THE GREAT TELCO DEBATE, LONDON: Nokia VP of networks marketing and communications Phil Twist (pictured) urged operators in Europe to take a leap of faith on 5G and rollout before a certain business model was in place to ensure they grab a position in the fourth industrial revolution.

Noting the status of progress across the world, Twist said many of the operators in Europe were taking a more pragmatic approach in comparison to those in the US and China.

He noted every operator needs to make a choice which could determine their future success: “Are they going to wait for a business case for 5G before they invest, are they only going to invest when they have to because they run out of capacity and have to use 5G,” he said. “Are they going to take a leap of faith and build a 5G network and go and find the new opportunities?”

Twist noted the fact 5G will empower far more industrial and consumer use cases than previous generations meant the choice more pressing.

“We need operators to be brave, we need to address the new market opportunities,” he added. “5G will not fly if it is just connectivity: the value is in the additional functionalities and additional features and performance 5G brings to different use cases. This connectivity with intelligence is an enabler for the fourth industrial revolution.

Nokia forecasts the fourth industrial revolution could add $12 trillion to global economic activity, which operators will be able to grab a significant segment of.