EY: Corporate interest in 5G and IoT is Increasing Amid COVID-19

According to the latest EY Reimagining Industry Futures Research 2021, a worldwide study encompassing over 1,000 businesses from various sectors, half, or 52 percent, of enterprises have increased their interest in 5G and IoT in the aftermath current COVID-19 epidemic.

Furthermore, 74% of respondents think that 5G would allow them to reimagine their processes over the next five years.

“Just as 4G networks profoundly impacted consumer technology, 5G will be a game-changer for industrial transformation across all sectors,” said Joongshik Wang, EY Asean Technology, Media & Entertainment, and Telecommunications (TMT) leader-elect.

He said that access to 5G networks would be critical to realizing the promise of disruptive industrial technologies such as AI and IoT, which will allow businesses to achieve market leadership.

“Laggards will confront high entrance hurdles and will struggle to overcome the digital divide,” he said.

APAC leads the way in 5G deployments.

According to the research, Asia-Pacific is outpacing the Americas and Europe in terms of present and prospective 5G investments, with 78% of organizations now investing or intending to invest in the next two to three years, compared to 71% in both the Americas and Europe.

Furthermore, after the COVID-19 epidemic, 27% of Asia-Pacific organizations have shown substantially higher interest in 5G and IoT than 13% and 15 % in the Americas and Europe, respectively. Overall, the research shows that European businesses are lagging behind other areas to realize the promise of 5G: 70% believe 5G will be at the core of their business operations, compared to 80% in Asia-Pacific and 75% in the Americas.

Wang noted that not all regions in the Asia Pacific are at the same level of 5G deployments.

Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have officially declared intentions to install 5G networks, with Malaysia aiming to do so by the end of 2021.

Telecommunications companies lack competence in digital transformation.

Meanwhile, Tom Loozen, Global Telecommunications Leader at EY, urged telecom operators to improve their transformation skills since businesses depend on their knowledge.

According to the study, just 18 percent of business respondents see telecom operators as digital transformation specialists. The majority of respondents (51 percent and 65 percent, respectively) see IT services and application/platform providers as digital transformation specialists. This critical competency must be addressed as companies increasingly rely on 5G to push transformation agendas ahead.

When asked what their main 5G priority was, 36% said it was investigating 5G’s connection to other new technologies; yet, 5G’s integration with current technologies and processes was identified as the top issue by 38% of company respondents.

“Organizations recognize the significance of 5G, IoT, and other new technologies; nevertheless, the competence gap among providers is a major concern,” Loozen added. “Telecom operators should take efforts to enhance their transformation capabilities, acknowledging that companies want suppliers to behave as partners that offer end-to-end solutions.” To do this, operators should investigate new ecosystem roles while concentrating on the possibilities for business model transformation that 5G may provide.”