5G networks increase capacity by 40 times compared to 4G. 5G is the only viable technology for the delivery of an immersive VR video experience to massive numbers of subscribers in high-attendance venues, said Nokia.

5G reduce the cost-per-device in a smart city deployment handling millions of connected devices, including IoT sensors.

5G delivers the 99.99 percent reliability and low-latency at-scale required in an Industry 4.0 environment, according to a study by Nokia.

Nokia’s 5G Acceleration Services can help mobile operators and enterprises identify how the move to 5G will enable them to deliver new services that transform the customer experience and create new revenue streams.

Telecom operators and enterprises can capitalize on early 5G deployments to drive the best return on investment (ROI).

Business cases include:

# 5G to the Home will break even after four years if the monthly average revenue per user remains above EUR 40

# 5G events and hotspots, in locations such as stadiums, have a one-year payback period depending on the number of events held at the location, with at least five events per month required to ensure a profitable business case

# Operators can achieve tangible early mover advantages in terms of revenue and market share for services such as in-vehicle infotainment

“In these studies we have delivered new insight into the benefits and business opportunities enabled by 5G,” said Harold Graham, head of the 5G Business Line at Nokia.

Telecom cloud deployments

Meanwhile, ABI Research predicted that large-scale telecom cloud deployments will reach critical mass after 2020, in parallel with the deployment for 5G.

This network generation will require a new core network to allow for advanced concepts, including network slicing and services geared toward different business verticals. Early 5G deployments, during which time there will not be an immediate need for a new telco core, will likely focus on enhanced mobile broadband.

ABI Research’s Telco Cloud Framework and Deployment Roadmaps report

“Though telecoms are transforming their technology and business platforms to become more agile and to evolve past their monolithic access-based business models, they are finding it much more challenging than anticipated,” said Dimitris Mavrakis, research director at ABI Research.

Telecom operators such as AT&T, DT, Telefonica, and Verizon are planning their networks as shared platforms, rather than a mix of individual network appliances.

ABI Research says this network strategy means that telecom network resources will be virtualized, distributed, and software controlled, leading to a much more agile network. This will allow the implementation of an “Untelecom” strategy, selling tailored network resources to different verticals.

End-to-end systems are the end goal of several telecoms. Mobile operator Telefonica O2 UK has signed an end-to-end contract to Nokia for a cloud-native packet core. It would be a challenge to implement in-house with a true vendor agnostic network. ABI Research expects many more end-to-end telecom cloud contracts will be awarded in the coming years.

ABI Research said competition from Webscale companies is also commoditizing operator services, with Facebook and Google directly competing with telecoms. These companies operate global networks that have been designed in-house, based on software and open-source principles.

Social media giant Facebook updates its global network code every 12 minutes and can offer a consistent interface for its global network to a new on-boarded service. This is something telecoms can only dream of matching.