Intelligent CIO North America Issue 01 | Page 54

FEATURE: 5G makes them happy. We’ve already seen the uptake of more subscription models for entertainment, so it follows that consumers will also invest in the technology to make it a slick anywhere experience, untethered to wires. Retailers could play to this new appetite for experience with the launch of AR / VR services, enabling consumers to see what the piece of furniture they want to buy looks like in their home or how that new shirt or dress virtually fits before they part with their money. With business models shifting as a result of lockdown, this could lead to 5G supporting a company’s plans for growth and innovation in a way not conceived before, or certainly not at the scale envisaged. Strange bedfellows RETAILERS COULD PLAY TO THIS NEW APPETITE FOR EXPERIENCE WITH THE LAUNCH OF AR / VR SERVICES, ENABLING CONSUMERS TO SEE WHAT THE PIECE OF FURNITURE THEY WANT TO BUY LOOKS LIKE IN THEIR HOME OR HOW THAT NEW SHIRT OR DRESS VIRTUALLY FITS BEFORE THEY PART WITH THEIR MONEY. Delivering ultra-high bandwidth quickly and reliably, with an ability to scale applications is the challenge with 5G promises. However, the situation has created what some might see as strange bedfellows – the likes of Amazon and Azure partnering with the operators. Most recently, Google has partnered with Telefonica in Spain to support digitalization strategies. It all makes perfect sense, given the complementary expertise and partnerships, to sell more 5G applications in a mobile edge cloud very close to the customer. Yet, at a higher level there are still some pivotal questions to address. Most 54 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com