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In a press release dated February 16, 2022, the third edition of the EY Reimagining Industry Futures Study reveals that enterprises worldwide are looking to 5G to help alleviate immediate business pressures brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and related global events. It points out that 49% of respondents are prioritizing process optimization as a key application, compared with 28% who favor advanced 5G use cases featuring virtual or augmented reality. “The findings indicate enterprises are now focused on bolstering business resilience, meeting corporate priorities and responding to stakeholder demands.”A range of external factors underpin this trend. Eighty-five percent of respondents say the impact of the global health crisis is driving their interest in 5G, up from 52% in last year’s study. Eighty percent say supply chain disruption has galvanized their 5G pursuit, while 71% cite the focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. There is, however, some way to go in realizing these ambitions: 37% are concerned that 5G and internet of things (IoT) vendors’ current use cases do not meet their business resilience and continuity needs, and 47% do not think their sustainability goals are met by today’s use cases.

According to Tom Loozen, EY Global Telecommunications Leader, “While the hype around how 5G low latency could power the metaverse or commercialize augmented reality continues to intensify, this study indicates that the technology has moved out of its infancy and is now actively being applied to drive real-world benefits. This is to be applauded, with 5G following the same innovation cycle of other transformative technologies. Sophisticated use cases will become important in time. More pressing, however, is the need for 5G providers to tune their solutions to the practical demands of industry leaders today.”

5G leads all other emerging technologies tracked in the study in terms of future spending intentions, with 56% of enterprise respondents planning to invest within three years. Current and future spending intentions for 5G over this period are highest in Europe (up 5% to 76%), in contrast to last year when Europe lagged other regions. The findings caution, however, “that investment should not be taken for granted, with intentions falling by 8% year-on-year to 70% in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.”

This caution is indicative not only of a more defensive approach toward 5G, but of stalling confidence generally, with only 24% of enterprise respondents stating that they are very confident they can successfully implement 5G (down by 1% year-on-year). This is compounded by enterprises’ poor understanding of 5G’s relationship to other emerging technologies, now cited as the biggest internal challenge to 5G perception – up from fifth position in last year’s ranking.

Adrian Baschnonga, EY Global Telecommunications Lead Analyst, says that “there are still fundamental anxieties around how 5G works alongside other emerging technologies. 5G providers should take this on board and adapt their customer discussions accordingly. By educating enterprises on how 5G can be harnessed by other emerging technologies, service providers can boost enterprise confidence in their 5G deployments.”

For more of the study finding and how they might be of use to you, go to Enterprises prioritize 5G applications that drive real-world benefits now, over more cutting-edge use cases | EY - Global.