5G Seen Playing Growing Role in Enterprise Communications
5G is becoming an increasingly important part of how businesses communicate, though what the 5G world will look like is still taking shape, speakers said Monday during a Fierce Wireless virtual enterprise 5G conference. “We’re still in the early days,”…
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said Howard Wu, U.S. general manager for equipment maker Quanta Cloud Technology. “A lot of the enterprises, institutions, large organizations are trying to figure out how to use 5G as an enabled technology,” he said. “5G isn’t an aim in and of itself, it’s an enabler,” said Macquarie Capital’s Oliver Bradley. “The key is what is it you’re ... trying to achieve,” he said. Historically, the cost of capital was high for the kinds of companies now active in 5G, with investors expecting higher rewards because of higher risks, he said: “That attracts a certain cost of capital that’s fairly expensive,” he said. In recent years, traditional infrastructure investors, who are more averse to risk, are now viewing “the digital world” as “the next … utility,” Bradley said. Digital connectivity is now viewed as “an essential service” comparable to water or electricity, he said. “It’s not just a nice-to-have, it’s not just a tech, it’s not just a fashion or a fad,” he said. Enterprise customers are looking for a “seamless, cell-service experience,” more like traditional consumer wireless than the business-to-business communications of the past, “which traditionally had delays and many manual processes and steps,” said Mike Bimm, ServiceNow global head-telecom, media and technology architecture. “As the infrastructure complexity and the service offerings grow, you need to have efficient, automated processes, and that need only increases,” he said. Companies want continuity as they invest in 5G and smart buildings, said Steve Carroll, global account director at communications gear maker Belden. Belden cares about “scalability,” he said: “What are we building today that is going to make sure that we’re not going to have to rip and replace it three years from now?”