5G has excelled in the consumer domain and 5G-Advanced is now being designed with enterprise-specific features that will allow enterprise success. These include Reduced Capability (RedCap), ambient Internet of Things (IoT), network improvements for Augmented Reality (AR)/ Virtual Reality (VR), more use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) throughout the network, and many new features. 5G-Advanced, and even parts of foundational 5G, are being considered for the next wave of innovation to be included in 6G.

As our previous whitepaper discussed, the biggest priority for 5G-Advanced is to monetize existing 5G networks beyond the consumer domain and start creating large-scale opportunities in the enterprise space for mobile operators and infrastructure vendors. Releases 15, 16, and 17 introduced, improved and finalized several new enterprise-specific features, including network slicing, integration of private and public networks (including Public Network Integrated – Non-Public Networks (PNI-NPNs)), Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) support, Sidelink, enhanced positioning, and even use cases or applications specific to each enterprise vertical. This means that mobile operators are now familiar with the capabilities of enterprise 5G, and the ecosystem is preparing to create devices and applications that utilize the new standard.

However, for all of these to truly become the foundation for 6G, it is necessary to align 6G technology development with the most relevant future vision, in this case IMT-2030 as set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).