ICS Holding takes part in RBC roundtable entitled The 5G Era: Will There Be Money after the Launch?

Nexign (part of ICS Holding) took part in a roundtable entitled The 5G Era: Will There Be Money after the Launch? in September in St. Petersburg. The event was organised by media holding RBC.

Nexign was represented at the roundtable by Alexey Vedin, Director of Network Monetisation Products.

Experts discussed the business outlook for 5G in Russia, including questions such as:

  • Which technologies will be driven by the launch of 5G?
  • Which sectors stand to benefit most from the launch of 5G?
  • What might hinder the rapid roll-out of 5G networks in Russia?
  • Is digital transformation of the economy possible without 5G?

Also participating in the event were leading experts from IT companies and communications service providers such as Ericsson, MegaFon, MTS, Tele2, GLONASS, and Comfortel.

In Vedin’s opinion, 5G is a service which will transform current consumer preferences: “As the market shares of fixed and mobile network services are redistributed, operators will need to decide how they are going to adapt to these changes. It would be unwise to assume that subscribers will continue using last-generation services such as Wi-Fi and home Internet when, with the arrival of 5G networks, they will have super-fast, stable mobile access. To ensure a gradual transition from old services to new ones, BSS systems need to offer options for configuring new pricing models according to consumption volumes.”

Addressing the issue of digital transformation in the economy, Vedin noted: “Without 5G, the process will be much less efficient and more expensive. Previous technologies will gradually fall out of use as new ones take their place, a natural generational shift in networks. Accessing online education or participating in various events, for instance, will require a greater network density. The result will be that, in five to seven years’ time, the next generation will consider this kind of connectivity to be a fundamental necessity.”

Vedin also highlighted the prospects for the market as a whole: “5G makes it possible to have a global presence thanks to the extra guarantee of connectivity it provides and the new specifications that it incorporates. The use of eSIMs will take off with the emergence of 5G. For subscriber and device management that supports eSIMs, a single BSS system, however flexible, will not be enough. Players in the telecommunications market will need to work closely together on a global scale and build effective partnerships which lead to the creation of new, integrated products and offerings.”

The full text of RBC’s article on the event is available here (in Russian).