Business Intelligence: Will 5G Boost Small Business Success?

Many experts originally predicted that 5G technology wouldn’t hit the market until 2020. However, a recent announcement from Verizon states that it could test 5G as early as 2017.

Tech savvy business owners are looking into the benefits of 5G technology. How is it going to transform the way they operate? What should they do to prepare?

Many experts originally predicted that 5G technology wouldn’t hit the market until 2020. However, a recent announcement from Verizon states that it could test 5G as early as 2017.

Tech savvy business owners are looking into the benefits of 5G technology. How is it going to transform the way they operate? What should they do to prepare?

5G Focuses on Needs of Business

Early adaptions of wireless technology focused on making life more convenient for consumers. Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg said that 5G will be different. It will focus on solving the needs of businesses.

“2G, 3G and 4G were designed for consumers, with better throughput and higher speeds,” Vestberg said. “5G is designed for the industrial internet.”

Ericson is currently working on a new 5G infrastructure to benefit the wine industry. Other individual industries stand to benefit from their own 5G networks, which Nokia Networks and other providers will offer.

5G Allows Businesses to Connect to the “Internet of Things”

Previous generations of telecommunications technology focused solely on connecting different devices with each other. 5G will be radically different from them in many ways. One of the biggest changes will be by connecting users to the “Internet of Things.”

5G technology will enable users to connect with more than just mobile devices. Tata Consultancy Services states that users will also be able to connect with other things such as railways, houses and energy grids.

How Will Things Change Under 5G?

The development of 5G technology is expected to change the nature of small business in countless ways. Here are some possible changes on the horizon.

Interconnected Cities

5G technology will enable organizations to become more strongly connected to each other. This will lead to much more interconnected cities in countries that adapt 5G.

 Small businesses will be able to collaborate with each other more effectively and have a better idea about what is going on in their community. For example, a restaurant can use their 5G device to connect with the local subway system to find out if there are any technical problems that could cause delays that shift the morning rush.

More Extensive Industry Data

Small businesses have trailed their larger competitors in using data for optimizing their operations models. However, the rapid proliferation of wireless technology is rapidly changing that. They will be more data centric as 5G technology becomes commonplace. 

The deployment of 5G technology will give businesses much broader access to data. They can leverage data from their customers, competing businesses and global media to make more informed decisions.

Existing Technology Hints at Coming Changes

There are clearly a number of changes coming for small businesses as they await the introduction of 5G technology. Since 5G hasn’t officially been released, it is difficult to know what impact it will have on global small businesses. This is especially true since there is no unequivocal definition of 5G yet.

However, some of the changes in existing 4G technology can provide some hints about the coming changes. Here is a quote from the Federation of American Scientists about some of these changes.

“To accommodate the increased demand for mobile data communications from the existing consumer and business markets for mobile services and the coming wave of new users and uses, 4G technologies using standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 suite would need to become increasingly powerful. Needed breakthroughs are typically discussed as improvements in speed, capacity, and throughput; reduction in latency (time delays); and other performance criteria.”

The future of 5G will become more evident as businesses take new measures to accommodate the growing need for mobile data.