FEATURE : 5G the availability of broadband including DSL , fibre-tothe-cabinet , and cable offers almost universal , relatively low-cost Internet accessibility . This means that an NaaS offering needs to hit a compelling price point while delivering substantive benefits for enterprise customers to make it an attractive alternative .
This is not the first time we see this kind of chicken vs . egg question being raised in the technology world where
WHAT IS CLEAR IS THAT 5G WILL HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT ON SOCIETY IN A WHOLE RANGE OF USE CASES AROUND SMART CITIES , MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS ( IOT ).
we can see the potential disruption offered by a new technology but can ’ t yet see how the journey will evolve .
Behind the scenes , several telecoms operators are running small-scale trials to help them build out the technology layers for offering , such as NaaS – such as service provisioning along with managing moves , adds and changes . Yet these tests are also to work out if the economics makes sense for such an enterprise product . The cost of building out 5G is huge – MTN Consulting , an analyst firm , says that operators spent CAPEX of US $ 480 billion in 2019 with much of it focused on the 5G rollout .
Along with the fierce competition in every market , much of the focus is still on the ‘ quick win ’ of getting consumers to switch network in search of 5G speeds – while more innovative yet largely unproven enterprise products are yet to emerge .
Stick or twist
What does this all mean for a CIO ? So , there are a few paths that look promising . Where a campus Wi-Fi network is struggling using the older 802.11 a / b technology , NaaS may offer major CAPEX benefits and more flexibility than investing in an upgrade to 802.11ac ( Wi-Fi 5 ) or 802.11ax ( Wi-Fi 6 ). For a CIO that has a large cohort of homeworkers that are struggling with connectivity – an especially bad situation for shared households – the simplicity of an NaaS offering where the operator sends of a pre-configured USB-based / 5G access point to create an instant corporate network connection is particularly appealing .
But here lies the quandary of waiting for imminent technology that may prove better than the current options or adopting mature technology with a known set of costs and benefits – but potentially inferior in the long run .
Unfortunately , there is still no timeline on when the first NaaS products will start to emerge , but it is worthwhile , especially for larger organisations to at least have the discussion with an operator to sound
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