network slicing, edge computing, and radio network densification in order to use 5G to its fullest potential.
Prepare for the data avalanche. Company IT leaders need to be preparing for the increase in data now. You will need to make choices about the kind of data your network will be allowed to access and what it should exclude. And for the data you do accept, how do you want to filter it? These are long term projects, so it’s important to start the conversation yesterday since 5G is on the horizon.
Hard truth: We won’t be able to understand exactly how 5G affects our businesses until we experience it. And that’s ok. …But don’t get confused. There are things that we can and should plan for now. For example, you can be sure that you will need to address your business opportunity, network and data as 5G approaches. If you don’t start preparing your business for 5G now, you could get sidelined.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can prepare your business for 5G, contact P2 Communications Management at sales@p2cm.com or 703-939-8240.