The importance of 5G has been stressed upon since the technology was first introduced, but, given as to how it took a bit of time for it to be deployed even in developed countries, the effects and the fruits of the same were not yet visible. It seems that a new report by Vodafone and WPI Economics has tapped into the importance of 5G, stating that the adoption of 5G could allow for an addition of over £6bn on a yearly basis to the value of the UK manufacturing industry by the year 2030. The study claims that 5G might help factories make good and fast decisions that can lead to maximised productivity by facilitating the management and sharing of large quantities of data.
Vodafone Study Claims UK Could Benefit from 5G!
This holds true especially in areas of the UK that have been, in the words of the report, left behind, with some of the listed areas being the North East, North West, East, West Midlands and Wales. After this report was published, Vodafone called on the UK government to invest in the creation of 5G innovation and test centres as well as measures to make it easier for the manufacturers to invest in private networks of 5G. The business director of Vodafone, Anne Sheehan mentioned that 5G offers a huge potential for the manufacturing sector and beyond and, in order to realise this potential, everyone needs to get with the program, from government and Ofcom creating the right policy and regulatory environment, through to businesses embracing the power of innovation, and Vodafone as network operators creating this network of the future. The authors of the report claim that 5G could also allow for wider usage of AR and VR, augmented reality and virtual reality within areas of manufacturing so as to improve design plans and visualisation before proper construction of the prototypes. This 5G-enabled increase in productivity will definitely result in a manufacturing gross value or GVA of £3.6bn per year by the year 2025, and £6.3bn per year in 2030, the report adds. The authors do claim that this will only occur if around 91% of manufacturers have access to 5G for operations. In relation to this report, the digital infrastructure minister, Matt Warman stated that key benefits of 5G for an improvement in productivity, efficiency and safety in the UK’s manufacturing sector and beyond are visible, and Vodafone’s report stands as an endorsement of how this revolutionary technology can help us build back from the pandemic. He added that 5G can change the way Britain builds and that the government had now sparked innovation in the UK manufacturing through our £200m 5G trials scheme.
