The advent of 5G is the latest in wireless connectivity progress, and it’s expected that 40 percent of the entire globe will be serviced by 5G networks by 2024. But 5G means much more than just a change to your cell phone speed and ability to stream the latest viral YouTube video. It’s estimated that the economic impact of 5G will add $484 billion to the United States’ GDP alone by 2030, with similar increases in many other countries as well. The potential for 5G transform businesses in a myriad of industries is high, even for industries not typically linked to technology innovation in the past. 

But, to fully take advantage of the opportunities 5G presents, organizations have to consider and prepare themselves around three core elements: network, operations, and systems. In this article, we’ll explain the implications for each of these areas and how even an industry supposedly far away from digital disruption—agriculture—can generate value from a 5G revolution. 

Network: Infrastructure and automation

First of all, 5G will thrive on networks that have the infrastructure and automation pre-built for efficiency. A robust network to transmit data wirelessly is at the heart of 5G’s capabilities, presenting a great chance for experience-focused businesses. Organizations that prepare their network with as many outlets for automation as is reasonable will do well. This includes CPQ for sales cycle automation, Salesforce Billing for payment automation, etc. 

Operations: Correlation across platforms

Another element key to organizational readiness for 5G is internal operations. How in sync are your processes? Both horizontal and vertical correlation across your platforms will be crucial to preparing for the advent of 5G wireless in any industry. Your people need to understand and execute consistently on the proper processes to keep compliance and regulatory requirements in check in preparation for 5G as it becomes more widely available around the world. 

Systems: Software and partner ecosystem 

Finally, preparing your organization’s systems for 5G is another consideration for all industries. The software you use and the partners you work with to keep business churning will also be involved in the 5G revolution, so it’s important to ensure they are enabled to take advantage of new ways of monetizing products and services. Making your offering viable to partners in the ecosystem to sell alongside theirs, building out bundling options, and preparing software systems for greater wireless connectivity on 5G is integral to long-term success. 

Farming use case with 5G readiness

Using automated accelerators on its network, an agricultural client of Infosys with hundreds of acres to keep track is now able to transmit data in real-time between farms. Tractors can communicate high traffic maps between each other so irrigation, fertilization, plowing, etc. can be done without duplication and as quickly as possible. The private LTE network has also been made available to partners who hire out the harvesters, bringing together an entire agricultural ecosystem with high-tech connectivity. A localized data center for the farm made all of this transformation possible, evidence of the future-proof network, systems, and processes involved with this client. 

5G can further add to this use case in the future by connecting wireless sensors to monitor field conditions, detect when crops need water or pesticides, etc. There are also opportunities for 5G to track livestock via agricultural drones or to operate self-driving tractors. This means that data connectivity and 5G readiness are promising a future of improved crop yields and higher quality produce for agricultural organizations. 

The future is exciting for all industries with 5G quickly becoming the norm. Learn more about how your organization can prepare your network, operations, and systems for a 5G revolution by reaching out to our transformation experts at Simplus.