By: Karthikeyan Dhayalamani, Program Director – Head of AR/VR CoE

5G is an era of consistent connectivity, and that requires massive investment by telcos. Overall, 5G investment by telcos in 2020 was upward of $8bn as per Gartner¹. So how can telecom service providers recover their investments in 5G? Can they continue using existing operating models of voice and data? Not very likely. It is here that the confluence of 5G and new age experiences presents a unique opportunity for telcos to rewire their strategy, adopt innovative business models and create new revenue streams.

Several scenarios dictate the requirement of having fast to ultra-fast network connectivity.
For example:

1. Immersive (AR/VR/MR) gaming experiences for consumers
2. Immersive service and operational use-cases in enterprises
3. Remote assistance and surgeries in Health care
4. Virtual tours of real estate
5. Real-time facial recognition-based authentication
6. Real-time Interactive Training

Let us consider the first example: Immersive gaming experiences

Challenges: Immersive gaming experiences require consistent experience, continuous network connectivity, low latency, and high computational capability in processing and rendering real-time 3D information. Massively multiplayer online (MMORPG) gaming is rapidly becoming mainstream. These games typically involve hundreds or even thousands of online players battling it out in immense 3D open worlds.

5G, with its high speed, low latency, good connectivity, and high bandwidth, addresses the key challenges of connectivity and the adoption of such immersive experiences. Telcos can address the greater computational capability challenge by combining on-cloud computation and real-time streaming. This would enable a wider reach for immersive experiences as the services can be offered even to low-end mobile devices.

The confluence of new-age experiences and emerging digital technologies are driving the demand for consistent network coverage. Telcos have an enormous opportunity with 5G to cash in on the network demand by providing experiences and services to consumers and enterprises with a new platform-based service offering. Telecom operators across the globe are well poised to create a highly disruptive business model by offering subscription-based AR platforms for immersive experiences to both consumers and enterprises by partnering with cloud service providers and system integrators like LTIMindtree.

Figure 1: Defining contextualized immersive experiences

Telcos can reimagine themselves beyond network connectivity by collaborating across industry segments such as banking and financial services, real estate, retail, healthcare, and other sectors to create new revenue streams.

New revenue streams for telcos

1. Revolutionizing consumer experiences
   From playing high-quality, massively multiplayer immersive games to shopping virtually with friends across the globe, emotional engagement with loved ones through virtual holograms will all soon be a reality with 5G. 5G-powered AR/VR experiences can create truly immersive, interactive, and engaging experiences for consumers.

Let us take an example of a stadium experience in the sports industry. Imagine an anxious football fan in the stands of Wembley Stadium in London, awaiting the list of the playing eleven of his favorite team.

Using 5G, telecom providers can know the live location, enhance the experience, and engage the fans pre-match, during the half-time break, and post-match.

Figure 2: Illustrating the 5G-led immersive experience of a stadium match

2. Re-imagining the experiences across Enterprises
   5G, AR cloud, and immersive technologies can impact multiple value chains across industries by providing contextualized and wide-spectrum experiences. Employee experiences across enterprises can be transformed through improvements in efficiency and reduction in operational costs. 5G Telecom operators can offer the following platform-based services to enterprises

Figure 3: 5G-enabled platform-based services by telcos to enterprises

In summary

5G is here to stay and so far immersive experiences. In addition, with the advent of the pandemic, digital experiences have grown exponentially in demand – be it B2C or B2B. Telcos that are early adopters of immersive experiences (delivered over their 5G networks) are more likely to remain profitable and grow faster than the laggards.

Being “digitally born,” LTIMindtree is a leader in digital transformation projects across industries. In telecom, it has over 20+ years of extensive domain expertise serving 4 of the top 5 telecom OEMs as customers. LTIMindtree has made strategic investments in immersive technologies by launching Immersive Aurora, a state-of-the-art immersive technologies experience center in Bangalore. Our Customers/prospects can now touch and feel a wide spectrum of immersive experiences across the value chain, viz., design/prototyping, sales & marketing, customer experience, training, service & operations, and derive tangible business value.

LTIMindtree is certainly well-placed to help telecom players unlock the new growth horizon by leveraging platform-based AR/VR offerings for consumers and businesses.

Reference link:

1.https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/gartner-says-worldwide-5g-network-infrastructure-spending-to-almost-double-in-2020