Is this the ‘killer application’ to justify early 5G investments?
The wireless industry is intensely focused on the development of 5G technology and carriers are beginning to invest in upgrades to their existing network. However, for many of these carriers, the primary driver for 5G remains unclear. In fact, 5G really only brings two distinct advantages over existing LTE solutions–higher bandwidth and lower latency. Much has been written to suggest that existing mobile broadband services do not actually require 5G to remain competitive.
On the other hand, there are IoT services being developed and planned for that will require greater bandwidth and lower latency. IoT services such as video monitoring, connected vehicles, automated traffic control or remote medicine could not be possible without 5G technology.
IoT may very well be the ‘killer app’ that truly justifies the significant investments required to build a 5G network.