LIVE FROM DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WORLD, NICE: Representatives from four of the largest target vertical sectors for 5G delivered a wide list of demands for the new technology, as representatives from the mobile industry warned delivery would not be straightforward.

Gaming company Hatch CCO Vesa Jutila said operators need to “step-up” if they wanted to take advantage of the cloud gaming market, with low-latency key. He added companies such as his would also require an inside view of network performance in order to ensure they could warn users of any issues.

Representing the smart city sector, chairman of the Open and Agile Smart Cities organisation, Martin Brynskov, added operators needed to “share the risk” and “play fair” with both the cost of deployments and access to the data gathered.

McLaren applied technologies chief technologist Paul Spence warned 5G needed to “prove itself” to take a role in automotive, due to the huge complexities in providing reliable autonomous and connected car technology.

Meanwhile BT Sport COO Jamie Hindhaugh outlined the potential impact on outside broadcast in cutting costs and improving consumer experiences, though he also noted the service needed to be reliable.

Operator perspective
In response, a panel of operators stated the need to ensure enterprise partnerships provided wins for both sides.

Telecom Italia CTIO Elisabetta Romano said: “We need to monetise as well,” noting historically operators had taken the financial burden of network rollout, only for other companies to take a large slice of the subsequent opportunities.

However, Telstra head of networks and IT Nikos Katinakis noted: “Monetisation is not as easy as we think,” adding: “It’s a mistake from an industry perspective not to monetise connectivity alone.”

Tackling comments on operators sharing the risk, Telenor EVP and head of technologies and services Ruza Sabanovic added this also meant other parties needed to “share the pain as well”.