INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
Businesses predict huge potential
for 5G adoption but are not ready to
implement, reveals Cradlepoint study
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A
new study from Cradlepoint, a global
leader in cloud-delivered LTE and
5G Ready wireless network Edge
solutions, reveals that businesses expect
5G to be a major part of their technology
roadmap but have a long way to go before
they are ready to implement a solution.
The study, carried out at the 5G World
Summit in London, reveals that 78% of
organisations think 5G and Gigabit-Class
LTE may impact or already has made an
impact on their technology roadmap in
the next one – two years. However, only
a fifth (21%) say they are fully prepared
for adoption and nearly half (46%)
revealed they have made only minor or no
preparations at all to implement 5G.
The challenge of implementing high
performance wireless technology may also
be magnified by a limited understanding of
the key differences between LTE/Gigabit-
Class LTE and 5G. Most respondents (79%)
report they have limited or no understanding
of how the technologies differ. Similarly,
72
INTELLIGENTCIO
82% said they did not understand how
Gigabit LTE applies to their organisation.
Security concerns may also limit
speed of 5G adoption
Nearly three quarters of respondents (73%)
also stated that concerns around security
have the potential to limit how quickly their
organisation adopts 5G. But with almost
NEARLY HALF
(46%) REVEALED
THEY HAVE MADE
ONLY MINOR OR
NO PREPARATIONS
AT ALL TO
IMPLEMENT 5G.
the same number of respondents predicting
that security concerns will not impact 5G
adoption (9%) as those who think it already
has (8%), there appears to be no uniformity
on the issue.
“Businesses need to define their pathway
to 5G as a matter of urgency, but many are
unsure where to begin,” explained Jason Wells,
Vice President and General Manager EMEA at
Cradlepoint. “Gigabit-Class LTE, for example,
is a mature, higher performance expansion
of the 4G LTE network offering theoretical
download speeds of at least 1 Gbps.
It’s a wireless option that businesses should
be considering now – it can be enhanced
gradually as businesses move down the
pathway to full 5G connectivity.
“Without sufficient planning and
engagement with these ‘pathway’
technologies, businesses may find that their
ability to adopt 5G is delayed and they could
lose ground on 5G-ready competitors as a
result,” concluded Wells. n
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