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5G Roll Out to Drive Digital Economy: Here's How

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The coronavirus pandemic seems to have slowed down the process of 5G roll out globally. However, the pandemic is accelerating digital transformation across industries at large. As the pandemic-led lockdowns and travel restrictions impact office work, companies are planning for digitalization and the creation of new business models.

How does 5G fit into this? With remote working, videoconferencing and digital collaboration becoming the new normal, consumers now need reliable connectivity and more bandwidth. The 5G wireless technology offers higher data speed, ultra-low latency, massive network capacity, increased availability and reliability, and provides more uniform user experience to customers. Hence, as the world rushes toward digitalization, 5G can offer robust networking and connectivity that help in expanding automation and access from anywhere across the globe with minimal interference.

5G Enables Digitization

Digital transformation not only caters to the current remote working scenario, it also helps companies move quickly as economic activity picks up. The pandemic has forced many companies to adopt new technologies like virtual reality, machine learning or IoT to keep their doors open and factories operational with minimum manpower. Adoption of 5G can provide a 24/7 secure and reliable connectivity to organizations.

If we look at individual industries, the relation between digitization and 5G gets clearer. In the healthcare sector, where robotics surgeries are no longer just an experiment, IoT, AI and 5G together can enable robotic control surgery and remote analysis. 5G’s unprecedented Internet communications will help these advanced techniques work smoothly with the least chance of error.

In September, Hitachi America installed a dedicated 5G network to its Silicon Valley Research Center, in partnership with Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) (ERIC - Free Report) . Hitachi intends to begin testing of manufacturing solutions using the 5G collaborative teleoperation technology. The company is developing Lumada solutions, which help in collaborative creation with customers to resolve the various challenges Hitachi faces and accelerate digital transformation within their businesses. 5G is expected to make Hitachi’s business infrastructure more dynamic, improve business continuity and resilience in the new normal and create added value for customers.

Economic Impact of 5G

The 5G era is expected to bring boundless connectivity to improve human lives and automation to transform industrial processes. Moreover, it will play a significant role in economic development. As telecommunication companies gear up for 5G deployments globally, they are paving the way for huge infrastructure spending. Per a Verified Market Research report, the global 5G infrastructure market that was valued at $1.90 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $41.96 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 51.01%.

Investments in 5G infrastructure will create demand for compatible smartphones, computers and other equipment. Chipmakers like Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT - Free Report) , Broadcom Inc. (AVGO - Free Report) and Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS) that manufacture the chips required for network deployment or use in 5G-enables devices hold strong prospects. Other communication infrastructure providers like American Tower Corporation (AMT - Free Report) and MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. (MTSI - Free Report) will also see a spike in demand as the present wireless network infrastructure needs to bereplaced to support 5G technology. Hence, base stations need to be set up with “Massive MIMO” or massive multiple-in, multiple-out architecture.

According to a study by IHS Markit, 5G will be fully operational across the globe by 2035. This will in turn help a broad range of industries, from retail to education, transportation, entertainment and more, produce up to $13.2 trillion worth of goods and services enabled by 5G. Mobile will not just be used to connect people to people or people to information, it will be also be usedas a unified connectivity fabric, connecting people to everything. This will help generate 22.3 million jobs by 2035.

Acquisitions and Collaborations Boost the Space

In the race to make the most of the 5G boom, several companies have been looking for smaller players with capability to support them in 5G deployment. Let’s take a look at some recent mergers and collaborations happening in this field-

In mid-September, Ericsson announced that it will be acquiring Cradlepoint for an enterprise value of $1.1 billion by the end of 2020, subject to mandatory regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Ericsson’s planned acquisition of Cradlepoint will help the giant strengthen its market position in the 5G enterprise market and offer a full spectrum of 5G-enabled services to Ericsson’s business enterprise customers.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) has also taken drastic steps to gain traction in the 5G market. The company is working with telecommunications firm to help scale 5G deployments through its cloud-native frameworks and take advantage of its networking acquisitions to develop 5G-based edge zones on its Azure cloud. On Apr 23, the technology giant acquired Affirmed Networks for about $1.35 billion, and later on Jul 15, Microsoft acquired Metaswitch Networks. While Affirmed Networks lends Microsoft 5G core architecture capabilities, Metaswitch will be boosting Microsoft’s portfolio of virtualized network software.

As 5G rolls out, several companies will be taking different approaches to technology adoption, completely based on their business needs, with cloud infrastructure playing a crucial role in this change.

These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking.

Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early.

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