Gartner Hype Cycle
Gartner’s Hype Cycle tracks market expectations for emerging technologies, starting with an initial period of “inflated expectations” that peaks before sliding into the inevitable “trough of disillusionment”, where visions are dashed on the shores of market reality. However, new technologies eventually gain a foothold when mainstream customers adopt viable products that solve real-world problems, climbing the “slope of enlightenment” before ultimately reaching the “plateau of productivity”.
Gartner’s hype cycle is only a qualitative measure of market perception vs. reality, but it provides a frame of reference for potential adopters to decide when a technology has matured to the point where it can deliver real business value.
5G Hype Cycle
In the global telecom market, no technology has been as heavily hyped as much as 5G, with both service providers and vendors predicting that 5G networks will enable a new generation of high-bandwidth, ultra-reliable, massively scalable mobile services. So where is 5G in its hype cycle today? Is it past the peak of inflated expectations and headed towards the trough of disillusionment? Hard to say, as leading mobile operators around the world are just starting to roll out the first 5G services on a limited basis.
However, visions of 5G-enabled self-driving cars, smart cities, augmented reality and 4K gaming are still well over the horizon. A period of disillusionment is inevitable, as service providers and suppliers grapple with the harsh realities of productizing and deploying complex 5G technologies at scale, and users seek to derive compelling value from 5G services.
Eventually, as suppliers provide mature, robust products, operators will work out the kinks, leading the market up the slope of enlightenment. While pundits might debate 5G’s exact position in the hype cycle, given the nascent state of the market, even the most enthusiastic booster will admit that 5G is still a long way from reaching its plateau of productivity.
5G Operational Complexity
5G is multi-faceted, leveraging multiple technology innovations that are projected to enable a whole host of innovative 5G services, applications and use cases. Yet these new technologies will drive a steep increase in complexity compared to current 4G networks, resulting in significant operational challenges for ensuring the performance, reliability and security of the underlying 5G infrastructure.
The sheer scale, scope and speed of 5G networks will outstrip the capabilities of existing operational tools and technologies. As service providers gain firsthand experience with the 5G infrastructure and enabling technologies, operations teams will adopt new tools, technologies and best practices for overcoming the attendant operational complexity.
Apply Machine Intelligence Across Multiple Domains to Master 5G Complexity
This eBook describes the leading role that machine intelligence will play in enabling service providers to master 5G complexity and reach 5G’s plateau of productivity.
5G service provider operations span four main domains: subscriber, service, edge and core. Machine intelligence, applied across all domains, will power the business applications employed by different operations teams and key stakeholders.
Operator tools will utilize Big Data analytics, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to generate real-time insights that enable right-time decisions and drive closed-loop actions. Service providers will benefit from significant gains in operational efficiencies that will reduce OPEX, while ensuring high-quality, 360-degree customer experience.
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