Early 5G deployments are limited in coverage scope and capacity but, as operators fine tune their spectrum allocation, scale service offerings and the technology continues to mature, expect much more than simply an enhanced mobile broadband experience. Indeed, the long view on 5G envisions low latency and ultra reliable applications delivered to enterprises and industries of all sorts via bespoke network slices. But to get from where we are today to where we want to be, operators and ecosystem partners will need to continue investments in virtualizing network functions and distributing cloud compute infrastructure out to the edge of the network.
