BrazilMiddle East leaders anticipate major benefits from 5G technology
With advanced connectivity becoming the foundation for companies to become hyper-connected, agile, secure, resilient and innovative, 5G is considered one of the most disruptive technologies for enterprises across sectors. In the Middle East this is no different, according to new research from Accenture and Microsoft.
The management and technology consulting firm and software giant teamed up to assess the state of 5G in the region, finding that the overwhelming majority of leader surveyed (87%) expect 5G to significantly impact their business.
5G is the fifth generation mobile network, the successor of the 3G and 4G networks. Due to its high speed (multi-Gbps peak data speeds) and ultra low latency plus massive network capacity, 5G technology can offer higher performance and improved efficiency, fuelling the development of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT).
In their report, Accenture and Microsoft state: “The combination of 5G, cloud and edge computing will have a massive impact on the development of AI and IoT technologies. With 10-20x faster speeds and dramatically lower latency, 5G makes it much more feasible to process AI workloads locally at the edge, where data is gathered, rather than the slower and more expensive method of sending it to the cloud or a data center.”
Meanwhile, in the IOT domain, “billions of devices interconnected through 5G networks will give businesses unprecedented, real-time data to maximize the analytical power of artificial intelligence for operational decisions.”
Putting the economic benefits of 5G in perspective, according to Qualcomm study, by 2035 the technology will enable up to $13.1 trillion worth of goods and services. On top of this, 5G can help unlock billions or potentially even trillions worth of sustainability and societal benefits.
Further reading: Report: Benefits of 5G significantly outweigh the costs.
To tap into these benefits, 77% of executives surveyed told Accenture and Microsoft that they are planning to invest an incremental 3% to 10% of their ICT budget on advanced networks like 5G in the next three years.
Amr Kamel, Global Partner Solutions Leader at Microsoft, said, “Middle East enterprises have a strong appetite to adopt and leverage 5G. It is promising to see how organisations perceive 5G as an accelerator to advance their digital transformation journey and scale innovation. Next-gen technologies will have a significant impact on business outcomes, and leaders must plan ahead to make the most of them.”
“Companies see 5G as not merely an incremental version of 4G but as a catalyst to accelerate their digital transformation and a key enabler of innovative use cases,” said Giampiero Terzi, Managing Director of Accenture’s Communications, Media & Technology practice in the Middle East.
“The Middle East is a fertile ground for enterprises to reap the benefits of next-gen networks and technologies. The region has emerged as a global forerunner in advanced connectivity, with Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE among the first countries in the world to deploy 5G networks,” Terzi concluded.
