5G Gets a Jump Start from the FCC

[featured-text]Last week the Federal Communications Commission decided to jump start the 5G era. The commissioners are expected to vote to designate a huge block of spectrum for the use of next-generation wireless broadband. This will allow services to be up to 100 times faster than current wireless connections today.[/featured-text]

With the news on Tuesday a lot of customers are asking what will 5G provide when it is rolled out in the next few years? What do we do to prepare? First of all, faster speeds sits in first place for most.  Another interesting fact is that the mobile operators can compete at a low cost with last-mile data services. This has the important implication of eventually being able to eliminate the distinction between wired and wireless-driven network elements.

This, in turn, will create is fiercer competition between the wired and wireless providers. We have been following over the past months how mobile providers are partnering, and it hasn’t escaped our notice how they are aligning themselves with media companies. So far, we have seen AT&T has with DirecTV and Verizon purchase of XO’s fiber network all of these deals make it easier to provide 5G applications. With the FCC’s push forward of 5G this is going to open up new doors– and create the need for additional review and inventory work in your businesses.

Some enterprises are saying this will make our life easier because there are less vendors to manage as they merge or are bought out. Even with consolidation of carriers, it is important to realize other players have entered the scene such as Netflix and Google to name a couple. The playing field is getting more involved in terms of assets to manage as 5G moves forward. We are helping enterprises prepare for these changes with securing accurate inventories of all assets of their current providers of network services. This help solidify an accurate view of spending. 5G has great promise for enterprises that are able to harness it to their advantage.

Stay tuned as we continue to follow this important story.