With global 5G networks providing new enhanced technical capabilities serving over 429 million connections, modern industries are examining how 5G wireless cellular connectivity impacts their businesses. 5G Americas announced the publication of a new white paper entitled “5G Vertical Use Cases,” which provides a deep dive on the benefits, opportunities and requirements for enterprise adoption of 5G.
Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, said, “The 5G architecture allows for innovation. In 2021, the world approaches 200 5G networks and millions of connected 5G devices, entities are thinking hard about what the faster data rates, lower latency and precision management of connected sensors and devices will do for—and to—their businesses.”
“5G Vertical Use Cases” is the second white paper 5G Americas has produced this year relating to 5G in the enterprise, serving as a companion piece to “Private and Enterprise Networks” published in August 2021. Where the previous 5G Americas white paper focused on network operating models and architectures, as well as tools for enterprise private network deployment, “5G Vertical Use Cases” explains the benefits and requirements that are specific to certain industry verticals.
The new white paper identifies how 5G offers numerous innovations, which make it very different from 4G LTE. These innovations include higher speed and enhanced connectivity through new spectrum, dedicated resource management with network slicing, highly reliable communication for latencies less than 10 milliseconds, improved security, a distributed packet core that spreads core network functions to the network edge, and flexible service creation and deployment with service-based architecture.
Additionally, the white paper clarifies the different factors that all decision-makers should consider, irrespective of industry, including availability of spectrum, intended use of spectrum or “spectral determinism,” area of coverage over corporate buildings, cybersecurity needs, connectivity availability and reliability requirements, data sovereignty issues, ease-of-use and liability, responsibility and ownership of network assets.
“5G Vertical Use Cases” looks at specific use cases in the following key industries:
• Manufacturing - perhaps the most opportunistic and demanding industry for wireless enhancements which 5G promises to fulfill
• Mining - which has been using 4G LTE technology for several years, offering numerous key lessons
• Utilities - a huge emerging sector where 4G LTE and 5G technologies can provide benefits at a tremendous scale
• Healthcare and Education - which offer immediate returns for better wireless connectivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Gaming - which can take advantage of unique aspects of technology such as Multi-Access Edge Compute and AR/VR.
“5G technology has opened the doors to a new era of improved, faster network performance, making innovative connected experiences possible and meeting many of the current and future needs of businesses across industries,” said Azita Kia, senior product manager of Mobility at Cisco and project lead author and editor of the white paper. “The 5G wireless ecosystem as a whole continues to progress as this next generation of connectivity paves the way for new use cases, applications and vertical markets.”