5G (Fifth-generation) mobile networks are going to be a giant leap in mobile broadband. IoT offers immense advantages for 5G in education, health care, transportation, and energy. As per research from Cisco, approximately 500 billion IoT tools, such as actuators, sensors, and medical devices are going to connect with the internet.
These IoT devices will collect, aggregate, and analyze the data and deliver an understanding across many services and platforms, for example, Artificial intelligence innovations, health care, etc. To be able to meet the demands of such data-intensive IoT devices and associated cloud services, we are going to need 5G networks.
Researchers' focus has been on the impact that the combination of 5G with IoT will have on the society and its cost aspect. The introduction of 5G will bring innovation across industries and provide emerging technologies like IoT to unleash their full potential. It is a prediction that by 2020, 5G will be commercially available.
The latest mobility report by Ericsson AB mentions that there will be approximately 550 million 5G subscriptions by 2022, and the Asia Pacific is going to be a second-fastest-growing region having 10% of the entire subscriptions being 5G.
When implemented together, there is a substantial value that both the technologies can bring for the industries.
Efficiency, speed, reliability, security, and latency, this is what 5G networks will offer as this technology is dependable and fast because of fiber optic cable, which at lower cost will provide the same capacity and more flexibility. Mobile broadband services will improve because of 5G. Digital abilities based on autonomous operations, virtual reality, drones, and AI are among the solutions that will have 5G networks for improved productivity and accelerating innovations.
IoT's adoption has been happening at an accelerated pace, and there is a prediction of increasing investment in IoT devices in 5 years or less. There are profits in IoT devices, which attracts manufacturers, for example, higher product quality, less machine downtime, informed decision making, and predictive maintenance. 5G will remove several limitations that currently exist in IoT because of wireless technologies, which cannot eliminate issues such as heat, sound, vibration, etc.
The current focus of IoT merchants is to fulfill the practical and precise needs of the industry. Provide more reliable solutions that cater to their client's needs. Once the 5G networks come into play, IoT platforms can connect to discrete point sensors and solutions to monitor entire processes, from research & development to the very end of the product development lifecycle.
5G and IoT will play an essential role in the creation of an integrated ecosystem to optimize manufacturing, distribution, and product-consumption lifecycle. Industries will be able to connect to every stage, from the planning-to-sales process in a continuous circle. Decision-makers and analysts can examine the data from the sensors installed throughout the proceedings of the manufacturers, their suppliers, and in exceptional cases, their consumers.
A multidimensional ecosystem will allow a quick response to possible disruptions, variations in consumer demands, or frequently changing merchants as data will no longer flow in a straight line but back and forth throughout this ecosystem.
We can obtain an immense amount of data with the help of IoT devices. It is a boon to analytics as they can now take precautionary maintenance and plan for redesigning their products in case such circumstance arises.
The ecosystem that 5G networks and IoT together creates will usher an era of smart manufacturing as optimization of manufacturing processes, and customizable products will be achievable.
IoT and 5G equipped machines represent a $1.2B global opportunity by 2024.
To support reliable IoT applications, 5G is a must for in-building private wireless networks.
The largest industrial vertical for MEC will be manufacturing by 2024. It is going to be driven by 5G networks and private LTE for the industrial segment.
By 2024, application revenue for edge computing in 5G will increase forty percent of infrastructure spending.
5G will optimize IoT networks through the use of radio frequency management that will meet the requirements of both narrowband IoT applications and those that need a higher bandwidth-on-demand basis.
IoT solutions will benefit from the implementation of 5G due to the deployment of low power WAN IoT network capabilities.
The scope of IoT will keep on increasing in terms of the impact it will make on the customer's daily lives and enterprise systems.
Let's share an example. Workers provided with augmented virtual/reality (VR/AR) headsets can freely move in the factory, they will be connected all the time to the 5G network. These workers will be able to simulate every process in three dimensions right up to the final product during their interaction with IoT devices and data. VR/AR's capability to spot errors through simulations is one of the invaluable attributes of this system. With the help of network slicing, industries can integrate 5G networks into their digital strategy. It will also enable the integration of consumers and merchants into the platform. The combination of 5G with IoT makes the industrial revolution 4.0 achievable.
Manufacturers will not have to rely on both mobile and fixed networks for their communication needs. Mobility is essential for flexible manufacturing, and 5G can provide it. Industries will be able to move on from an unreliable WI-FI network and wired infrastructure.
Industries want their private networks to implement their digital transformation strategy. It will enable them to take full advantage of the union of IoT and 5G.
In terms of the private network, there are two choices: work with an existing telecommunications provider to run the entire system together or create a system that they can run by themselves.
Nowadays, due to the competition for bandwidth among customers, the public sector, and companies, Governments are keen to open more 5G spectrum for the industry. There are concerns regarding the vulnerability of the 5G network to cyber-attacks. With network slicing, new and secure software algorithms, we are hoping that manufacturers will get a robust network security protocols. In comparison to the currently used infrastructure, 5G will provide a more robust level of data security.
Manufacturers will be able to operate with full flexibility and move forward to an active ecosystem of consumers and suppliers, with the industry at the essence by integrating IoT with the 5G network. The spirit of industrial revolution 4.0 has taken a giant step with the integration of IoT and the 5G, and it's up to the people to take full benefit of this new phase.