451 Research believes that 5G will have a catalytic effect on a wide range of IT technologies and services, impacting almost every sector of industry and society, far beyond mobile technologies and business models. 451 recommends that any provider involved with mobile internet, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud services, consumer electronics, or automation should assess the impact of the arrival of 5G.
“IT players need to be thinking about IoT now and 5G soon,” says Ken Rehbehn, principal mobile telecom analyst at 451 Research. “Whether it’s real-time analytics, data center design, location-based web services, or social media and digital currencies, 5G will impact demand patterns as early as 2018. This project provides a comprehensive view of the long-term implications to help IT companies prepare their strategies.”.
Here are the results of the 451 Research report:
- 5G is not just another G, it will unleash a wave of innovation that will enhance the information and computing power available instantly.
- 5G innovations will spread far and wide; innovation is needed in mobile technology, real-time analytics, cutting-edge data centers, and new applications and services, such as semi-autonomous vehicles, augmented reality, and IoT.
- 5G implementation will be very uneven, depending on which players try to outpace each other; local demand for capabilities not possible in 3G/4G; government intervention; investment; the effectiveness of new technologies at scale; and new business cases involving multi-player collaboration.
Uncertainty exists because not all 5G technologies are proven, especially at scale. It's also unclear whether capabilities such as sub-millisecond response times will justify the investment. Areas requiring significant investment include low-latency services, low-power devices and networks, and the ability to support a large number of devices.
Governments and operators have different ambitions for 5G. While many governments, especially in Europe, want to advance 5G and the digital way of life, operators are focused on shareholder profitability. This conflict could lead to the creation of public-private partnerships to secure funding.
The X factor: competing technologies could still disrupt the economy. For example, technologies such as LoRa or Weightless-N could emerge as next-generation, low-bandwidth computing options for IoT, putting the main driver of 5G out of the equation.

Download the report here