Nokia is bringing a confluence of technologies to its managed service platform for IoT. The vendor’s Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) is now equipped to provide operators with access to 5G and edge capabilities on connected devices.

The goal, according to Nokia, is to allow operators to offer 5G IoT services on a pay-as-you-go business model. The expanded framework also enables network operators to scale 5G IoT services quickly without requiring investments in infrastructure.

Nokia has also established a 5G WING lab in Dallas to give operators a testing ground for emerging IoT use cases, including connected vehicles, public services, real-time industrial monitoring and control, and remote health care. The ascension of IoT in 5G will enable operators to tap into new business models and industries that will place increased demands on latency, data, and security, according to the vendor.

In addition to enhanced support for 5G, Nokia WING can also separate user plane functions and extend those resources to the network edge or enterprises’ on-premises equipment. The WING platform can also use multi-access edge computing to support compute-intensive IoT services, including augmented reality and virtual reality maintenance, and cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) deployments.

As 5G deployments gain momentum, operators are determined to bring IoT out of the shadows by expanding the scope of IoT use cases. IoT delivered by 5G is poised to drive $8 billion in revenue for operators by 2024, according to a study released last month by Juniper Research. That represents a 1,424% increase from the $525 million IoT is projected to contribute to operator revenue this year.

However, analysts have noted that 5G doesn’t magically remove significant hurdles that remain. Multiple vendors are expanding the capabilities of IoT managed service platforms to embolden that effort.

T-Systems, a subsidiary of global operator Deutsche Telekom, recently unveiled an edge computing platform that delivers low latency for IoT applications in enterprise facilities. Cisco more recently introduced machine learning capabilities and tighter integration between service providers and vendors in its IoT management platform.

“5G holds great promise but the cost and complexity of building a dedicated, global 5G infrastructure to support IoT services is a major obstacle for communications service providers,” said Brian Partridge, VP of applied infrastructure and DevOps at 451 Research, in a prepared statement. He noted that managed services that can diminish investment requirements and speed up deployments will generate strong demand.

“We are actively working with operators, who have a global enterprise customer base and need to address their increasing needs for secure, low-latency IoT use cases across geographical borders,” said Ankur Bhan, head of Nokia WING, in a statement.

The IoT platform upgrades also come during a challenging period for Nokia, which is struggling amid a heightened period of 5G deployment activity. CEO Rajeev Suri is leaving his position on Aug. 31 and will be replaced by Pekka Lundmark, who currently serves as president and CEO of Fortum, an energy company also headquartered in Espoo, Finland.