A fresh study by Nokia forecasts 5G-enabled industries have the potential to add 8 trillion USD to global GDP by 2030.
"As organizations across the world move faster towards deployment of 5G enabled technologies, those who wish to be the first to leverage its potential cannot afford to lose more time. To capture the tremendous opportunities of 5G, organizations must start or intensify their planning now and accelerate business model innovation to remain competitive in a rapidly digitalizing global economy," said Gabriela Styf Sjöman, Chief Strategy Officer at Nokia, in a press release on Monday.
The study compared the adoption of 5G in eight countries - Finland, Germany, the UK, the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia. Nokia found that Europe is lagging behind the US and Asia in the deployment of 5G enabled technologies.
In the United States, 45 percent of companies intend to invest in 5G technology within the next year. In Finland, the corresponding figure is 29 percent. However, 11 percent of Finnish companies report that they have already invested in the transition to 5G.
A quarter of Finnish companies fear losing their competitive edge if investments in 5G are not made within the next three years. Only 13 percent said they see no link between company success and the use of 5G technologies.
Even though internationally corporate investments in 5G are rising sharply, the Nokia study says that many companies are exploiting only a small fraction of its potential.
"There are many organizations that don't understand 5G," says Nokia's Sjöman.
The Finland-based telecommunications and information technology company has bet big on 5G, but struggled to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the new technology and changed CEO in March.
COVID-19 accelerating digital investment
Sjöman stresses that the cities, hospitals and factories of the future will depend on 5G and the ability it offers to move, process and store vast volumes of data.
The report shows that the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating medium and long-term digital investment and value creation, especially in sectors that up to now have lagged behind.
Over a third of Finnish companies say that as a result of the pandemic they have upped their investments in digital technology and services.
