The impact of 5G on your customers

When it comes to business mobile strategies, there’s no doubt about it: 5G is one of the biggest topics of our time. Whether it’s speculation about 5G phones, news stories about network trials, or even just trying to work out exactly what the use cases of 5G will actually be, everybody is talking about this next generation connectivity.

It’s hardly surprising, 5G is set to play a key role in helping businesses thrive over the coming decade, and it’s expected to power all sorts of innovations. However, there are also some potential problems for businesses to navigate.

So, if you’re a channel reseller working in the mobile space, here are some of the top considerations.

The benefits of 5G for your customers

With 5G, businesses will be set to enjoy:

  • Improved speed (and thus productivity): As a channel reseller, you should always be on the lookout for ways to help your customers improve their productivity. Faster connectivity will mean fewer disruptions, helping businesses to work more efficiently as a result
  • Ultra-reliable communications: A loss of connectivity on our personal mobiles isn’t the end of the world. For businesses, however, reliability is critical – and your customers will become quickly frustrated if they can’t rely on the integrity of their mobile solutions. 5G is expected to be highly reliable, which will help to solve that problem
  • Lower latency and greater capacity: With an improved ability to handle applications that demand lots of data, businesses will be able to carry out more tasks at the same time with less lag

5G and Unified Communications

5G will also play a key role in your customer’s Unified Communications (UC) strategy. The appeal of UC is that it can facilitate both flexible working and enhanced customer service, empowering employees to continue a conversation across any channel – no matter where they’re working from.

As this often includes data-hungry applications, it can pose challenges for employees working from mobile devices. Although 4G generally offers an adequate service for calls and video, it sometimes leads to disjointed, stilted or even awkward experiences.

With fast and reliable 5G connectivity, your customers will be able to embrace UC like never before, safe in the knowledge that their communications will be smooth. 5G could even be used for virtual reality meetings.

5G could signal a decline in desk phones

In some instances, desk phones and fixed lines are still required – typically in call centres, or when a series of advanced features are required for an employee to work effectively. Increasingly, however, businesses can enjoy these features regardless of the device an employee is working from. In time, we should see a further shift towards mobile devices.

Some businesses have already started to phase out desk phones in pursuit of a mobile-first strategy, giving employees the freedom to travel with their number, and work remotely as required. Meanwhile, others are using a combination of mobiles and desktop clients on a computer, again cutting out the need for landlines. The advent of 5G will likely accelerate this, giving businesses peace of mind that mobile connectivity will always be available.

But it will also require new devices

While 5G is set to do some exciting things, the reality is that many won’t be able to take advantage straight away. To access 5G via a mobile device, your customers will need to invest in new devices that are 5G enabled.

The first of these are expected to launch this year: Samsung will reveal the Galaxy S10 5G enabled edition in late 2019, while Apple aren’t likely to follow suit until 2020. Of course, this does create an opportunity for channel resellers – because if your customers want to take advantage, they will need to purchase new handsets.

Get ready for 5G

The potential use cases and benefits of 5G are exciting, and mobility strategies will likely be transformed as a result. The key thing for channel partners is to stay up to date with any developments – so at Gamma, we’ll always strive to keep you informed of any changes and our own plans for new technology.

But in the meantime, there are many other ways you can help your customers to thrive. To discover more, download our latest research report, Survive + Thrive: The State of Tech Adoption in UK Business.