FEATURE : 5G
in a controlled environment with proper privacy protection therefore enabling additional security for citizens ,” he said .
Vyas believes 5G will enable smart agriculture including drone-based farming , remote crop monitoring and multiple crops with higher efficiency . “ Some of the large enterprises have already deployed private wireless networks for specific use cases particularly in mining and manufacturing . 5G will further accelerate the digital adoption and different sets of use cases emerging including low latency and massive IoT use cases .
Given that 5G offers extremely fast , low latency connections , the advantages the technology brings to enterprise organisations in Africa are immense and the use cases will continue to widen .
Vyas agreed the many advantages 5G technology holds and went on to say that 5G is a propelling force for the Fourth Industrial Revolution . “ It brings an array of disruptive transformative technologies such as AR / VR , AI / ML , metaverse , cloud enablement etc . This innovative transformation spurs a force multiplier effect into enterprises such as digital healthcare , education , oil and gas , mining , manufacturing , smart retail , smart homes , real estate etc . Africa is going to witness exponential GDP growth . 5G adoption among enterprises in Africa will act as a strong catalyst for the same . For the mining industry in Africa , 5G will enable safe mines and thereby controlling accident rates . It will also make semi-autonomous operations possible and increases productivity by between 15 to 30 %,” he said .
In addition , Vyas said government organisations will benefit largely through safer connected cities with intelligent remote surveillance enabled by 5G . “ It will further improve the education industry by supporting online education with faster and uninterrupted Internet and digital learning resources . Healthcare sector is expected to evolve with 5G in Africa . Remote video consultation , analytics based preventive care will become seamless through 5G . With disruptive technologies in automation and sensors , telemedicine , remote tracking patient health , video consultation as well movements of staff and equipment in hospitals , will increase efficiencies in healthcare sector ,” he said .
Vertical industry adoption
With all that ’ s buzz happening around 5G technology , the spotlight is on CIOs and how they should be planning and architecting their networks to maximise the promise of 5G technology .
Vyas said CIOs and organisations must develop a clear roadmap for rationalising their legacy 2G and / or 3G networks ahead of mass-market 5G rollout . It is critical for CIOs to have foundational infrastructure availability and readiness for 5G such as spectrum , fibre , devices , labs , business case etc .
He added that there should be clear-cut articulation of 5G relevant use cases and prioritisation , architectural blueprint , and roadmap of 5G platforms based on use cases . “ Organisations must invest in building agile organisation empowered with emerging technological skillsets . Stringent security measures and ensuring 5G service assurance while adopting 5G technology are extremely important .
Challenges for enterprises
Despite the projected growth and excitement over the potential of 5G in Africa , there are apprehensions about investor and market readiness for the technology .
“ In Africa , we see few potential infrastructural , operational and manpower challenges that needs to be addressed on priority to ensure a seamless deployment of 5G . For instance , 5G requires spectrum within multi frequency ranges . Its availability and cost have an impact on the profitability . Due to the high costs of building 5G infrastructure , coverage is not expected to be widespread for another four or five years . Big commercial deployments will likely be restricted to a minority of countries in Africa . More than 60 % of subscribers still use legacy services due to lack of availability of affordable devices . “ Hence , subscriber migrations will be a challenge to CSPs . If we look at the operational challenges , end-to-end service-based operations lead to transformational complexity in stack and processes . New architecture and platforms promote disruptive technologies that require a new operational model . Diminishing traditional revenue will create a need for finding new models of investment . Additionally , there is a lack of specialised local skillsets and manpower for emerging technologies in Africa ,” he remarked .
With 5G being designed differently than its predecessor technologies , there are some critical aspects CIOs and IT teams need to keep in mind when deploying 5G in their IT environment .
Vyas agreed on the technology nuances and went on to say 5G has been designed differently than its predecessor technologies and has adopted web scale deployment architecture and methodology . Hence , added Vyas , 5G deployment must be seen from a different lens altogether .
“ Cloud deployment models are better suited as it provides better agility and scalability . There are multitude of cloud ’ s possibilities which must be
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