Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the global thought leadership and research arm of Infosys, today unveiled its market research titled, ‘State of 5G – The Road Ahead’. The research was aimed at gathering insights around the current state of 5G adoption and identifying current and future initiatives that can serve as a guide for business and technology leaders across enterprises in their 5G digital transformation journey.

For this research, Infosys surveyed 850 senior executives representing firms from 12 industries, with annual revenues over US $1 billion across US, Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand. The study gathered empirical evidence to show how mass machine communication is expected to be the most transformed application with 5G and why data security emerges as the most critical barrier to its adoption.

Key findings of the survey:

• A staggering 90 percent of the respondents are either actively investigating 5G business cases or defining various use cases and service portfolios with ecosystem partners.
• Nearly 60 percent of respondents mentioned cost and effectiveness as the primary criteria for use case adoption, while 57 percent of surveyed enterprises are looking at 5G for new revenue streams.
• Over 50 percent of enterprises are looking for 5G use cases that can help them disrupt the market or drive their brand forward
• Data security (59 percent), finding the right talent (57 percent), and device readiness (57 percent) were identified as key barriers in 5G adoption.
• Industry wise, Energy and Utilities call out Integration while Manufacturing mentions virtualized 5G core deployment as key challenges
• Maintenance of the new technology (47 percent) and defining a roadmap for AI and ML technology advancements (33 percent) emerged as key challenges post implementation
• Nearly 50 percent enterprises firmly believe that system integrators play a vital role in 5G deployment. •
• 50 percent respondents cited that mass machine communication is expected to undergo a major transformation, followed by ultra-reliable and low latency services (48 percent) and enhanced cellular broadband (43 percent).

State of 5G across industries: - Consumer Retail and Logistics (CRL) and Energy and Utilities (E&U) industries are leaders in 5G strategy with experiments around In-Store Experience and Smart Grids respectively. There is also traction in interactive experiences around media delivery, smart spaces, and remote healthcare. - Telecom industry is driving more use case experimentation (57 percent) that can help them disrupt the market. - Supply side industries have migrated beyond the business case stage, focusing more on prototyping. On the other hand, industries on the demand side are driven by the cautious nature of users while contemplating business cases. - While standards organizations are seen as the preferred partners in 5G evolution among nearly 50 percent respondents, understanding of 5G and seamless transitioning capability were called out as the key partner selection criteria.

Nitesh Bansal, Senior Vice President and Global Head, Engineering Services, Infosys said, “5G holds significant transformation potential for both network providers and enterprises that will consume it. For network providers there are significant opportunities for network virtualization, AI and automation, while considerably lowering associated costs and enhancing delivery of network-based services. For enterprises, on the other hand it unlocks significant value with the addition of use cases that were not possible without low latency and high bandwidth network coverage. Through our research, ‘State of 5G – The Road Ahead’, we are looking to present a comprehensive view of the adoption and barriers in implementing 5G. The research also highlights relevant use cases that will serve as a ready reckoner for businesses looking to explore new opportunities in the 5G space.”

For a full copy of the report, please visit: https://www.infosys.com/engineering-services/insights/Pages/state-of-5G-road-ahead.aspx