Experts from across industries are predicting that 5G will have major impacts, and one area where 5G technology has huge potential is the Internet of Things (IoT), according to Bob Violino in his recent ZDNet article and others. As IoT technologies like sensors and mobile devices become increasingly important for enterprises to conduct real-time analytics and data transactions, IT teams will leverage the next-generation wireless for lower latency and higher network capacity.
In his article, Violino asks the question: How much of an impact will 5G have on IoT, and in what ways can 5G help unlock the enormous potential of IoT for businesses as well as consumers? And to answer this question, Violino leans on insight from Paul Bevan, research director for IT Infrastructure at Bloor, who says:
“The biggest impact for business will be in the ability of 5G to handle massive data volumes with high transaction rates from remote and/or mobile locations. The ability to capture data from remote sensors, transfer it to large data centers, and apply both AI and machine learning and data science techniques to it for near real-time analysis is where enterprises are likely to see the biggest early gains.”
While Bevan predicts that 5G’s initial effects will be most noticeable in technologies like medical robots and autonomous vehicles, it’s clear that 5G will positively – and significantly – disrupt enterprises and organizations leveraging latency-dependent technologies to analyze data in real time and deliver content instantaneously.
For example, in the healthcare space 5G will enable predictive analytics, allowing medical professionals to diagnose foreseeable health issues, and the availability of high-speed processing will encourage IoT innovations in remote surgical robotics, enhancing patient experience and outcomes. On a similar note, in the manufacturing industry, integration of disparate supply chains is crucial and 5G will allow plant management to share and exchange data seamlessly and quickly.
Today, organizations depend on data gleaned from IoT devices for decision making and business processes, and it comes at no surprise that the initial rollout of 5G in 2019 expands the potential of these IoT technologies. As Violino claims, the promise of 5G means that nearly every industry will reap the benefits in some way.
While the rollout of 5G is slow-going to start, and widespread availability of full 5G is likely a few years away, the next-generation wireless will likely begin a new era of IoT – one where demand for investment in the distributed 5G core is high, and the need to bring compute power closer to the point of connectivity is increasing.
If you’re interested in learning how Netrality’s data centers at the edge support IoT as 5G emerges in cities like Houston, check out our blog.
