By Eric Toenjes, National Market Manager – Wireless Solutions, Graybar
Note: This blog was produced under WIA’s Innovation and Technology Council (ITC). The ITC is the forum for forecasting the future of the wireless industry. Participants explore developments in the wider wireless industry, from 5G network monetization trends and streamlining infrastructure deployment to future spectrum needs and cell site power issues. The group is publishing a series of thought-leadership pieces throughout 2024.
As a distributor, Graybar works across a wide range of industries to provide power, connectivity and light to places where people live and work. Wireless is a key piece of the puzzle, but we find that many enterprises lack a comprehensive wireless strategy.
Yet, many of these same organizations have a keen interest in expanding their use of applications such as artificial intelligence and automation, which can have substantial positive impacts on their operations. 5G is the technology that can support these capabilities.
If we look back about 25 years to when Wi-Fi was just getting started, very few enterprise organizations had anyone on their staff with expertise in Wi-Fi.
Cellular networks were the telecom department’s domain, and they were focused on devices and rate plans. Workstations were equipped with phones and wires, and there was no perceived need for Wi-Fi.
The scenario for 5G wireless is not that different today.
Several reasons may explain the absence of a solid wireless strategy. Most organizations are focused on doing more with less, and IT resources are spread thin. In addition, many IT teams have limited knowledge or expertise in cellular technology. The idea of moving their enterprise applications over to commercial cellular networks or running their own private cellular network may seem overwhelming.
As an industry, we are often quick to tell our customers what they should do, rather than helping them understand how 5G works and find a path forward. That’s why listening is so important.
Stop and Listen
From my perspective, the wireless industry is doing a lot more talking than listening when it comes to explaining the advantages of 5G. When I meet with an enterprise, I like to start by asking what they would like to do with wireless that they have not been able to do yet because of the limitations of their existing networks. If you can get to the core of that issue, almost every enterprise has a laundry list of things they are struggling to accomplish. Maybe they are still connected to wires but wish they weren’t, or maybe they are not connected at all. That is the real opportunity 5G brings to the table, and the way we can enable more wireless solutions is by listening to their organizational needs and to help them address real problems.
The 5G benefits we provide include mobility, security, the ability to move between indoor and outdoor environments and control over their network. Security cameras are a good example because of the need for visibility in places that may be difficult to reach with wires. While an organization could trench their parking lot to install fiber to the exterior borders of their campus, a wireless solution may be a better answer. We often find that enterprises have not deployed adequate security in those environments because of the perceived difficulty or expense of doing so or insufficient bandwidth to support real-time video.
Some enterprises have addressed 5G and in-building wireless in their largest and most critical facilities but have not considered deployments to the entire enterprise. I was recently talking with a very large financial services organization that deployed 5G and a distributed antenna system in its corporate campus and large office buildings. They wanted to provide an app for their customers to try inside their branches, but they learned the hard way most of those buildings did not have an adequate cellular signal when their customers had to go outside into the parking lot to download the app. That is a good example of what can happen without a comprehensive strategy.
Another area where enterprises need a wireless strategy is related to remote employees. This issue came to the forefront with the pandemic, but many enterprises put this on the back burner, even though remote and hybrid work arrangements persist. How are employees connected in their own homes? 5G is a great way to address that.
Building a 5G Strategy
The wireless industry has been in a rush to start monetizing 5G. Even before real 5G arrived, there was enhanced 4G. Because the transition from 4G to 5G was gradual, customers did not see a big difference between the two. This may be why they may not understand the value of investing in 5G.
When Graybar surveyed enterprises to understand what they knew about 5G, 90 percent said it was faster, and that was the extent of their 5G knowledge. Most did not understand network slicing or the power of lower latency, which means that our industry has not spent enough time enabling enterprises to really understand 5G beyond the buzzwords.
We find that many IT directors and CIOs want to learn more about 5G, so they can deliver the greatest value to their organizations. They are receptive to the conversation and want to understand how they can participate in 5G.
But that does not equate to jumping in with both feet.
This is a brand-new way of networking for enterprises. They need to think differently and develop a strategy that is not based on using one or the other network, but rather using all different networks. What should they put on the Wi-Fi network? What can they put on the commercial cellular network, and what performs best on a private cellular network? Are there low-bandwidth IoT networks they can use, and what sensors and controls do they need?
For the wireless industry, it is all about working with enterprises to understand what they are already doing and exploring how those processes can be improved with wireless connectivity. Once you plot that out, you can start building a business case for why they should deploy 5G.
The wireless industry can deliver a host of benefits to enterprises with 5G, but only when we help them adopt it in the first place.
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