Mobile 5G network connectivity is augmenting and intersecting with developments underway in many industries. Enterprises in these segments operate under decade-long innovation cycles, much like the telecom industry, but the convergence of these separate advancements is on the cusp of delivering significant outcomes, Intel VP Asha Keddy said. 

“Now we are at the point where we have the technologies from a communications point of view that can help with fine tuning or enhance” the technological progress achieved in other industries, Keddy said at 5GNext, a virtual summit hosted by Chetan Sharma Consulting. 

“Now we have something meaningful that augments their work, but they have to then design it,” she said. 

The telecom industry has also, more recently, embraced a “much more sober and realistic vision” around what 5G can and is most likely to deliver for specific industries, Keddy explained. Markets like the automotive industry will benefit from 5G connectivity more around radar and safety than fully autonomous driving in the near term, she added. 

This period of sobriety within the 5G space is also effectively keeping more network operators and vendors in their respective lane of expertise by focusing on the connectivity piece.

Hand-Holding Needed Among Operators, Vendors, Enterprises

Focus is needed in the 5G standard-setting process as well because 5G operators, vendors, and technologists are not experts in industries like utilities, mining, health care, or manufacturing, Keddy explained. Standards bodies “made some missteps in the beginning of the automotive industry standard-setting days, but we’re doing much better now with industry 4.0,” she said. 

“The reason for these opportunities or these conversations is that this is the first universal [cellular] standard,” Keddy noted. 

Technology is predictable, but what people and enterprises do with it isn’t, she said. 

Enterprises are “trying to transform their business with new capabilities for connected intelligence or what some of us call industry 4.0,” and that involves “moving big data to make their outfit more intelligent with automation that requires less human intervention,” said John Saw, EVP of advanced and emerging technologies at T-Mobile US, during the event. 

“You cannot do this with yesterday’s technology like WiFi,” he said. “We’re not streaming Netflix here in the factory, we’re talking about mission-critical and life-critical requirements, so that drives the discussion and the need for 5G with access to a private edge.”

As enterprises connect to a 5G edge network, they will have to address specific needs with both private and shared spectrum, Saw said. “You’re going to see private networks with a private persona as well as a public persona depending on the use cases that they’re trying to support. But it’s a very nascent area, it’s a lot of hand-holding needed on both sides.”

Operators, for their part, need to understand the pain points of each respective enterprise and organization's need to understand everything involved with operating a network, he explained. That includes all the relationships that will have to be forged with network infrastructure vendors, systems integrators, and operators if they opt for a completely private model. 

Buckle Up for Telco Edge Cloud Collision

This extends into what Saw describes as a symbiotic relationship between 5G and the cloud, both public and private. “You need both,” especially with 5G tapping into clouds for real-time capabilities, greater capacity, intelligence, and automation, he said. 

The need for edge computing is precipitated by the rise of 5G because the connectivity architecture advances so many features, including latency, according to Saw. “That justifies the investments in bringing the edge closer to your customers.” 

Enterprises must also segment workloads at the edge accordingly, based on unique requirements, Keddy said. “Edge is not about moving the server from the sixth floor to the ground floor. It’s actually a redesign based on the workload.”