BrazilQatar named a 5G global leader on Arthur D. Little maturity index
Qatar has been assessed by Arthur D. Little as one of the world’s leading nations for the deployment of the 5G network, performing particularly well for its technical infrastructure.
The world’s oldest management consulting firm has released a report on the latest generation of mobile communications technology, and one of the Middle East’s youngest independent states has featured as among the most globally mature in the space. In its latest report on the roll-out of 5G networks, Arthur D. Little has named Qatar as being among a handful of leaders worldwide.
The ‘5G Country Leadership Index’ report compiled by Arthur D. Little – which benchmarks more than 40 countries across the globe – has identified Qatar alongside the US, Australia, Switzerland, Finland, Spain and the UAE as global 5G leaders, with South Korea leading the pack. Qatar, however, featured in the very top echelon for infrastructure availability, behind only Korea.
The index was determined through a detailed analysis of both a country’s technical infrastructure and its tendency for 5G commercialisation, the latter where Qatar evidently lost marks despite still featuring in the ‘leaders’ category – where the UAE also just managed to sneak into the mix ahead of close ‘followers’ such the UK, Italy and Japan. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, was assessed as a ‘laggard’.
According to the firm, the leaders on its index have commonly announced ambitious goals for 5G launch or launched already, have successfully trialed multiple use-cases with 5G spectrum allocated high performance backhaul infrastructure deployed, and have demonstrated a willingness to adopt new services along with having the right level of competition to foster commercialisation.
“Future business competitiveness will rely on 5G networks, making their fast deployment essential, said Karim Taga, the consulting firm’s global Telecommunications, Information Technology, Media & Electronics (TIME) practice leader. “During 2019, we foresee that dozens of operators will launch 5G services commercially, eventually improving their countries’ ranking. The race is on!”
From a regional perspective, Arthur D. Little assessed Southeast Asia as the most advanced, while noting the states of the GCC as also ahead and jockeying for the lead – although the only other Middle Eastern nation to feature on the benchmarking index other than the UAE, KSA, and Qatar was Kuwait, which landed in the group of more distant ‘followers’, albeit ahead of the likes of Canada and Holland.
“5G is the first mobile network generation which promises the data throughput, latency, and flexibility to enable the next level of digitisation across consumer types,” said Taga. “In Qatar, especially vertical eco-systems and corporates will benefit the most from 5G. Use cases based on 5G like AR/VR and enhanced video are suited for smart venues and smart city to enable a next level user experience.”
