5G is a mobile technology that increases the connection speed to 20 Gbps, while the maximum speed of 4G technology is only 1 Gbps, minimizes web response time and exponentially multiplies the number of connected devices, which means all users joining this technology will give an ease of connection to everything and at all times incredibly fast compared to previous technologies, in addition to improving the performance of business applications and other digital experiences such as online games, video conferencing and cars on autopilot!
And while this brings value to all users, what is the opportunity for businesses?
Mobile connectivity and enabling a remote workforce to have never been more important to the success of an enterprise. The emergence of advanced mobile networks means that companies will be able to move from a mobile world that is still tethered in many ways, to one where true mobility reigns and this takes on even more importance in an era where remote working has seen strong growth and demand for COVID 19.
Companies are already structuring their work around 5G technology.
While most enterprises want to be part of the 5G era, many of them, despite being in the early stages of this BOOM, are already aligning their strategies to embrace it and take advantage of the technology as a key component of their infrastructure.
A 2019 study by Spiceworks showed that one in three companies plan to purchase new 5G devices as soon as they become available. These results gave a stronger uptick in 2020, because of a pandemic that forced the world to be even better connected to perform their daily, work, and personal activities.
Among these 5G devices that consumers plan to purchase are:
5G-capable smartphones, 5G wireless modems, tablets and IoT 5G.
This information is undoubtedly a very important DATA for the strategies of any company and its different areas. But there are also enterprise networks, and these will be greatly influenced by 5G technology and specifically its impact will be with multiprotocol labeling (MPLS) and distributed antenna systems (DAS). IT leaders are already showing interest in the idea that 5G-backed Wi-Fi or software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs) could be viable replacements for MPLS and DAS technologies.
MPLS, eliminates the need for complex routing table lookups and speeds up network traffic. Labels identify virtual links between distant nodes rather than endpoints. MPLS is scalable and does not depend on protocols.
DAS is a network of spatially separated antenna nodes connected to a common source via a transport medium that provides wireless service within a geographic area. This provides coverage over the same area as with a single antenna transmitting at higher power, but with lower total power and higher reliability.
SD-WANs simplify WAN management and operation by decoupling the network hardware from its control mechanism. They enable enterprises to create higher-performance WANs using lower-cost, commercially available Internet access, so they can replace more expensive private WAN connection technologies, such as MPLS. SD-WANs are provided by physical or virtual appliances and can be deployed in remote offices, data centers or cloud platforms.
IT professionals are betting big on the 5G era, and with the advent of innovative and potentially lucrative technologies such as IoT, cross-cloud, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, and others, as well as the current trend toward remote and mobile computing, the need for reliable, high-quality communications has never been greater.
Undoubtedly, IT experts are very excited about what this technology will be able to bring to their projects and companies, since as mentioned above the advantages it presents to organizations starts from very high and fast connectivity to countless other advantages.