5G will go beyond today’s consumer-oriented enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to enable use cases for vertical industries that will leverage Massive Machine-type Communication (MMTC) and UltraReliable LowLatency Communication (URLLC) applications. To understand the size and scope of the opportunity for 5G in industrial applications, Mobile World Live (MWL) conducted an online survey of 345 people from mobile industry and vertical enterprise sectors.
The results confirm the industry’s general enthusiasm and high expectations for 5G industrial applications to drive growth and reveal that the services and business models are in an early stage of development. Industrial 5G activity is expected to pick up over the next two years, and the first sectors to benefit will most likely be automotive, manufacturing, and media. But concerns remain today about the business case and benefits of 5G as well as the readiness of standards.