With limited 5G deployments commercially available in some key global markets right now and operators set to quickly scale out coverage, the early focus is on enhanced broadband, both fixed wireless and mobile, with revenue not expected until the 2020 timeframe. As the technology continues to mature and carriers refine enterprise- and industrial-facing offerings–likely a combination of internet of things implementations and the higher capacity/lower latency of 5G, network orchestration and automation will quickly become either a pain point or differentiator on the way to 5G profitability.
