INTERVIEW: Operators should work to define their role in the IoT ecosystem immediately, even though initial 5G opportunities are likely to be in enhanced mobile broadband, Ericsson’s 5G marketing director said.

In an interview with Mobile World Live, Monika Bylehn (pictured) said while IoT was still a small part of the 5G opportunity it was important for operators to decide on the part they wished to play well ahead of launch.

“You should absolutely start today with IoT opportunities,” she said: “It’s still a small part of the business, but you need to start to build and see what role you take in the value chain – is it as a network developer…in service enablement or service creation?”

She added deciding which “business you want to grab” in 5G was the critical issue facing operators deploying the next generation technology, though early opportunities were likely to be based around improving existing consumer services.

To watch the full interview, where Bylehn also outlines regional variations in 5G demand, click here.