5G brings potential for new revenue, customers

Over 50% of enterprises are looking for 5G use cases that can help them disrupt the market or drive their brand forward, according to new research from Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the research arm of Infosys.

The research, 'State of 5G – The Road Ahead', was aimed at gathering insights around the current state of 5G adoption and identifying current and future initiatives that can serve as a guide for business and technology leaders across enterprises in their 5G digital transformation journey.

For this research, Infosys surveyed 850 senior executives representing firms from 12 industries, with annual revenues over US$1 billion across the US, Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

The study gathered empirical evidence to show how mass machine communication is expected to be the most transformed application with 5G and why data security emerges as the most critical barrier to its adoption.

Other findings of the survey:

• A staggering 90% of the respondents are either actively investigating 5G business cases or defining various use cases and service portfolios with ecosystem partners.
   
• Nearly 60% of respondents mentioned cost and effectiveness as the primary criteria for use case adoption, while 57% of surveyed enterprises are looking at 5G for new revenue streams.
   
• Data security (59%), finding the right talent (57%), and device readiness (57%) were identified as key barriers in 5G adoption.
   
• Industry-wise, Energy and Utilities call out Integration while Manufacturing mentions virtualized 5G core deployment as key challenges
   
• Maintenance of the new technology (47%) and defining a roadmap for AI and ML technology advancements (33%) emerged as key challenges post-implementation
   
• Nearly 50% of enterprises firmly believe that system integrators play a vital role in 5G deployment.
   
• 50% of respondents cited that mass machine communication is expected to undergo a major transformation, followed by ultra-reliable and low latency services (48%) and enhanced cellular broadband (43%).

Consumer Retail and Logistics (CRL) and Energy and Utilities (E-U) industries are leaders in 5G strategy with experiments around In-Store Experience and Smart Grids respectively.

There is also traction in interactive experiences around media delivery, smart spaces, and remote healthcare.

Telecom industry is driving more use case experimentation (57%) that can help them disrupt the market.

Supply side industries have migrated beyond the business case stage, focusing more on prototyping.

On the other hand, industries on the demand side are driven by the cautious nature of users while contemplating business cases.

While standards organisations are seen as the preferred partners in 5G evolution among nearly 50% respondents, understanding of 5G and seamless transitioning capability were called out as the key partner selection criteria.

"5G holds significant transformation potential for both network providers and enterprises that will consume it," says Infosys senior vice president and engineering services global head Nitesh Bansal.

"For network providers there are significant opportunities for network virtualization, AI and automation, while considerably lowering associated costs and enhancing delivery of network-based services. For enterprises, on the other hand it unlocks significant value with the addition of use cases that were not possible without low latency and high bandwidth network coverage. 

"Through our research, 'State of 5G – The Road Ahead', we are looking to present a comprehensive view of the adoption and barriers in implementing 5G. The research also highlights relevant use cases that will serve as a ready reckoner for businesses looking to explore new opportunities in the 5G space."

Methodology

Infosys conducted independent interviews and web surveys, the report of which presents a holistic view of 5G adoption.

A total of 850 senior executives – including 30% C-suite executives – and over 1000 employees comprising 53% business users and 47% IT users representing firms from numerous industries, with annual revenues over US $1 billion across the US, Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), participated in this survey.

The respondents were grouped into six industry clusters: FSI (Financial Services - Insurance), HLS (Healthcare, Lifesciences, Government and Agriculture), MFG (Industrial Manufacturing, Automotive and Hi-Tech), CMT (Telecom and Media - Entertainment), E-U (Energy - Utilities), CRL (Retail, Consumer Goods, Services and Logistics).