Cloud services offering is evolving based on the need and demand, as the businesses move from desktop office space to work, anywhere and anytime. The demand for cloud service mobility and networking solutions is increasing. Businesses have realized that moving out of a defined space will help meet the rising demand from clients who sit across the globe and even redefine employee productivity.

To make the cloud services reach, without latency, and add effectiveness in speed, network providers will need to redefine the current connectivity solutions as they currently fail to meet the rising demand for speed and ease. The current widely used 4G does meet many ground requirements, but for innovation, businesses need 5G.

5G will be bringing one of the massive changes in cloud computing. The technology will revolutionize the network and communications industry by providing an ultrafast transmission rate that is almost 100 times faster than the existing 4G. The enhanced connectivity experience with 5G offers a better mobility solution; the first commercial 5G smartphone already hit the market in 2019.

A recent Ericsson Mobility Report predicts that, by 2023, we would be seeing more than 1 billion 5G subscriptions accounting for nearly 20% of the total mobile data traffic.

What are the challenges with the adoption of 5G for the cloud?

Most telecom organizations have realized that they need to shift from dedicated hardware appliances to software that runs on the cloud. They are even aware that they need programmable capabilities of SDN to manage other software-based providers. Telecom providers are currently well aware that the current traditional siloed systems wouldn’t be able to handle the massive amounts of requests. To achieve low latency required for certain 5G applications is to move cloud computing from massive centralized data centers out to much smaller data centers at the edge of the network, and even very close where the applications are consumed. 

One of the critical aspects that the telecom industry needs to answer is how the network function software will be designed. The concept of silo won’t work, separating integrated hardware and software, and breaking it down into functional components will be the next step toward network improvement. Simply porting existing and monolithic software onto the commodity IT servers are all set to fall short of the expected cost savings and build on the flexibility benefits that are provided, in fact creating more problems than solving them. The improved communications software will power 5G applications that need to be designed for the cloud.

Cloud-native software is built using microservices (using the stateless architecture) and the open-source code. The application can be deployed in containers as well as virtual machines; its redundancy and orchestration offer inherent capabilities. Telecom operators will build the foundation for 5G with cloud-native communication software.  

How 5G is all set to impact cloud applications,

1. Improved analytics and streaming for data– The existing big data processing technology uses cloud infrastructure to support the required storage. With the stream of analytics on big data, systems still face major challenges related to latency with current wireless networks. As the 5G networks are currently touted to be very fast, real-time streaming challenges will be minimized. As mobility supports the data processing of a bigger size, we would see value-added end-goal achievement in marketing.   

2. Industrial IoT (IIoT)– In industrial use cases, with supply chain management and process manufacturing for businesses, the processing and analyzing of a massive amount of sensor data in real-time is crucial. Its provides businesses with valuable insights to manage cost and efficiency. 5G is the current potential to reduce the cost of big data analysis, giving it a more effective remote and variable nature to handle these workloads.

3. Edge computing for data– 5G is all set to impact the performance of remote and mobile devices, remote systems such as voice assistants, location-tracking apps, and home automation systems. The consumer section will bring new opportunities for businesses to explore. The connectivity will improve the sensor feedback system, which will use 5G to transfer to the huge amount of data.

4. AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP)– As more and more number of businesses are looking to use AI and NLP; they would require the ability to process and manage huge data. Most of the cloud computing services providers have the necessary computers and storage but need to improve their real-time ingestion capabilities. 5G will offer the required level of data transmission for the AI-and NLP-based applications to work effectively.

5. Virtual reality and augmented reality– 5G will be the first foundation stone that would actually improve the VR and AR experience, which currently lacks connectivity, bringing the required evolution in various businesses such as retail, travel, and healthcare. 

As the 5G and applications evolve, it will significantly begin impacting the adoption of the solution in the above areas. It will be a much bigger challenge for the businesses to handle the complex workloads making it imperative for us to make cloud computing a key component. Currently, we are still a few years from the actual adoption of 5G that will be disrupting the cloud solutions. 


5G technology is set to bring major changes in the current computing and services; the connectivity is set to build more effective technology for businesses to use and increase cloud-dependency in a reliable way. The new connectivity solution will improve the integration with its low latency solution and will make better communication channels available for business. The current application industry that is stalled with connectivity issues will rapidly move toward 5G use to bring innovation through the usage of AI and AR. From healthcare applications to autonomous vehicles, even down to wearable and mobile applications, the connectivity will add functionality. 

For businesses, the challenge would be whether they can build their infrastructure that can handle the connectivity speed and upcoming load from the users. The scalability of the 5G network is still in the dark, but as the service providers technology improves, it will be indispensable for a business. To know more about cloud solutions, you can download our latest whitepapers on Cloud.