According to the latest 5G survey report from Telecoms.com, the main cash cow of 5G technology in the coming two years is expected to be enterprise private networks. Interestingly, the mobile edge seems to have tumbled in significance over time.
The report titled ‘Advancing 5G’ probes into how the trickiest question of how to profit from the 5G network can be answered. Notably, there is a stark pressure on telcos to regain pricing power, pushing them to revisit possible models of 5G monetization.
Enterprise private networks sit at the top in the popularity chart for monetizing 5G, notching up three out of every five votes in this year’s survey. Meanwhile, the Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) has been downgraded on the list of most viable income generators compared to previous surveys.
Digging into the obstacles encountered in the deployment of 5G-SA, it emerges that a dearth of viable monetization models along with an unclear business case are significant deterrents. High cost and complexities in managing a blend of cloud-native and legacy components pose as formidable challenges.
Vendor selection in the 5G core appears to take two predominant directions: Majority lean towards multi-vendor partnerships with a dedicated system integrator to handle integration and interworking. Conversely, a considerable number choose multi-vendor partnerships, taking up the responsibility of the integration process themselves.
In terms of the security of RAN infrastructure in 5G, the report flags higher security concerns in open RAN than in traditional RAN infrastructure. However, there seems to be a silver lining. Nearly fifty percent of the respondents think the extent of security testing carried out by RAN equipment vendors, Open Testing and Integration Centres (OTICs) and O-RAN Plugfests is at par.
While the majority of participants expect that security checks could potentially jeopardize user performance in 5G enterprise networks, nearly two-fifths of them view testing as a mechanism to strike a balance between security and user performance.
Despite the challenges, it seems that both telecom operators and their customers are excited about the future of 5G and are eagerly working to overcome these hurdles. The advancement of 5G is unstoppable and its impact on our lives can’t be underestimated.
