As the first commercial deployments of 5G start to appear, the stage is
set for consumers finally to find out what the powerful next-generation
mobile standard promises can bring: an ambitious and far-reaching
technological advance that transforms virtually all aspects of human
activity—how we experience life, conduct business, create goods, and
build societies. In its latest complimentary white paper, “The
Promise and Potential of 5G,” business information provider IHS
Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) explores the opportunities and challenges
surrounding the upcoming global rollout of new 5G wireless networks.
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IHS Markit: 5G Readiness Scores by Industry (Graphic: Business Wire)
Without question, 5G is helping set the stage for incredible change, but
it remains a confusing landscape, with varied and sometimes conflicting
interpretations of what 5G is and what to expect from it. This confusion
is impacting not just consumers but also complicating the industry’s
ability to measure itself against a standard set of 5G expectations and
requirements.
To optimize short-term and long-term 5G adoption, it is imperative that
clarity regarding what 5G is and when each capability will be available
is established for both consumers and the ecosystem. To that end, IHS
Markit follows the official
3GPP definition of 5G but also believes that this description needs
to be understood within the context of everyday experience and concepts.
According to the white paper, 5G will improve existing services and
enable new use cases, such as driverless cars, immersive entertainment,
zero-delay virtual reality, uninterrupted video and no-latency gaming.
On the industrial front, 5G will be key to expanding and realizing the
full promise of the internet of things (IoT), with the technology’s
impact to be felt in smart homes, smart cities and smart industries.
“The marketplace implicitly understands 5G represents an unprecedented
growth opportunity, with the initial smartphone rollout set to generate
record shipment volumes,” said Francis
Sideco, vice president, technology at IHS Markit. “However, fewer
people understand the iterative nature of major technology rollouts such
as the one we are going through now with 5G—a process involving multiple
major updates that will add new capabilities in the coming years. With
each of these updates having the potential to significantly disrupt the
market’s competitive dynamics, it’s critical for companies to clearly
understand the implications of each rollout or risk falling behind the
competition.”
Following initial sales of 37 million first-generation 5G smartphones
this year, with initial shipments only now commencing, worldwide
shipments will surge to 120 million devices in 2020, IHS Markit
forecasts. This rollout will be the fastest ever for a new wireless
generation, generating six times more unit shipments than previous
record-holder LTE, over a similar timeframe. Benefitting from strong
industry momentum and alignment, global 5G smartphone shipments will
continue to rise in the coming years, reaching over 525 million devices
in 2023. “Despite strong growth, the level of success among individual
competitors in the smartphone and infrastructure market will hinge on
their ability to shift their business strategies in parallel with the
evolution of 5G,” Sideco said.
New 5G technical standards will eventually enable the creation of
applications that could open new opportunities, inform new business
models and transform everyday life for multiple industries and billions
of users throughout the world. However, many of these capabilities won’t
be available in initial 5G rollouts, but instead will arrive in
subsequent releases of the standard to be implemented over the next few
years. Each of the releases will deliver new challenges and
opportunities not only for the wireless industry but also every industry
for which the new use cases are envisioned. To fully realize the
potential of these opportunities, competitors will need to understand
and capitalize on new capabilities even before they are fully introduced.
The 5G standard’s next release is already on the horizon, with the
expected introduction of Release 16 in late 2019. The upcoming release
will deliver highly desirable enhancements, including far greater
reliability and peak data rates of 20 gigabits-per-second (Gbps)
downlink and 10 Gbps uplink. “This next phase of implementation and
rollout will trigger a race among mobile network operators to meet and
take advantage of these performance enhancements,” Sideco said. “The
winners of this race are likely to gain a competitive advantage as they
gear up for the next wave of growth.”
Future revisions will spur similar competitive battles, as 5G adds major
new capabilities and expands into other markets beyond mobile
communications, such as mission-critical applications and massive
internet of things (IoT) deployments. “For companies throughout the
technology supply chain—from network operators, to smartphone brands, to
industrial and automotive device manufacturers and electronics
suppliers—it will become increasingly important to understand the
changes brought by each phase of the 5G deployment and to be ready to
capitalize on the latest capabilities to gain a competitive advantage,”
Sideco said.
To learn more about managing the complexities of the 5G era, download
the free white paper, “The
Promise and Potential of 5G.”
About IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com)
IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) is a world leader in critical information,
analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive
economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information,
analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and
government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep
insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has
more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent
of the Fortune Global 500 and the world’s leading financial
institutions. Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to
sustainable, profitable growth.
IHS Markit is a registered trademark of IHS Markit Ltd. and/or its
affiliates. All other company and product names may be trademarks of
their respective owners © 2019 IHS Markit Ltd. All rights reserved.
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