Software beyond the pandemic: What happens to 5G?

Would you believe that there was/is even a conspiracy theory that 5G caused coronavirus! The theory goes that the radiation from 5G towers triggered the virus. Very imaginative! But my post today is not about a crazy theory, it’s about how the global pandemic affects the pace of 5G technology adoption.

5G was definitely the flavor of the month before the virus took center stage. Every tech conversation around connectivity led to 5G and how life as we know it will change when 5G becomes widspread. 5G, or fifth-generation connectivity, will provide amazing fast internet, 100 times faster than 4G with better network reliability. Enhanced connectivity will bring new way of doing things, new technology, like self driving cars, drone delivery, AR/VR/XR experience like movies and sports events or games.

5G roll-out delays

5G network roll-out across the U.S. will definitely be delayed significantly because of the global pandemic. Network operators that buy 5G gear will changing their business plans based on demand and the supply chain of telecom equipment, mainly from China will be affected. Vendors such as Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia will see much lower sales than were projected just months ago.

For 5G connectivity to take off the whole equipment and network ecosystem needs to working in synch. And 5G hardware — phones, chips, etc. — has to start in full pre-pandemic levels. With the supply chain severely disrupted, hardware production has been affected and with most of the world preoccupied with the immediate worry of the virus the consumer interest has fallen too. All of these aggregate to the an overall delay in the technology adoption.

The use of 5G in factories, storage, distribution and ports is one of the big driving force for it’s adoption in the business space. This delay is a big blow for businesses that were planning for improvements via upgrades to a company’s wireless network.

Only a temporary setback

Ultimately, there will be pent up demand for 5G among companies that want an edge. Businesses will be looking to be more productive and gain ground by modernizing their IT systems, collecting more data than ever and automating as much as possible. That includes lights-out manufacturing, in which factories keep humming with no human presence, thanks to 5G-connected hardware and software.

Also the virus has forced us to lockdown and work from home. Which is showing to everyone that this new way of working and living is possible. Remote work could very well become the norm with office spaces being exceptional. With this way of life the need high-speed connectivity will become essential infrastructure need for business and communities to operate. The pandemic has shown that the current network infrastructure is not enough. Large scale remote work has strained household networks and points to the fact that the network technology needs to upgrade to fit with this new way of doing things. Which leads to 5G. So it is only a temporary setback for sure.

So we wait for this fabled technology and dream about those real time VR games that we will play one day!