Is it the right time for enterprises to adopt 5G?

The enterprise 5G market could reach a massive $31.7 billion by 2026, according to MarketsandMarkets. Despite this potential growth, there is currently a lack of clarity surrounding plan structures, terms and conditions, and prices for organisations seeking to adopt 5G.

The state of enterprise 5G

Overall, MarketsandMarkets estimates that the 5G enterprise market will be worth $2.3 billion in 2020. This is reportedly due to the rise of the 5G enterprise connectivity platform, which will enable a unified enterprise network. While these predictions are high, service providers are ultimately failing to provide clarity on the sourcing, procurement, and adoption of 5G services. Despite this uncertainty, a 2019 survey of Mobile Europe & European Communications readers affirms that 5G deployment is well underway, with operators currently targeting consumers and enterprises with new services. Nevertheless, service providers are reportedly concerned about the potential ROI in the new technology. In fact, almost half of the survey's respondents cited worries about the ROI as the most significant threat. “The rollout of 5G features will not be ready for another five years,” Bill Menezes, Senior Principal Analyst, Gartner insisted. Indeed, Gartner predicts that less than 45% of communications service providers will have launched a commercial 5G network globally by 2025.

Evaluating when to adopt 5G

According to recent research from Gartner, organisations need to consider four crucial questions when evaluating potential 5G purchases. First and foremost, enterprises must identify the viability of 5G-reliant use-case plans. Next, it is necessary to find out where and when organisations can access 5G services. Specifically, it is critical that mobile service procurement teams develop realistic budgets for the expected cost of a 5G-reliant implementation. It is also important to avoid paying a premium for a 5G service, in comparison to 4G LTE. To achieve this, standard 4G LTE corporate handheld device plans should include 5G services without an additional fee. Finally, enterprises should find out exactly how 5G will perform. In order to separate hype from reality and adopt 5G today, enterprises require SLAs with committed service credits for 5G connections that do not meet KPIs for network performance.

Looking to learn more? Check out the Top 10 Ways 5G Will Improve the Enterprise