The rapid rollout of 5G over the past three years has made it the fastest-adopted cellular generation in history. Yet a report commissioned by InterDigital and produced by ABI Research warns that 5G has not yet fulfilled its full promise for unlocking new business opportunities.
Between 2018 and 2022 the industry concentrated on establishing the foundations of 5G: expanding capacity, improving speeds, and lowering latency. Those advances created the necessary platform, but mobile operators have found it challenging to convert technical progress into widespread enterprise adoption and new revenue streams.
The report identifies a forthcoming transformational phase—5G‑Advanced—expected between 2023 and 2026. This next stage brings enhancements to existing 5G capabilities and paves the way for enterprise use cases and business models that were previously impractical or uneconomical.
Key 5G‑Advanced features highlighted in the report include:
- Extended Reality (XR): Improved support for diverse XR applications by better identifying content types and matching specific latency and bandwidth needs for augmented and virtual reality experiences.
- Sidelink Positioning: Direct device-to-device communication that improves precision and efficiency, valuable for robotics, automated guided vehicle (AGV) control, drone management, and other coordinated device tasks.
- RedCap (Reduced Capacity): A lower-complexity, lower-power 5G option for constrained devices such as smartwatches, AR/VR accessories, surveillance cameras, and many Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints, extending 5G’s addressable device base.
- Passive or Ambient IoT: Techniques to connect battery-free or energy-harvesting sensors to cellular networks, which could significantly expand the number of cellular IoT devices and attract adoption across multiple enterprise verticals.
The report stresses that successfully deploying 5G in enterprise settings requires a deep understanding of the long tail of business requirements and pain points. New technology alone is not enough; operators must align capabilities with real customer needs and vertical-specific workflows.
Importantly, the authors caution against a “build it and they will come” mindset. Even as 5G‑Advanced introduces new functionality, operators must proactively market and package those capabilities to address enterprise pain points and demonstrate clear value.
Beyond enabling novel enterprise use cases, 5G‑Advanced is expected to help monetise 5G more broadly by improving energy efficiency and embedding greater automation into network operations. These improvements can reduce operational costs, support service differentiation, and create pathways for new managed services and industry-specific solutions.
The report concludes that operators who capitalise on 5G‑Advanced features and who engage directly with industry verticals stand the best chance of driving new applications and revenue streams—advancing the objectives outlined by IMT‑2020 for next-generation mobile services.
A copy of the report is available from InterDigital (registration required).
See also: Groundbreaking trial aims to bring 5G to the Baltic Sea
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