The deployment of 5G cellular technology won't significantly affect most enterprises until the mid-2020s, when new business models and use cases related to the internet of things, smart cities and virtual reality are expected to emerge, according to a recent analyst report.
Fixed wireless broadband and mobile 5G networks are the primary use cases on the report's 5G timeline through the early 2020s, with the first commercial deployments scheduled for late 2018. While the benefits of 5G networks include fiber-like speeds with extremely low latency, 4G LTE will remain more than sufficient for most business uses, said report author Chris Antlitz, a senior analyst at Technology Business Research Inc., based in Hampton, N.H.
But 5G still holds great promise for enterprises, which analysts said will benefit from 5G's fundamentally new architecture. The new model -- combined with submillisecond latency -- should unlock the full potential of technologies related to internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality.
Between 2020 and 2025, Antlitz said, "you're going to see many new business cases and use cases for 5G come into view." Large enterprises in the Fortune 2,000 will be the first to innovate with 5G technologies during that five-year period, with more widespread enterprise adoption between 2025 and 2030, Antlitz said.
Use cases involving autonomous vehicles and remote surgeries -- for which the extremely low latency provided by 5G will be crucial -- should emerge after 2025.