Becoming 5G Ready

As the global business ecosystem prepares to become 5G ready and we witness the rise of a hyper-connected landscape defined by co-innovation, the future will belong to the organizations that can leverage the emerging opportunities and avenues on the horizon.

The Importance of Business Models in Shaping the 5G Landscape

The emergence of 5G has set in motion the creation of hyper-connected ecosystem based on co-innovation.

The Hyper-connected Ecosystem

The Hyper-connected ecosystem is achieved through a host of partnerships, including:

Enterprise collaborations and mergers for attaining flexibility and responsiveness
in the new digitally-reformed value chain in terms of operational DNA.
Global innovation centers as the ideal location for ecosystem partners to
demonstrate end-to-end 5G solutions in a live environment.
Industry-academia partnerships to sponsor innovation in research on
key programs addressing the technical implications of 5G adoption.
Open source innovation programs for exploring telecom innovation
and shifting from a limited number of suppliers toward a more diverse set.
Startups and other niche providers for driving customized innovation in
hardware and software development capabilities and high-end security solutions.

Support from Governments

Let us now take look at how governments globally
are supporting 5G deployment within their territories.

The USA:

The Federal Commission has brought in several policy changes in spectrum, infrastructure policy, transitioning and deployment process for efficient 5G deploymentIndustry consortiums include:(a) 5G Americas, including SP’s and manufacturers as members(b) OnGo Alliance a consortium of mobile and cable operators, including network operators.

Europe:

The European Commission has brought in a 5G action plan for speeding up the expansion of the vendor ecosystem, and ensuring allocation of spectrum licenses for commercial launch of 5GIndustry consortiums include:(a) 5G Infrastructure Association, including telecom and digital players(b) O-RAN Alliance for building a well-established hardware and cloud infrastructure.

India:

The key initiatives include setting up of the IESA to promote technology solutions to make India a preferred ESDM destination, and include efforts around Atmanirbhar Bharat for accelerating and incentivizing productionIndustry consortiums include(a) Initiatives by the Department of telecommunications to strengthen 5G deployment(b) Cellular Operators Association of India for driving innovation and advancements in 5G deployments.

A 360° Partnership Ecosystem

The 5G ecosystem is being defined by the growing volume of partnerships across the global economy. This includes alliances between silicon chip makers, device OEMS, equipment providers, network operators, system integrators and startups. Each of these participants have a vital role to play in the emerging landscape, not only in defining the worldwide pace of 5G network rollouts, but also in setting the milestones for driving business success in the new scenario. Chip manufacturers are helping drive:

The availability of shared solutions, including:

Providing vRAN and O-RAN solutions for efficient 5G deployment
Software-based radio solutions

Wireless infrastructure, including:

Optical networking chips for building high performance data centers
Smaller and more powerful chipsets to help expand the provision of software as a service

Availability of customized chips, including:

5G base station chip sets capable of multipoint data processing

Expansion in the availability and adoption of AI and IoT enabled chips, including:

Enabling data traffic management to enable AI-based network & service analytics for enterprises
Enhancing network analytics capabilities and assistance in network transformation

Silicon support infrastructure, including:

An expansion of the range of chipsets enabling multi-generation infra processors
Enabling wireless networking and a reduction in chip size and power requirements