A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020 ericsson.com /5g/business

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Contents Introduction 03

What is this guide about?

Chapter 1

Shrink the business world

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5G builds on the first 4 mobile generations to accelerate the business world

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Cheat sheet: 5G shrinks the business world

Chapter 2

First-mover advantages

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5G pushes importance of first-mover advantages to new levels

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Cheat sheet 2: Create 5G first-mover advantages

Chapter 3

Collaborations & Learnings

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Why 5G will be an intensive learning journey

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Cheat sheet: 5G is a learning intensive journey

Chapter 4

Three types of spectrum

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What different 5G spectrum options mean for your business

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Cheat sheet: US spectrum options for 5G

Chapter 5

Role in the ecosystem

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How 5G is transforming the mobile ecosystem

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Cheat sheet: Define your role in the 5G ecosystems

Chapter 6

Use places

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Why 5G use places can be more valuable than use cases

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Cheat sheet: Complement strategy with 5G use places

Chapter 7

Wireless network options

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Wireless business connectivity: what are the options?

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Cheat sheet: Three wireless options for agility

Chapter 8

Network business models

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Emerging business models for private cellular networks

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Cheat sheet: Five aspects of private/hybrid business models

Chapter 9

Initial use case focus

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How burgers can beef up your 5G use case focus

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Cheat sheet: Beef up your 5G use case focus

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Introduction

2020 is a formational year when it comes to 5G for Enterprises. However, the COVID-19 virus outbreak suddenly halted the options for face-to-face engagements to discuss technical, operational and business capabilities.

To support 5G practitioners, we’ve compiled nine strategic actions you can address, no matter where you’re currently working from.

A practitioners’ guide to 5G

While it is easy to agree on what 5G will bring in 2025, today’s current industry environment has made it increasingly difficult to develop succinct tactics and plans for the next 6-12 months.

Leading players across multiple industries were at the ready to engage in finalizing strategies and transitioning into strategy execution. But since the coronavirus outbreak, the impending task for 5G practitioners to answer is, “What can we do to advance 5G for business customers in 2020?”.

In this article, we will take you through a set of questions and actions that stand out for companies with ambitions to gain firstmover advantages with 5G. Questions and actions where clarity is vital for a speedy execution once we have ridden out the storm.

These nine actions are designed for 5G professionals in marketing, sales or sales engineering who are seeking compelling new ways to engage with business customers.

1. Disrupt by shrinking your business lead times

Business embraces 5G for different reasons than consumers. If we look at historical patterns, we see a consistent theme that mobile network generations shrink distances and barriers for businesses, and make connecting people in drastically different locations as easy as the touch of a button. By shrinking the business world to new levels, we can unlock values on both the cost and the revenue side.

5G has the potential to take the world faster and further than any previous network generation due to new network capabilities.

An excellent conversation topic is, therefore, “How can you leverage 5G to shrink distances, lead times and response times to unlock disruptive business improvements?”

This is a conversation you can add value to by explaining: • How the first four mobile generations brought the world closer • The new capability sets introduced by 5G, and how it contributes to shrinking the world • How your business customers’ current challenges can be matched with the capabilities of 5G to further shrink their world The goal for this first conversation is to establish a mutual understanding of why 5G is a great way to shrink the business world for specific problems. This understanding will ultimately provide clarity on which imperatives you can address in 2020 for implementation in 2021.

2. Build and leverage first-mover advantages

We’ve seen a steady stream of global-first announcements since deploying the first 5G systems in labs, ranging from major technology milestones, use-case innovations and networks and service launches. While communication service providers and technology providers in the telecommunications industry have been in the driver’s seat, the next in line to be added to the broader 5G ecosystem are your best business customers.

The conversation to tee-off here is, “What is driving your strategic ambition to be either a first-mover or a follower?” The businesses aspiring to gain first-mover advantages will be the most active in 2020, and you should expect to be asked to provide perspectives on topics such as: • When can I expect to have access to 5G networks for early field evaluations?

• Who are the other key players in the ecosystem for my industry and why?

• What defines the time to market timelines I need to aim towards to secure first-mover advantages?

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When it comes to first-mover and follower, clarity on strategic intent for your vital enterprise customers is an essential part of any 5G strategy. The action in 2020 will be primarily focused on firstmovers and what it takes to bring their initial use-cases to market.

3. Gear up for an intense learning journey in multiple steps

Working with first-movers across different industries requires readiness and the interest to learn along a steep learning curve. Imagine when you started college and were excited for the prospect of earning your degree, enjoying campus life and anticipating a successful career after graduation. The same mindset is needed when looking towards adopting 5G solutions.

You play an essential role in guiding your customers on this journey, both to foster their initial focus and then to ensure they remain on course.

Engaging in a conversation focused on the intensive learning journey can start with the question, “How do we best set up a path for collaborative co-creation of the use cases your business will benefit from the most?”

The nature of 5G involves learning by doing, and working closely together to discover: • Which business opportunities are logical to address first with 5G? • What is the balance between go-to-market and implementation undertakings for those use cases?

• Which are the vital few we can start collaborating around?

By immediately establishing an environment for collaboration and co-creation in the early phases, you ultimately set the tone that this journey will be both innovative and learning-intensive – the successful recipe for unlocking the full potential of 5G for businesses.

4. Define the target spectrum matching your needs

The type of spectrum used for 4G-based services is a non-issue for most businesses. The mix of low and mid-band spectrum is transparent to users, and network coverage is omnipresent outdoors and at most indoor locations. This reality drives an expectation that 5G can be deployed and switched on similarly.

The three types of bands used for 5G, however, are different when it comes to coverage, characteristics, cost of deployment and time to market. These differences open up conversations around questions such as, “Which of the three flavors of 5G, and where, is most important for your business goals in 2021?”

The key considerations you can expect to face in these conversations are: • Which spectrum is best for my initial use cases?

• What do I need to do to secure network build is taking place in the areas where I need it first?

• What do the licensed spectrum options offer beyond shared and unlicensed mid-band options?

• What deployment options could I consider in order to maximize the benefit of this spectrum type?

This conversation is both important and complex. However, clarity on the target spectrum adds focus to the early deployments for tying together network, device, and use-case strategies.

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

5. Illuminate your role in the evolved ecosystem

If you view 5G as an innovation platform rather than a connectivity network, it opens up for strategic conversations around roles in the ecosystem. The ecosystem around 5G extends outside the telecom industry, and is more of an “ecosystem of ecosystems” linking industries to the innovation platform.

A conversation starter here can be, “What is our role in the new ecosystem and is it a shift up or down from what we do today?”

Additional follow-up questions include: • What are the building blocks in the 5G ecosystem for our industry?

• Do we expect our industry to innovate at the forefront or leverage innovation efforts in adjacent sectors?

• Who are the anchor partners we need to have a relationship with?

• What new skills, behavior and culture changes may be necessary to become an effective partner in ecosystems?

The goal is to have an aligned view of the new ecosystem landscape, with a focus on the critical building blocks for the initial deployment phase.

6. Acknowledge the power of adding a use-place focus

5G will eventually serve a wide variety of use cases. The initial Ericsson study on the business potential for 5G in 2017 suggested 200+ use cases across ten industries. The focus on use cases remains central, but clarifying where your customers will need 5G first is valuable. These use places are easy to link to planned network deployment in zones, metropolitan areas or nationwide.

The strategic question to penetrate is, “Are the initial use cases we target limited to a particular geographical area, where we can expect early access to 5G networks?”

This question can be broken down into further discussions on: • What are the use places where we need networks first?

• What is the size of those first use places?

• What will set the agenda for network investments for a given use place, as a base to scale from?

Clarity of where to start, and if the first use places can be limited in time, size or scope, reduces execution barriers. Early deployments for 5G networks followed a pattern of labs, followed by small-scale trials before heading to larger deployments. The use places of your business customers’ 5G needs can scale up similarly.

7. Recognize the three key wireless options A crucial part of businesses’ digital transformation comes from the agility provided by wireless networks. Today, 4G and Wi-Fi complement each other to connect smartphones and laptops, with a large share of industrial devices supported by wired networks. The introduction of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are new tools to the toolbox, and businesses are seeking guidance on how to best leverage the available options.

The topic for the discussion here is, “Which of the available 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 options are best suited to deliver the wireless network performance your business needs?”

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This can be drilled down even further to questions such as: • What types of devices guide your choices?

• Which of the three options represents the minimum viable solution?

• What role will the existing wired and wireless networks play going forward?

A basic scenario is to upgrade 4G to 5G, and Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6, within existing network domains. However, increased performance, security and reliability requirements and wireless options for in-building networks can eliminate borders between devices and edge computing sites.

8. Lock down the business model variables for private networks Cellular networks and wireless LANs services use different business models today. Business model innovation is logical when cellular network technologies for new business applications are concerned. In its purest form, it is a choice between an OpExbased as-a-service model, or a CapEx-based private network and we ultimately see a more multi-facetted scenario from the start.

The communication here centers around, “Which is the most suitable business model for a business’ private/hybrid network needs?”

We can break this question down further to: • What are our preferences when it comes to spectrum ownership, network assets ownership and network operations?

• Do we have any use cases with strong dependencies to unlicensed, shared, or licensed spectrum?

• How much of the network capabilities need to be dedicated, ranging from radios only to complete communication applications?

• Is our private network tied to specific premises or requiring wide-area network coverage?

We expect these preferences to vary between industries, with new business models defined around spectrum, assets, operations and network scope. The final consideration comes from the projected split between public and private network traffic. Expect to see dual-slice networks, one private and one public slice, as a common request.

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

9. Carve out the essential use cases in the first use places

The final step in this practitioner’s guide focuses on locking down the few use cases that make your business customers move down the path towards 5G with you in 2020. When looking at the challenge, consider the opening of a famous hamburger chain in 1937.

It is important to agree with your customer on the question, “What are the three, or fewer, essential use cases that justify the deployment at our first use place?”

Through this discussion you should be looking for use cases that can play the role of: • The hamburger – a use case that is critical to serving well in the initial roll out? Without this staple element the pivotal business value falls • The milkshake – a use case which complements the primary use case by making the business solution either complete, or makes the business case for breaking even • The French fries – an important use case which adds value at a low incremental cost The broad potential of 5G enables us to see the second wave of customer-driven use-case innovation occurring once the network is in place. When your business has access to 5G networks, their creativity will bring the equivalent to the assortment of nuggets, apple pies, salads, sundaes and beyond. These additions will serve as significant future upsides, as long as they don’t force a delay in the introduction of 5G.

Summary

By reading this introduction, we hope that you feel armed with several new insights that you can put to work in your customer interactions tomorrow. What we have shared has a material impact in advancing 5G deals for businesses immediately in 2020. This practitioner’s guide aims to support you in serving customers that are seeking first-mover advantages in their industry. While the sequence for how you penetrate the questions is not essential, and it’s possible you might walk through a few steps faster than others, ultimately investing time in these topics will make you better equipped to engage in 5G dialogues with your business customers.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 1: Shrink the business world

5G builds on the first 4 mobile generations to accelerate the business world Cellular networks have a long history of transforming the world of business. Today, understanding how 5G will change the way companies operate is crucial – as its impact will be much greater than that of previous generations. By understanding how the first four mobile network generations shaped the world, you can be better prepared for the fifth.

The first generation: 1G

Sales professionals were among the first people to embrace mobile phones, which at the time were 30 to 40lb devices that were permanently installed in cars. These first mobile phones quickly began to transform the business world. Firstly, traveling sales professionals could call in orders immediately as they left customers. Thanks to 1G, they no longer needed to wait to call in orders from the hotel the next morning. Secondly, sales professionals were able to have more flexibility throughout the week. They could call and inform customers about delays, and customers could contact them more frequently.

Both phones (USD 3,000) and calls (USD 3 per minute) were expensive, but the positive value they added still exceeded these costs.

Characteristic for this mobile era were briefcase-sized phones, and brief conversations that were limited to a few people for professional purposes. People were also often only able to use these phones for domestic calls.

The second generation: 2G

The demand for mobile services grew in the lead up to the roll out of 2G – both from professionals that wanted a mobile phone for flexibility and status purposes, and from consumers that were inspired by them. The real game changers were phones that could fit in your pocket and the introduction of TXT/SMS and email capabilities.

With the broader adoption of mobile phones, the business world continued to shrink as it became even quicker to get answers to questions. Suddenly, you could be sat in a customer meeting and send your colleague a text asking an urgent question. Everyone in your company soon had a mobile phone, and customers’ began to expect immediate responses to queries.

Second-generation mobile phones had both voice and message capabilities, and at the back end of the 2G era we began to see email-centric devices – a new status symbol in the corporate world.

When I think back to this era, I remember pocket-phones filling the whole inner pocket of your suit jacket. The battery life was short, with a few hours in standby mode. Messages were limited by 20-character windows, and were typed on a 12-character keyboard. Blackberries became a staple food for businesses.

The third generation: 3G

The third generation came with the promise of mobile access to the internet and video telephony. But for businesses and professionals, their world began to shrink further. This time – the boundaries between people’s work and their personal lives began to blur globally.

The first global phone saw daylight and eliminated the need for globetrotters to carry multiple phones across different continents. Secondly, we began to connect our laptops to mobile networks. We started to do work on our laptops away from the office, and people began to work in homes and places of leisure.

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The 3G era moved professionals’ focus beyond the mobile phone. Data cards for laptops and personal MiFi-routers enabled this step-in businesses’ evolution. The question of whether laptops or phones would be the main drivers for mobile data traffic was subject to much speculation. Tri-band phones and global roaming were not cheap, but they were widely adopted.

The 3G era turned out to be different than initially projected.

Workation (working vacation) became a new word in our vocabulary, as the line between work and personal lives blurred. I became dependent on having both phone and laptop access everywhere.

The fourth generation: 4G

The 4G era accelerated the business world even further. Mobile apps became the next big thing for businesses, as they reduced the distance between you and your customers even further. Two things played a central role in this. First, the shift of e-commerce growth from desktop/laptop to mobile devices. E-commerce still happens on computers, but mobile devices have been behind e-commerce growth. Secondly, the migration of social media from desktops/laptops to smartphones has created an entirely new advertising landscape.

Three anchors represent the center of gravity in the 4G ecosystem; smartphones, universal mobile data connectivity, and centralized hyperscale data centers. The rise of devices made personal phones at work more common than business phones used for private purposes.

The 4G-powered business era is fresh in our minds thanks to smartphones and app stores. Over the last few years, we’ve seen plenty of business unicorns emerge that would not exist without apps. Finally, we’ve witnessed an explosion in social media which is increasingly video and picture-centric and monetized with targeted advertising.

The fifth generation: 5G

Now we’re entering a new era – and 5G has the potential to transform the business world into an instant economy thanks to five major developments. The combined force of these factors is why 5G will play a crucial role in transforming business sectors: 5G enables businesses to collect more data about their customers and translate data into insights in real time. There insights can show how customers research and buy your offerings, and how they use them post-purchase. The collection of data points combined with real-time interpretation is the new norm for customer insights and you’ll need them to compete well. The time between learning about your customers to acting upon new insights becomes zero.

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

5G has the potential to eliminate response times for cloudbased applications used on mobile devices. Digital personal assistants were born in centralized hyperscale data centers, and had longer-than-necessary response times for users. 5G will change these response times and eliminate lag, both in the mobile network and by moving cloud and network functions closer to users. The perception of lag from request to digital action for any device using cloud-based applications will become invisible. The strong growth in voice-controlled applications will add to the impact of this experience-focused phenomena.

5G will accelerate the delivery model for digital and physical goods and services further. The first wave of e-commerce relied on free delivery within two days, and the bar was recently raised to one-day and hourly delivery. The next step is for businesses to become more agile both in manufacturing itself and inbound/ outbound logistics. Every click will count, and the time between signal to purchase to goods delivered is a race towards zero. Each week of reduced overall lead times in the supply chain can deliver an extra percentage point on the bottom line.

During the first three generations, we trained our staff with books and education courses. 4G and YouTube have accelerated the learning curve for both customers and employees. The next step in the journey is not to train your employees just in time before they need new skills. With 5G and Augmented Reality, you can prepare your employees as they need new skills – an invaluable tool as markets move at a faster pace. Welcome to the internet of skills, not learning by doing, but doing while learning.

A new world where your competitiveness not only come from the competence your staff possesses as individuals. But how far and fast you can augment their knowledge with the collective skills in your company combined with the broader Internet talent pool.

5G is the first mobile network generation with performance on par with wires. This creates an opportunity to untether all devices that add business value. The primary reason for doing this is to increase business agility, and using devices in their optimal locations. No device or person needs to be tied to locations close to power and Ethernet ports. 5G can increase flexibility and agility by allowing all digital devices and people to be where they add the most value right now, not where we predicted them to add the most value, because those predictions are always based on an incomplete data set. The value of this paradigm shift has grown in importance as the work force is decoupled from workplaces.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020 Ericsson Open Information 2020

Cheat sheet 1: 5G shrinks the business world

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet

5G shrinks the business world

Main message

Target CSP audience

5G shrinks distance and time, further transforming the business world towards an instant economy operating with very high agility.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise Sales teams

Talking points The first four mobile generations accelerated business life in a number of ways.

The first four mobile generations all made the business world nimbler.

1.

1G introduced same day order handling—from outside sales people calling in their orders to offices as soon as they left customer buildings.

2.

2G brought instant responses to all questions—from personal phones with voice, SMS/txt and mail capabilities.

3.

3G made workplaces flexible—wireless access to phones and laptops at home, at work and on the road for business or workstation.

4.

4G enabled the smartphone and app economy—completely digital business and social media powered high-precision advertising platforms.

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Customer insights created in real-time—generated from an increase in data points measured and real-time analysis with AI/ML tools.

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Captured changes in customers need, even before customers notice themselves.

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Response times for cloud-based platform brought close to zero – both for voice controlled applications, like personal assistants and automated processes.

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Mobile eCommerce brought item-based shopping with next or same day delivery to consumers—approaching zero wait from order to delivery, for all steps in the supply chain.

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Augmented reality allows service professionals to be doing while learning, through expert advice provided as you face a new situation for the first time.

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Untethers all business devices delivering incremental values without wires.

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Eliminates the need for people and devices to execute jobs close to power outlets and Ethernet ports.

Instant customer insights

Rapid cloud responses

Real-time supply chains

Doing while learning

Untether all devices

Key take-away: The capabilities supported by 5G will accelerate the business world further, and everywhere where distance and time benefit from being brought close to zero will be explored as a competitive advantage and become the new normal.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 2: First-mover advantages

5G pushes importance of first-mover advantages to new levels The first blog in the Practitioner’s Guide series addressed how 5G contributes to accelerating the pace for businesses. This follow-up explains the importance of first-mover advantages for service providers and their enterprise customers.

In the 4G era, there was a choice between being a first mover and being a follower. For 5G, the bias has shifted to a market where first-mover advantages rule. Businesses see first-mover advantages as the most important strategic priority for 5G, with narrow windows to target for leadership.

Recap on the 4G launch

When looking back at when 4G networks were launched, a few things were characteristic: • Communications service providers were choosing between first-mover and follower strategies, with significant variations between regions and within a given market.

• 4G focused on the consumer value proposition.

• Few communications service providers launched in the first year of service.

• The initial performance difference between HSPA (maximum 168Mbps) and LTE (maximum 150Mbps) was small. Often with arguments that 3G was good enough.

• There were few smartphone options available in the first 30 months.

The market dynamics for 5G are different. The global build of networks in the first years is close to parallel across the globe. The availability of devices, and adoption by consumers, in the first years,

was on a different level. There are reasons to believe that firstmover advantages will rule in the 5G era. Further, the measurement of the advantages has moved from quarters to months.

Enterprises’ 5G priorities

Ericsson conducted a major survey in 2018 to understand enterprises’ 5G priorities.

The study addressed both strategic and business priorities with a few factors standing out: • 73 percent of enterprises saw first-mover advantages as the most important strategic objective for 5G. • Two additional strategic objectives reached over 50 percent: the desire to be perceived as innovative (54 percent), and the understanding that 5G is key to digital transformation (53 percent).

• Faster time-to-market for new products and services (77 percent) was the most crucial business objective.

• And was closely followed by increased business efficiency (74 percent) and reduced cost (67 percent) in the business priority category.

So, what could one conclude from these figures? Faster TTM and first-mover advantage were a priority from the early 5G deployments. This is consistent with the priorities today.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Figure 1: Enterprises’ strategic (left) and business (right) priorities when it comes to 5G (Source: Ericsson, 2018)

Fifty-nine 5G networks launched in the first year

The diversity on the device side and the broad availability across various device types are strong proof points about the vast potential.

The slope of the growth curve is similar, but the closing of the gap between initial network launches and the availability of terminals move in the curve closer in time. The impact on businesses is faster and earlier adoption of 5G, which can be applied in customer offerings and for rationalization of own processes.

This 15X difference is remarkable and is the result of a few factors: • 4G standardization followed the original 3GPP time-plan.

• Service providers were hesitant about the pace of transition from 3G to 4G, as the 3G performance was comparable and perceived good enough.

• Few 4G terminals were available at launch.

Rapid 5G subscriber adoption in the first year

First, the number of networks launched in the first year increased significantly. In 2019 we did see fifty-nine 5G network launches, to be compared with the four networks launches in the first year for 4G (2010).

Communication service providers now pursue first-mover advantage strategies, best exemplified with the string of first announcements leading up to commercial service launches. In some markets, all three carriers launched on the same day, and six months between first and last 5G launch is a large gap. These narrow gaps are a clear indicator first-mover advantage strategies rule for 5G networks. This reality is relevant for businesses to consider as the 5G market moves faster than what they experienced in the early days of 4G.

5G has a vibrant device ecosystem.

The 5G ecosystem differs towards the launch year for 4G on key points: • During the first 15 months, we did see launches of 95 5G devices with 180+ additional announcements (Source: GSA, April 2020).

• Smartphone announcements are the most important, but also include pocket routers, laptops and fixed wireless terminals for indoor and outdoor use.

• Pivotal devices for market acceleration come to market 12 months earlier.

17.7 million subscribers adopted 5G services worldwide in the first year. For previous mobile generations, reaching the same volumes took 10 quarters for 4G, 11 quarters for 3G, and 14 quarters for 2G. This accelerated adoption rate by consumers is significant, we leap from a stable 14, 11 and 10 quarter cycle down to 4.

First, 5G is well understood by early adopters among consumers. Consumers were ready to buy the first 5G phones available, and the 5G subscriptions were introduced with a slight premium when compared to 4G. Second, the fact 5G has a broader geographical spread from the star is an enabler for a continued fast ramp in years two and three of the 5G adoptions.

The first 5G use cases for businesses can leverage a strong adoption in the smartphone segment. We can also expect an increased emphasis on workforce mobility compared to what we did not see three months ago, beyond home and offices.

Front runners captured all 4G growth

Ericsson noticed a small group of 4G service providers standing out for their remarkable performance. This front-runner group captured all mobile service provider growth in the previous decade. The CAGR for the forty-nine 4G front-runners worldwide was 8.5 percent up until 2018, at the same time as the remaining 238 services providers declined by 1.95 percent. Winners took it all for 4G.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Unlocking first-mover advantages

Figure 2: Lead time for the first 17.7 million subscribers for different mobile network generations (Source: 5G Americas, 2020)

Front-runners entered the market early to stake out prime positions in an immature ecosystem. Early entrants did see market share gains among early adopters and premium price advantages as essential benefits. First-mover strategies have been successful among service providers and shaped the strategic preferences for 5G. These learnings from service providers and 4G are in play as you approach businesses for 5G. The first-mover advantages and expectations for TTM gains are high. The positions in the initial ecosystem are limited. The territory gained in 2020, and 2021 is a crucial asset for growth from 2022 and onwards as the 5G market moves from the nail to the scale phase.

Expect to see keen interest from your business customers to pursue a first-mover strategy. Beyond leveraging the strong momentum, we see for the consumer segment, businesses benefit from going through their 5G learning curve early. Leaders will focus on nailing use cases first in close collaboration with key stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Not being active in the forming year/s of 5G for your industry creates a learning deficit that will be hard to recover. The cost of acquiring the learning now is lower than the challenge to wait and hope you can enter later.

Early stages include one or several of the following steps: • time-limited trials for specific use cases • early 5G trials at business premises, for both private and managed local networks, for the initial target use cases • campus-wide networks with own staff as early adopters as the final step before network-wide realizations Plan for extensive collaborations and cocreation initiatives to unlock the full values. Expect 5G to be more learning-intensive than 4G, where few over-the-top business applications required interactions with the network platform.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020 Ericsson Open Information 2020

Cheat sheet 2: Create 5G first-mover advantages

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet

Create 5G first-mover advantages

Main message

Target CSP audience

Creating first-mover advantages is on top of businesses’ strategic priority list. 5G pioneers will act in 2020 to leverage learnings from 4G front-runners.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise sales teams

Talking points The most important strategic and business drivers for businesses to adopt 5G are: First-mover advantages vital for businesses

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Strategic objectives: 73% First-mover advantages, 54% desire to be seen as innovative, 53% critical to digital transformation¹

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Business objectives: 77% seek faster time-to-market with new products and services, 74% increased business efficiency and 67% reduced cost¹

5G networks have been launched widely in 2019.

Broad global launch

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59 networks were taken into service in the first year of 5G (2019)².

•

This is compared to four in the first year of 4G (2010)².

A vibrant device ecosystem accelerates initial market momentum.

Vibrant device ecosystem

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95 5G devices launched and an additional 180 announced in 16 form factors³

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Second wave of fixed wireless terminals expected in H2 2020

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Iconic devices expected H2 2020 (12 months earlier in the cycle than for 4G)

The initial subscriber adoption for 5G services in 2019 was fast.

Rapid subscriber adoption

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17.7 million subscriptions were signed in the first four quarters of 5G¹.

•

The same volume took 10 quarters for 4G, 11 for 3G and 14 for 2G¹.

An important driver for communications service providers’ strong push to be early out come from the benefits enjoyed by 4G front-runners.

Front-runners captured all growth

•

The 49 4G front-runners enjoyed a 8.5% CAGR for service revenue growth4.

•

The remaining 238 service providers worldwide declined at -1.95% CAGR4.

The pace at which the 5G marketplace is developing make it reasonable to expect: Yearly progress coming quarterly

•

yearly progress for 4G to come in quarterly increments for 5G.

•

first-mover strategies winning over follower strategies.

Key take-away: Your best business customers will act in 2020 to gain first-mover advantages.

Footnotes 1. 5G’s Year One: Fast start and healthy growth, 5G Americas, March 2020 2. The industry impact of 5G, insights from 10 sectors into the role of 5G, February 2018 3. 5G Devices April 2020: Global Eco-system, GSA 4. Growth Codes Ericsson, 2019

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 3: Collaborations & Learnings

Why 5G will be an intensive learning journey Embracing 5G is like going to college. It’s a 5-year journey, and you’re excited about what life has in store for you at the end. I see this as a fitting analogy for 5G, as like college, many new things will be learnt on the way and they’ll be plenty of challenges, particularly in the first year as you transition from the class of 4G to becoming a 5G newcomer. Consider 2020 as your freshman year, a time when you are eager to explore and join your customers on an exciting learning journey. Here’s what lies ahead.

The 4G learning curve

Thanks to 4G, we now have access to millions of smartphone apps. The over the top model with universal connectivity for all services, created a level playing field for application developers.

All app developers now have access to the same mobile broadband connectivity, and few have needed to interact with communication services providers or technology providers to secure their user experience. As a consequence, the application knowledge and learnings shared between industries and service providers has been limited.

The introduction of Cellular IoT has represented the first step in a transformative journey. Its first wave, Broadband IoT leveraged the same technology (4G), business model (based on traffic or monthly subscriptions), and anchor for connectivity values (SIM cards) as smartphones do. This model allows us to address a subset of the market, but to reach the full potential of 5G and Cellular IoT, we will enter a more learning-intensive phase.

As a communication service provider serving the B2B and B2B2C market, the learning will ramp up during these parallel transitions: • The expansion of Cellular IoT from Broadband IoT to massive IoT, critical IoT, and industry automation IoT. • Cellular network technologies expanding from public into private and hybrid networks.

• The introduction of virtual private networks or network slices, adding value to businesses beyond “one slice fits all” connectivity, which as a result opens up room for new business models.

Stairway to 5G

The evolution of use cases from 4G to 5G can be compared to taking calculated steps on a staircase rather than taking one swift elevator trip. This reality became clear when looking at a broad portfolio of use cases, decoupled from the technology required for service delivery. The network capabilities define evolve use cases in three steps.

1) What you could do with classic 4G capabilities from yesterday 2) What you can do with evolved 4G today, and 3) How you can achieve the full 5G experience tomorrow.

When looking at a specific use case through a 5G lens, we see two types. First, use cases that get an experience boost when delivered over 5G. Second, use cases that require 5G to reach the target experience.

The main advantage of starting with 4G, wherever possible, is to gain application knowledge on the road to 5G. This knowledge reduces the challenges and risks when you eventually leverage 5G, as you have some of the deployment and go-to-market difficulties already addressed.

Collaboration and co-creation

The path to creating use cases is an innovation journey with a high degree of collaboration and co-creation between service providers and enterprises. The collaboration and co-creation process for first movers must be highly innovative, as needs, solutions, and business models are rarely crisp from the beginning.

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These early phases must also include critical stakeholders in the eco-system for devices, network technology, and applications.

Ericsson began to collaborate with external stakeholders for 5G early, starting with large multi-national companies seeking to leverage the next mobile network generation, with a focus on performance-critical applications. What we learned is that an essential part of these collaborations is to align strategic network roadmaps for use cases several years into the future. All of this is done to avoid a scenario where only the networks are ready, but not devices and applications, or vice versa.

The novelty of these use cases calls for extensive use of experimentation and co-creation to validate a use case – starting with the anchor players in the eco-system and using methodologies used by smaller, innovative companies.

From showcase to useful case

The network investments required for 5G are justified by use cases adding value for consumers and businesses. The broad applicability of 5G makes the use case landscape diverse from the start. A typical development journey starts with a capabilitycentric showcase, at an event or a lab. The next phase is to apply the capabilities used in the showcase to a business problem.

Once the need is well defined, an application trial can take place focusing on technology validation and user acceptance.

Fundamental market research happens before launch, but late in the process. Once we have taken the required steps, we move from a showcase to a useful case that is ready for deployment.

Communication service providers can leverage the steps taken when introducing 5G in the network for the development of new use cases for business customers. As we observed from 2017 to 2019, multiple iterations took place to move network technology from being novel to commercially viable. A similar journey takes place for first movers in a specific industry until we can consider a use case nailed, meaning it solves a need, and the solution and business model are clear and ready to be scaled for similar cases with predictable outcomes.

How useful a use case is, comes from how far we expect it to scale. Each use case takes time and effort to nail, and its scalability defines its potential. Vital questions to answer in this stage involve identifying the parameters we can tie volume potential to, and the magnitude of the unlocked value. As the

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

new 5G values come from unlocking un-served or under-served markets, we can expect business model innovation to become a central activity for service providers.

Varying use case complexity

The realization of 5G use cases varies in complexity. On the top level, we can group use cases based on 1) deployment and 2) go-to-market complexities. The deployment challenges vary with the size of the leap required in network capabilities and operational procedures. Go-to-market aspects such as ecosystem/partner dependencies and monetization models will also come with varying levels of complexity.

In a recent collaboration, Ericsson and ADL analyzed 400 use cases across 10 industries and found 200 use cases that 5G can enable – meaning 5G can significantly enhance or create them.

Commonalities in go-to-market and deployment challenges allowed us to group use cases into nine clusters, which jointly serve as a baseline for strategic network planning.

These use case clusters can guide marketing and sales professionals in understanding what type of use cases we can expect for a specific industry and their dependencies. However, across all, enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access represent a logical start, due to their clarity of go-to-market and deployment challenges and straight forward business models.

We also see momentum building where both go-to-market and deployment challenges are low. These are important learning platforms, before we take on larger and more complex clusters.

Starting year one is more laborious than finishing year five

We hope this has provided some perspective on the nature of the 5G marketplace. The early stages are learning intensive. Learning by doing is the primary way to drive progress for early adopters.

Skipping year one, is not the most optimal approach. Think of the elevator and staircase analogy – and take each calculated step based on where you’ve been, where you are and where you are going - to achieve the most out of the 5G learning journey.

Just like a first-year college student armed with new knowledge, you can lead collaborative co-creation efforts in your next innovative business journey.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020 Ericsson Open Information 2020

Cheat sheet 3: 5G is a learning intensive journey

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet

5G is a learningintensive journey

Main message

Target CSP audience

5G represents a learning-intensive journey in multiple steps, with close collaboration and co-creation between service providers and B2B/B2B2C customers

5G marketing teams 5G product management teams Enterprise sales teams

Talking points •

The 4G era started with smartphone as the important vehicle for value creation for B2B and B2B2C, and SIM cards for value transfer.

•

Few of the 3.3 million (Android) or 2.2 million application (iOS) providers have ever talked to a communications service provider or a technology vendor

•

Communications service providers offering to B2B and B2B2C was focused on smartphone subscriptions and voice/text/data plans.

•

IoT offerings had strong ties to SIM cards carrying connectivity values.

•

The best steps forward involve assessing current LTE capabilities, how to use evolved LTE capabilities, and how to achieve the full 5G experience.

•

Capability assessment is a central theme in Ericsson’s all 5G for business reports.

•

The good news is you can start with what you have now, as you plan to reach the 5G end-game in steps, and learn along the road.

•

5G is an innovation platform. As a rule of thumb, two-thirds is about cost reduction and one-third revenue growth².

•

5G requires collaboration and co-creation between CSPs and B2B/B2B2C.

•

Leverage insights from Ericsson’s 30+ Industry and 40+ Academia collaborations.

•

See 5G showcases as excitement triggers, for capabilities and possibilities.

•

Key for success: B2B and B2B2C input for which problems to solve first.

•

Co-creation/collaboration is required in all phases: idea, prototype, design, etc.

•

Introduction complexity falls in two big buckets: 1. go-to-market and 2. deployment challenges.

•

Ericsson’s framework with nine use case clusters targets low-hanging fruits first³.

•

It is easy to agree on the end-game in year five—based on a clear GTM vision.

•

You add value by guiding on how/where to start and which steps to take first.

•

Don’t underestimate the value of connectivity as foundation for growth.

4G started over-the-top

Evolve to 5G in steps

Collaboration and co-creation

From show-case to useful case

Varying use case complexity

Starting year 1 is harder than finishing year 5

Key take-away: Expect 5G to be a learning-intensive journey, taking you and your customers forward in steps. Don’t wait until year 2, to play catch-up, it did not work at college and will not work here either.

Footnotes 1. App stores list 2019, Business of Apps, September 2019 2. Connected world: An evolution in connectivity beyond the 5G revolution, McKinsey, February 2020 3. 5G for business: a 2030 market compass, Ericsson, October 2019

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 4: Three types of spectrum

What different 5G spectrum options mean for your business With 5G, businesses can create a more diverse portfolio and unlock new networking opportunities. The radio spectrum that’s used defines the service characteristics each option can support. In this blog post, we explain the radio spectrum using terminology that any business leader can understand so you can ensure you adopt the best 5G services for your business.

This blog post is not for those of you who are already able to explain C-band, sub-6, and mmWave in a way that your kid could understand. But for everyone else, it will help you to communicate to your teams what the 5G spectrum is in simple terms.

How radio spectrum affects your business

Most businesses pay little attention to the radio spectrum used for 4G services, and 4G has spoiled us with ubiquitous mobile network coverage and connectivity. We take mobile networks for granted and expect them to cover every place the sun touches, outdoors and indoors.

However, radio spectrum for 5G, includes a range of different frequencies, each with different characteristics. Each of the three variants comes to the market in materially different way, when it comes to performance and coverage. Combinations of two or three spectrum types are possible if they are deployed at the same radio site, but you cannot assume that’s the case from start.

The perceived speed has a strong correlation to the number of users sharing the capacity in any given area. The user experience for a larger number of users in a high-speed urban area and fewer users in a rural area with lower network speeds can be perceived as similar. Here we will focus more on the coverage dimension, which is a key factor in early deployments. A word of caution: the interpretation of some of the distance metaphors used vary for each of us, and they are included to illustrate distances rather than providing an absolute measure.

High band: for revolutionary creativity

The most talked about 5G option unlocks creativity in ways never seen before. This variant offers exceptional network speeds, both to and from users and their devices, over short distances.

This type of 5G both enhances the mobile broadband services to your phone and allows for fiber-like speeds for fixed wireless broadband in areas not yet covered by fiber.

As a rule of thumb, you can expect this option to provide Gigabit speeds over distances shorter than a mile. Either indoor or outdoor, but not reaching through walls and windows.

Network build-out with this spectrum type is highly selective.

The high band spectrum is appropriate for adding outdoor capacity in urban zones with a high concentration of users, such as train and bus stations, central business districts and around landmarks. Secondly, it can provide fixed broadband to businesses and residential homes in suburban neighborhoods where fiber does not reach yet, and is deployed one neighborhood at a time. The third deployment type is high use places, where 5G can unlock new business value in manufacturing plants, warehouses, sports venues, universities, hospitals, and so forth – where wires are too static and alternative wireless technologies are too slow, too unreliable or to insecure.

Expect the high level of creativity made possible here to generate new business models, complementing classic mobile broadband models. One option is to bundle connectivity services and applications for experience centric innovations, to complement mobile broadband where all applications are delivered over the top.

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If you are a triathlete, think swimming distance. If you are a golfer, imagine your high-precision short game. When you drive, this is where you are on three or four lane roads.

Network professionals talk about this area in terms of millimeter-wave (mmWave) access, small cells, line of sight, and high-band spectrum. We also talk about fixed wireless access to describe the fixed broadband option. The spectrum used is in the 24-47GHz range.

Mid band: phenomenal capacity

5G also has the potential to provide a phenomenal capacity boost across a complete metropolitan area. The capacity boost comes from a combination of more efficient radio technology and broader radio channels in the air. The mid-band spectrum is well suited for delivering seamless metropolitan mobile network coverage and coverage along interstate highways. We expect to see this technology being used for both mobile and fixed purposes outside urban areas. Outside the US, this is the dominating spectrum category for 5G services.

Network deployment scenarios are similar to when 4G came to market 10 years ago, and the existing cell towers represent the logical locations for 5G upgrades. The spacing of radio towers falls with the reach of this spectrum to allow for seamless 5G coverage across a metropolitan area.

As a rule of thumb, you can expect speeds in the region of hundred/s of megabits per seconds over a few miles on the midband 5G spectrum. Customers can have 5G access both outdoors and in favorable locations indoors. 5G also offers an increase in performance, compared to 4G in the same bands.

Business model innovation plays a vital role in this area, with a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum in play. New spectrum actions will increase this opportunity. The unlicensed spectrum serves network spots using Wi-Fi, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) and Citizens Broadband Radio Services (CBRS) technology.

If you are a triathlete, this is your running distance. For golfers, these are your long irons. Cars are driving on two lane roads here.

Network professionals talk about this area in terms of sub-6 GHz, Re-farmed 3G and current 4G spectrum, Wi-Fi in 2.4, 5GHz and 6GHz bands, License Assisted Access (LAA), C-band, CBRSGAA, CBRS-PAL, NR-U and Mid-band spectrum. We also talk about a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The spectrum used here is in the 1 GHz to 6 GHz range.

Low band: exceptional coverage

The third and final piece of the 5G puzzle is about coverage. A journey where 4G, 5G and the combination of the two play a key role. This spectrum is the base for FirstNet, a national network serving first responders in the US, and the choice when targeting 95 percent of US farmland by 2025, as suggested by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US. The emphasis is on mobile applications and fixed broadband to the most remote households.

The network deployment scenario for this option is nationwide coverage, in metropolitan, micropolitan and rural areas. Lowband spectrum networks will be built out in a similar fashion to how 1G and 2G where introduced decades ago – with an initial focus on coverage.

As a rule of thumb, you can expect performance improvement over 4G, with a reach of up to 10s of miles. Networks using this spectrum will quickly reach a large portion of the population, and more than 50 percent of US citizens have been reached already in 2020. This spectrum provides both outdoor and indoor coverage from macro towers.

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Business model innovations are critical as enablers for 5G in rural areas. Both on the demand side, as communities come together to demand 5G at the same time, and subsidies easing the investment case. This spectrum is combined with the two previous types to create a seamless broadband experience.

If you are a triathlete, think biking distance. For golfers, Visualize driver and spoon territory. Drivers see yourself on a road with one lane in each direction.

Network professionals talk about this area in terms of sub-6 GHz, NB-IoT, Cat-M1 and Low-band spectrum. We also talk about carrier aggregation, dual connectivity and dynamic spectrum sharing for how to maximize available spectrum assets.

The spectrum used here is in the 600 to 900 MHz range, coming from re-farming of legacy 1G/2G/3G mobile spectrum and new spectrum released from terrestrial TV services.

Licensed versus unlicensed spectrum

The final aspect to consider is the commercial terms for spectrum access. You can either use a licensed spectrum, where one license holder can deliver wireless services in a specific spectrum band and geographical area combination, or an unlicensed spectrum, which can be used free of charge for all providers in an area, without any rules on how to get access at any given time.

Licensed spectrum exists for all the three spectrum types described above. Parts of the spectrum auctions in the US are complete, and the next essential US auctions in 2020 will focus on the mid-band spectrum, for CBRS-PAL and C-band..

Wi-Fi and unlicensed 4G use the unlicensed mid-band spectrum in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. FCC in the US has decided to allocate 1,200MHz of 6GHz spectrum for unlicensed use, for use by Wi-Fi 6E and NR-U, with variations expected as regulators decide on local rules for the 6GHz band.

Citizens Broadband Radio Services (CBRS) is a shared spectrum and comes with both licensed and unlicensed options. CBRS-based services in the licensed spectrum have characteristics similar to classic mobile services, whereas the characteristics in the unlicensed spectrum is similar to Wi-Fi. Two types of business models have dominated wireless services. Either in the licensed mobile spectrum by communication service providers, or the unlicensed spectrum which can be used by anyone. The introduction of CBRS, network slicing, and the strong push for the adoption of cellular network technologies everywhere change the business model landscape – starting with shared spectrum for CBRS. Business model innovations gravitate around four areas: • 5G services provided in a licensed spectrum, where all services get equal access to the available spectrum. Think 4G today.

• 5G services offered in a licensed spectrum, divided into tailored network slices. A new model that is possible for 4G but not widely implemented yet.

• 5G services provided in a licensed spectrum in a limited well- defined geographical area. Multiple business models are possible based on spectrum license ownership, network investment/purchase, and who is operating the network. One or up to three stakeholders can be involved, and this flexibility has created a dynamic market.

• 5G services provided in the unlicensed spectrum serves as a complement to mobile and Wi-Fi services for non-performance sensitive business applications.

Network professionals talk about this area in terms such as of CBRS (PAL and GAA), LAA, NR-U, private cellular networks (LTE and 5G).

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Cheat sheet 4: US spectrum options for 5G

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet US spectrum options for 5G

Main message

Target CSP audience

5G services use three different types of spectrum for national coverage, metropolitan capacity and creativity in specific zones.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise Sales teams

Talking points

4G spectrum is like sunlight

The need for businesses to understand spectrum basics in the 4G era is limited.

Coverage is omnipresent, indoors and outdoors, and 4G networks were activated nationwide: •

using low-band spectrum (800–900MHz) for coverage

•

using the lower portion of mid-band spectrum (1800–2500MHz) for capacity

Most businesses wait for 5G to be switched on everywhere in a similar way.

5G using high-band (millimeter wave) spectrum serves zones with high demands: • zones with a high concentration of people at the same time Creativity in zones

•

zones with latent business values we can unlock with 5G connectivity

•

neighborhoods outside the fiber broadband access grid

4,950MHz of US high-band spectrum in 24GHz, 28GHz and 39GHz; 47GHz band has been auctioned.

5G using mid-band spectrum provides a capacity across metropolitan areas: • outdoors across major cities, and along interstate highways Metropolitan capacity

•

improved fixed broadband with wireless access in underserved towns and villages

Three key blocks: 2.5GHz (T-Mobile), 3.55–3.7GHz (CBRS) and 3.7–4.2MHz (C Band)

Nationwide coverage

5G using low-band spectrums to extend 5G reach to provide nationwide coverage: • mobile 5G coverage in cities, towns and villages •

suitable for fixed and mobile networks covering farms, ranches and farmland

Today offered in re-farmed 2G/3G/TV bands, that is, 600/700MHz and 850MHz. Businesses are eager to understand the pros and cons with different options: • licensed spectrum – for public, private and hybrid use across all band types Licensed/shared/unlicensed

•

shared spectrum – mid-band CBRS GAA and PAL licenses

•

unlicensed spectrum – 2.4/5/6GHz for Wi-Fi, License Assisted Access (LAA) and NR-U

Key take-away: 5G services use a broad variety of spectrum options and will be activated gradually rather than switched on at once.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 5: Role in the ecosystem

How 5G is transforming the mobile ecosystem “Ecosystem” is one of the most used words in the mobile industry, which today is a well-defined, established world. Communication service providers, network technology providers, and smartphone vendors all have a clear idea on the cadence of network and smartphone releases. Over the top providers are essential for end users but play a limited role in developing this ecosystem. However, with the rollout of 5G, this reality is changing. Now, the ecosystem is expanding to include the industries served. Communication service providers, network technology providers, and anchors in large enterprises are collaborating to form ecosystems. The goal is to exploit the full potential of 5G – beyond over the top services alone.

The mobile ecosystem heritage

Traditionally, three key stakeholders have critical roles in the mobile ecosystem: mobile communication service providers – who upgrade networks, and sell phones and subscriptions, network technology partners – who offer complete or parts of network solutions, and smartphone providers – who create phones from standardized hardware and software platforms.

These three groups collaborate closely to build the foundation used by millions of mobile app providers.

To date, the mobile ecosystem used a model where most applications ride on top of universal broadband connectivity.

This “one slice fits all’ approach will remain for non-performance critical applications. But as more industries are connected, the mobile ecosystem will expand to include new partners and raise the bar for network capabilities.

Five years of 5G industry collaborations

The expansion of the ecosystem started with the standardization of 5G and the desire to expand application potential in two different directions: firstly, additional support from massive IoT applications – also referred to as massive machine-type communication (mMTC), and secondly, critical IoT – also called Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) or critical machine-type communication (cMTC).

By adding these two distinct use case categories, we opened the door to the mobile ecosystem and invited in industries who weren’t yet leveraging the full potential of new network

capabilities. We have laid the foundation for tailoring connectivity to serve un-, under-served and over-served market segments. An expanded mobile ecosystem can unlock this latent value, which has significant potential.

Multi-party collaborations

A common theme across industries is the growth of multi-party efforts for cocreation and vetting of new use cases. Common stakeholders in the expanded ecosystem are: • Global industry anchors - with vertical experience and a desire to take advantage of 5G to solve specific business challenges.

• Communication service providers - who act as providers of connectivity, service enablement, and applications in some cases.

• Network technology partners - securing the roadmap for network technology that meets the demand for a broader range of vertical applications.

• Device innovators - providing a range of IoT devices for the realization of new use cases.

• Application creators - developing software applications working in tandem with device innovations.

• System integrators - working closely with industry anchors to refine needs, solutions, and investment cases.

These multi-party collaboration initiatives represent what’s required to nail a new industry use case. A task where a horizontal network platform connects to vertical use cases

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Putting the connected ecosystem to work

Players at the global forefront of their industry are already defining the new ecosystem, with initial solution pilots underway.

The maturity of this solutions and the remaining distance to commercial launch, varies significantly between industries.

The industry anchors take the next step and validate assumptions about needs, solutions, benefits and business models with minimum viable pilots across 5G networks. Starting with a few strategic use cases driving initial deployments The communication service providers are considering technology developments and partnership opportunities when shaping their 5G business strategies, and are also accelerating marketing and sales efforts – especially where horizontal network rollouts need to consider vertical solution needs.

The network technology partners focus on global-first projects, nailing use cases before they are scaled. All players in the ecosystem will not have to talk to Ericsson, but in the formation phase, we often collaborate and co-create with the first movers.

Device innovators integrate their products with cellular networks. They are leveraging work already done by the system on chip providers. A vital task is to secure suitable connectivity options that match the use case needs.

The software applications unlock the value envisioned. In the smartphone world, application integration and verification are focused on smartphone platforms. But in an IoT world, it expands to include a wider variety of interoperability challenges.

System integrators for business applications have used many different network technologies in the past. The introduction of cellular network technology adds a new element beyond classic integration efforts. Interfaces between system integrators, communication service providers and network technology partners evolve to fit the new reality.

Expect the ecosystem expansion to mature in five steps, centered around use cases: 1) Early showcases - triggering interest for a specific industry/ use case.

2) Technology validation in labs - involving all vital solution components 3) Solution pilots in target networks - proving solutions and performance expectations.

4) Commercial pilots - validating assumptions on business benefits and business models.

5) Nailed and ready for commercial launch - an industry case is stable enough for replication where the target demand exists.

A critical pivot point is when we move from strategic collaborations to deployments for commercial use, where you, as a marketing or sales professional, come into the picture.

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Marketing and sales checklist for 5G ecosystem questions

The following questions will give you a good idea of the maturity of the mobile ecosystem for the vertical you serve: • Do we know the required multi-stakeholder constellations shaping the foundation for the ecosystem for this vertical?

• Which additional players do we need to add to make the solution ecosystem complete?

• What is the first one to three 5G use cases we see as the launchpad for the adoption of 5G by this vertical?

• What stage of ecosystem maturity are we at, related to the five-step model above?

• Is this vertical go-to-market or network deployment constrained?

• Where in the 5G network, can we conduct required solution pilots to validate developing use cases?

• What is the potential for replication after successful pilots?

• What would be an optimal network slice for commercial • realization?

• How would you describe the business model for the key stakeholders in the ecosystem?

Nail before you scale

An essential part of your ecosystem responsibilities is understanding what needs nailing, and what is ready to scale.

The nailing period is business development intensive on multiple fronts. You are validating needs, working out base solutions, articulating benefits, and proving business models.

Working with a few use cases this phase allows you to focus on nailing all aspects of the challenge at hand. This period is a journey of gradual increase in clarity.

After successfully nailing the above, the scaling phase is more straightforward, as sales can leverage a solid blueprint as a baseline. All early opportunities will be different, but small customizations from few well-known use cases is easier than addressing all opportunities with a full custom approach.

Businesses can deploy 5G today by leveraging the ecosystem and models in place for mobile broadband and enhanced mobile broadband and extending with a more powerful cellular network connectivity. The years 2020 and 2021 are critical “nailing years” for more advanced industry-specific use cases and new business models. The ones taking an active role in shaping and nailing the ecosystem in these years have great potential to lead use case scaling once the market takes off. It boils down to where you can make the most significant difference, choosing from a wide variety of vertical opportunities.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020 Ericsson Open Information 2020

Cheat sheet 5: Define your role in the 5G ecosystems

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet

Define your role in the 5G ecosystems

Main message

Target CSP audience

The 5G ecosystem reaches far beyond the telecom industry and new constellations will be defined by the early 5G projects.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise Sales teams

Talking points The mobile ecosystem used to gravitate around three anchors:

Mobile ecosystem heritage

•

Mobile communications service providers (CSPs)—building networks and offering phones and mobile services

•

Smartphone creators—developing device technology and consumer products

•

Network technology partners—developing radio, transport and core technology and associated deployment services

The expanded mobile ecosystem for 5G to businesses reaches further into the industries served, creating an “ecosystem of ecosystems”.

Multi-party ecosystem for 5G

•

Mobile CSPs—building public and dedicated networks and offering connectivity service with expansion potential into service enablement and applications

•

Industry anchors—shaping the direction for how 5G will be used

•

Network technology providers—securing roadmaps meeting industry needs

•

Device innovators—creating innovative IoT devices beyond smartphones

•

System integrators—with deep industry-specific application knowledge

•

Application developers—leveraging new devices and advanced connectivity

A good understanding of the ecosystem allows you to reduce risk.

Ecosystem maturity reduces risk

•

What is the maturity of the ecosystem for the vertical at hand?

•

Are all the key stakeholders in the ecosystem identified?

•

Do all players have offerings that meet the project time lines?

•

Which gaps do we have in the target ecosystem?

The development of the ecosystem can be divided into two distinct phases: Nail before you scale

•

The nailing phase—high uncertainties, immature offerings and many iterations

•

The scaling phase—scaling of battle-tested solutions and business model with manageable customizations

Key take-away: The mobile ecosystem for 5G is more complex and represents a key area of risk mitigation when nailing early projects.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 6: Use places

Why 5G use places can be more valuable than use cases How can you define 5G use cases and associated business models? That’s the million-dollar question. But what if defining a variety of vertical use cases won’t give you the keys to the kingdom? What if it’s something else? A lucrative alternative is to look at use places – places where 5G can deliver material value for a handful of use cases in specific geographical areas with large potential to scale. Find out more, here.

The five characteristics of a 5G use place: • They are limited to a small geographical area • There’s potential for 5G to deliver significant value, on top of existing 4G services or as an alternative to fixed and wireless connectivity networks • There are a few strong anchor use cases that can serve as the motivator for initial investment at a given use place with the anchor use cases varying by location and industry • You see medium to long-term potential for additional use cases beyond the most important launch use cases at the first use place • There’s a clear opportunity to scale to similar use places once needs, solutions, benefits and business models are proven for the initial use place. A clear strategy for scaling a successful use case should be built into your go-to-market model from the start Articulating use places based on this concept gives you a powerful complement to your use case analysis and helps understand where to target initial deployments.

Network build-out logic

The use place concept comes from observations on how the early stages of 5G network rollout are different from their 4G siblings.

First, network coverage for 4G is omnipresent. As discussed in a previous blog, there are several different 5G spectrum options, for creativity in zones, urban capacity and nationwide coverage. When honing in on 5G high band for creativity, you work with limited reach.

This reality makes it relevant to define where 5G will have the most substantial impact both for consumers and businesses.

Second, 5G can increase revenues with many use cases on a horizontal platform. But the combination of a large volume of use cases and large geographical areas that require network coverage introduces a risk for investment decisions. Fewer use cases can carry the initial investments and the smaller areas that need covering can reduce the upfront risk. An alternative approach builds on the network in smaller and well-defined geographical areas that are easier to manage and control.

Third, the number of use cases identified where 5G can make a difference is vast. Across the first ten industries we analyzed we found 200 use cases where 5G could make a difference.

The appetite for 5G is prevalent across a variety of industries.

Therefore, communication service providers need to decide where to start building 5G, especially when it comes to places where high. band makes a big difference and there’s real inspiration for future investments. The biggest differences are where 5G introduces a powerful, secure and resilient alternative to current wireless solutions – and that are powerful enough to allow businesses to replace wires with 5G where the rigid nature of fixed wires limit a business’ agility.

A land grab in the air

Communication service providers are building out 5G networks quickly and leveraging all spectrum assets when launching 5G services. At the same time, you want to increase clarity around the deployment business case — requiring crisp motivations of where to roll out networks with predictable business outcomes.

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The 5G marketplace’s competitive nature drives a “land grab in the air” scenario. Especially for millimeter-wave, where you want to be first where it matters the most. Being second to offer 5G millimeter wave in a location for fixed wireless and dedicated networks is hard.

Think of it as if you were building fiber-based fixed broadband, and strive to get a 6-12 month time-to-market advantage.

Implications for 5G sales strategies for businesses

The question of where to deploy 5G first is central to both communication service providers and enterprises. Enterprises need 5G connectivity to create the most disruptive innovations at selected locations. Communications service providers want to focus the initial build where it makes a big difference. These two strategic intents meet in use places.

The demand and excitement in your 5G launch cities can surpass your deployment capabilities. Deployment constraints, such as permits, resources, and capital play a crucial role in the early years, until use places and associated use cases are proven.

The use places required to unlock business values for enterprises go beyond the needed 5G build for enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access services. We expect a growing queue of business customers wanting to explore 5G as early as possible. It starts with large enterprises and advanced applications, combined with 5G connectivity for small and medium businesses in underserved areas.

Enterprise use places

Large enterprises are early adopters when it comes to leveraging the full capabilities of 5G. The initial needs map well into the use place characteristics described above. There are several possible enterprise use places where 5G can make a difference during early rollouts: • Sports and entertainment venues - to enhance live experiences with digital complements • Fortune 500 headquarters - as a platform for digital transformation innovations before scaling them across the whole corporation • University campuses - as a platform for the transformation of education and innovations led by small and medium businesses • Manufacturing plants - accelerating the transition to smart manufacturing and high levels of agility and automation • Warehouses - providing connectivity for automated guide vehicles and connecting individuals • Airports - extending the wireless connectivity to planes transforming airport services • Hospitals - requiring reliable wireless services to connect patients, staff and emerging productivity-improving robots See this list as some examples of what enterprise use places might look like, rather than an exhaustive list of validated use places. An essential part of 5G innovations for enterprise is to articulate and explore new use places.

Small and medium business use places

Use places are also well suited as a strategic sales tool for small and medium businesses, but they address different needs and

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

potential benefits. There’s potential for SMBs to start with unserved and under-served broadband segments where better fixed wireless and mobile broadband connectivity make a big difference. For example: • Restaurants - increasing their ability to leverage digital tools for menus, order handling, virtual chef visits, and contactless payment solutions • Smaller stores - with shorter lifetimes – the ability to connect and disconnect stores in weeks rather than months is the new norm • Branch offices - with a large portion of the offices beyond the fiber grid with limited onsite tech support • Renting out private homes - where guests expect to live and work with the same level of connectivity they have at home or in the office • Farms - extending wireless network connectivity from farms to farmlands, as a fundamental enabler for precision agriculture The availability and cost of fiber is a limiting factor for many of these businesses. For this scenario, the use place concept allows you to frame opportunities more clearly and create even bigger potential for scaling.

The future of flexible work

The pandemic has triggered a significant redefinition of work.

It’s pushed workers from offices to inside their homes. Forwardlooking businesses can leverage this workforce transformation and more flexible ways of working post-pandemic. It’ll be less about the office or home as a permanent work location, and more about the flexibility to work from multiple locations.

This trend will have significant implications for future wireless connectivity in office locations, temporary work locations like hotels and airports, and broadband connectivity at home for professional purposes. We’re in the early stages of defining what the future of work will look like – including mobile connectivity with business-grade features and security. The use places where we conduct work will be a mix of professional and private locations.

Possible actions you can take

Extend your current 5G deployment strategy with a use-placecentric complement. Engage with the best stakeholders you can find in each use place category. Aim to successfully execute a use case pilot in 2020 that you can scale in 2021 and beyond to become a 5G growth driver outside of consumer segments.

This approach is designed to make you a winner in the “land grab in the air” battle - for the most valuable use places where businesses want 5G now. oftware platforms. These three groups collaborate closely to build the foundation used by millions of mobile app providers.

To date, the mobile ecosystem used a model where most applications ride on top of universal broadband connectivity.

This “one slice fits all’ approach will remain for non-performance critical applications. But as more industries are connected, the mobile ecosystem will expand to include new partners and raise the bar for network capabilities.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Cheat sheet 6: Complement strategy with 5G use places practitioner cheat sheet 5G for business,

Ericsson Open Information 2020

Complement strategy with 5G use places

Main message

Target CSP audience

Add use places as a topic to complement the articulation of 5G use case strategies, as a way to increase investment impact.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise Sales teams

Talking points

Explore succinct use places

A use place refers to a limited geographic area where 5G services add major values: • small enough to motivate limited investments and enable a fast build-out •

representing an opportunity to generate incremental service revenues

•

a few strong use cases that can serve as the motivator for initial investment

Early business development efforts for large enterprises have confirmed the potential of the following use places (examples not an exhaustive list): •

Enterprise use places

Sports and entertainment venues – enhance live experiences with digital addons.

•

Fortune 500 headquarters – as a platform for digital transformation innovations

• •

University campuses – enable 5G innovations by SMBs and transform education.

Manufacturing plants – accelerate the transition to smart manufacturing and high levels of agility and automation.

•

Warehouses – provide connectivity for automated guide vehicles and staff.

•

Airports – wireless connections to planes; transformation of airport services

•

Hospitals – secure wireless connectivity to patients, staff, and emerging robots.

The use places in focus for small and medium enterprises are tied to broadband connectivity, outside the fiber grid and business wanting to replace a small LAN: Small and medium businesses— beyond the reach of fiber access

The future of work

Nail it before you scale it.

•

restaurants – increasing their leverage on digital tools for menus

•

smaller stores – the ability to connect and disconnect stores in days/week

•

branch offices – beyond the fiber grid with limited on-site tech support

•

farms – wireless connectivity to farmlands, enabling precision agriculture

The pandemic has triggered a broader redefinition of where we work, requiring threepronged flexibility to enable work from offices, homes and temporary locations.

A use-place-centric strategy allows you to: • nail the first place, with the foundation of a few use cases.

•

scale to other similar use places after validation of the initial use place.

•

scale to new uses cases within a use place once connectivity is in place.

Key take-away: The mobile ecosystem for 5G is more complex and represents a key area of risk mitigation when nailing early projects.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 7: Wireless network options

Wireless business connectivity: what are the options?

Wireless connectivity plays a central role in increasing businesses’ agility, and choosing between 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi 6 is becoming more tricky as mobile technologies evolve. Here, we explore the different options available to businesses, and key things to take into account during decision making.

Over the last decade, wireless-first technologies have gained widespread adoption. During this time, wireless business connectivity has been used for connecting with customers and for making operations more agile, and generally relied on: • Two wireless technologies, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi 4/5, playing different roles in supporting professional users • A universal connectivity model with all services treated equally and delivered over the top of a broadband connection • Universal 4G coverage, indoors and outdoors, with Wi-Fi focused on hotspots indoors • 4G as the primary access for smartphones, with an offload of data traffic to Wi-Fi in homes and offices • Wi-Fi used as the primary access for laptops and tablets with integrated 4G adopted by road-warriors travelling extensively for business • 4G offered with bucket-based and unlimited data plans. Free Wi-Fi for end users in public environments, subsidized by adjacent businesses, and provided as a managed IT service at business premises.

Entering a wireless-only market

The introduction of 5G and Wi-Fi 6, and the evolution of 4G, are moving us beyond wireless-first and into a wireless-only market.

New spectrum bands enable performance gaps to be eliminated in wired networks, making wireless-only a realistic aspiration. We also need to rethink where we use cellular connectivity and Wi-Fi beyond the indoor/outdoor demarcation line. Finally, these developments also allow us to explore business model innovation beyond universal connectivity with traffic-based charges or free services.

Businesses benefit from understanding how these technologies can be used differently from before — and by challenging simplistic views that “generation” six is better than five and four. Also, they must also move away from the assumption that the choice is between generations, rather than finding the optimal combination.

The evolution of Wi-Fi connectivity for business purposes

Wi-Fi is the workhorse for offloading high volumes of low-value data traffic from smartphones with no/low requirements tied to performance. This use case today takes place in both offices and homes. Smartphone providers have supported this evolution by introducing Wi-Fi 6 support early on 5G smartphones.

Before the pandemic outbreak, we had a clear separation of connectivity models for laptops and tablets at home and in offices - based on managed local Wi-Fi networks in offices and selfsupported residential wireless LANs at home. This model worked well when working from the office was the norm.

A long, slow and partial return of information workers to offices will force businesses to rethink their connectivity strategies based on two central themes: • What should drive office upgrades from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6 when a substantial reduction of staff in offices slows down Wi-Fi traffic growth?

• How shall businesses support a growing share of the workforce working remotely in homes and alternative work locations?

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Ericsson  |  A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Adopting Wi-Fi 5 has for industrial applications has raised some issues with performance, security and reliability. This partly a result of technology issues, and partly down to the network build and operational models.

A vital question going forward is: where will Wi-Fi remain a credible option and where will businesses want to move on to a different alternative.

The evolution of Wi-Fi is different for large enterprises, with ethernet VPNs over fiber already connecting businesses and an IT partner managing the local Wi-Fi network on multi-year terms.

Managed Wi-Fi agreements typically match the life cycles for a Wi-Fi generation.

The scenario for local Wi-Fi networks in small and medium businesses differs as fiber to the business premises is not the norm. The size of each business location makes self-supported Wi-Fi networks the primary option, while VPN support for remote workers is less mature.

Businesses can evolve the Wi-Fi portion of their wireless connectivity network to Wi-Fi 6/6E or milk the Wi-Fi 4/5 installations and invest in remote working options as the shortto-medium term priority.

The evolution of cellular connectivity for business purposes

The interest from businesses for cellular connectivity is multifacetted. The connectivity categories generating the most attention right now can be summarized as follows: Both 4G and 5G are attractive for these business applications.

The evolution path that 4G follows makes it worth considering it as being in the first year for novel applications, rather than year 10 for mature applications. It also has a unique advantage in the form of omnipresent wireless coverage that no other wireless

technology can match. For these reasons, 4G is a great starting point for many business use cases. This journey can start today with off-the-shelf technology in networks and devices.

To enhance 4G use cases or launch new ones that require higher network performance, , 5G may be a better option. The 5G options operating in the low and mid-band spectrum provide incremental performance improvements compared to 4G. The more radical performance shifts come with 5G in the high band spectrum.

Cellular connectivity operates in licensed spectrum, with new complements such as citizens Broadband Radio Services (CBRS) adding a new shared spectrum option.

5G or Wi-Fi 6 for indoor applications

A new paper from Ericsson addresses the market realities for 5G and Wi-Fi 6 in indoor applications. The paper puts the spotlight on where 5G and Wi-Fi 6 complement each other and compete when limiting deployments to one technology.

When it comes to business comparisons between the two technologies, a few differences stand out. Both technologies provide a comparable total cost of ownership (TCO), but the cost structure varies. The cost breakdown for Wi-Fi is 43 percent for CAPEX and 57 percent for OPEX. CAPEX includes the equipment and installation and OPEX covers support, helpdesk and onsite IT. The cellular cost breakdown is 65 percent (CAPEX) and 35 percent (OPEX). With the difference in the number of radios required, Wi-Fi needs four times as many radios than a cellular installation. This 4X multiplier is an important business and cost differentiator.

When looking at the underlying technology, three factors stand out. 5G uses a licensed or unlicensed spectrum, and Wi-Fi 6 uses unlicensed only. The unlicensed spectrum does not allow you to control performance or reliability in the same way that a licensed spectrum does. The second major difference is the security implications: 5G uses an end-to-end approach across the whole system, while Wi-Fi relies on WPA-based security. The security level that comes with 5G is a big leap forward from 4G.

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Embracing one, two or three wireless options

Our task is to help businesses navigate this new landscape where major technology leaps, business model innovations, and adoption of novel spectrum types make “apples to apples” comparisons difficult. Critical questions for service providers and businesses to consider as part of the decision process are: • Do we pursue a wireless first endgame (with fixed complements) or do we aim for a wireless-only target (with one or several wireless options in play)?

• Which wireless option, 4G, 5G or Wi-Fi6 can we live without, if we can only afford two?

• Which game-changing capabilities do our prioritized use cases need now?

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

• Will our strategy be constrained by the network (coverage and availability) or devices (niche IoT segments)?

• Do we have a strong business model preference for a dedicated private network, a hybrid public-private, or a slice of a public network?

• What is our vision for the future of our company, and our industry?

By considering these questions, you have a strong foundation for selecting a suitable combination of 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi 6 to support your strategic connectivity network direction. Applications and devices will remain relevant and edge computing is a new part of the puzzle, but businesses’ wireless connectivity choices will still have a big impact on future competitiveness.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020 Ericsson Open Information 2020

Cheat sheet 7: Three wireless options for agility

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet

Three wireless options for agility

Main message

Target CSP audience

Wireless connectivity is vital for businesses wanting to increase their agility and they face three major options to consider: 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi 6.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise Sales teams

Talking points

Network starting point

Business today relies on three types of connectivity services: • Metro Ethernet service over fiber to buildings, and copper- or fiber-based LANs •

mobile services to smartphones and tablets on and off premises

•

Wi-Fi for personal computing and off load of low value data from smartphones

Increase pressure on business agility, move value-adding business traffic from fixed to wireless end-points.

Wireless game changers redefining the business connectivity landscape

•

the evolution of 4G, with NB-IoT and Cat-M1, to support massive IoT

•

5G in high bands enabling critical IoT and industry automation IoT (3GPP R16)

•

Wi-Fi 6E and NR-U technologies getting access to new unlicensed 6GHz spectrum

• •

new business models; private cellular networks and network slicing of public n/w wireless networks operating in tandem with edge computing

•

increased focus on performance, reliability, and security when generic, businesscritical and mission -critical applications use the same network infrastructure

There is a growing interest from businesses to leverage cellular connectivity further.

• enhance the mobile broadband services and fixed wireless access outside the grid of fiber-connected buildings Role of cellular connectivity

•

4G for massive and broadband IoT—coverage/performance beyond hotspots

•

5G for critical and industry automation IoT—new application areas not possible to serve with either 4G or Wi-Fi today phase-out of legacy wireless networks for mission-critical applications, such as Public Land Mobile Radio

• •

4G or 5G in private or hybrid public/private network models covering a campus or a far-reaching coverage with high-performance, security, and reliability needs

The choice businesses face is about which of 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 they really need.

• aiming for a wireless-first or wireless-only endgame Choose one, two or three options

•

least important if a business only can afford two

•

game-changing capabilities our prioritized use cases need now

•

business model innovations—between “free” Wi-Fi and cellular data buckets

Key take-away: Wireless connectivity is a given for increase agility, with cellular offering performance, security and reliability with new business models in between classic Wi-Fi and cellular data.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 8: Network business models

Emerging business models for private cellular networks A variety of business models can be used when adopting cellular network technologies for private network purposes – ranging from pure private networks with no connection to public service providers to network slicing in public networks. Now, we’re seeing new business model innovations in this area. Here, we explore the five tools making these developments possible.

Before introducing private LTE, three main categories of business models dominated the market for connectivity services. The cellular network-based model, which uses a licensed spectrum, offers traffic-based connectivity services for an OPEX-centric model, where businesses pay monthly based on service usage. On the other hand, you have the private network-based model, which uses an unlicensed spectrum for a more CAPEX-centric model and dedicated Public Land Mobile Radio (PLMR) networks. These two traditional models will remain, but multiple inflection points are now driving a broad set of new business model options, including: • The introduction of cellular 4G and 5G technologies in private networks, both in shared and licensed spectrum • The phase-out of legacy wireless networks, such as PLMR • The introduction of network slicing in public networks • Network sharing realization for spectrum, network assets, operations or combinations of these three-building blocks By explaining these options and how new business models can be created, you can make it easier for your business customers to understand the options and ensure they’re aligned with their specific needs.

The five key tools for developing private network business models 1) Access to licensed spectrum 2) Ownership of network equipment and software 3) Managing and operating the networks 4) Hybrid, public and private, network use 5) Slices of public networks for private use

Access to licensed spectrum

Cellular 4G and 5G technology can be used in three different types of spectrum. The options within the unlicensed and shared spectrum are available to all businesses, and the licensed spectrum options require a partner with licensed spectrum assets.

The partner owning the licensed spectrum has two main options. Firstly, they can lease out access to spectrum, or provide spectrum integrated with a broader offering. This is a fairly novel idea, as the lease can be limited by geography, time, or for a specific use. The second alternative is to offer spectrum as part of a broader offering — a complete connectivity service, where the spectrum owner also owns the equipment and operates the network. Service providers can also consider offering combinations of the spectrum and managed network operations to businesses keen on owning network assets, with the final option for service providers to offer spectrum and network assets to businesses looking to operate their own networks.

It is common to expect the status quo to remain: data bucketbased business models as the only option for cellular networks in licensed spectrum, and unlicensed spectrum as the only option for access managed enterprise networks. The essential point here is that both service providers and businesses need to explore a broader range of options for licensed cellular spectrum, especially as the most innovative spectrum for 5G services – in high-band spectrum – only exist as a licensed spectrum.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

These two models for wireless network services are different when it comes to managing the networks: • Cellular services are provided end-to-end from the user device to the core of the mobile networks • Wireless LAN services rely on two network domains - a wireless network at the customer premises and ethernet/IP VPNs to business premises

Ownership of network equipment and software

Businesses can pursue two different paths when it comes to ownership of network assets.

1) A CAPEX-centric model: buy and own required network assets 2) An OPEX-centric model: rely on network assets owned by a communication service provider or a third-party that owns the network assets.

Investment incentives have an impact on selecting the optimal ownership model for the network assets and should answer these questions: • Is the network dedicated to serving a businesses’ own needs, or used for a mix of private and public applications?

• Are private or public needs driving investment decisions?

• Are service providers and the affected businesses aligned on the required investment timing and size?

• Will the network carry services from multiple providers of cellular services?

The range of possible answers to these questions creates more possibilities for service providers and businesses than we’ve ever seen before. There is also an opportunity for pure asset owners to enter the market, where neither service providers nor businesses wish to own the network assets.

The introduction of private cellular networks opens up new opportunities. At one end, private cellular networks can be managed by communication service providers, for dedicated or shared use. At the other, enterprises can manage a cellular network dedicated to their business. The optimal solutions also have couplings between the management of cloud infrastructure and application layers.

Hybrid, public and private networks

When it comes to business, part of business model decisions relate to the nature of the mix of private and public network use. The buildout of a 4G and 5G network at a business premises can serve both purposes. The public network can focus on serving your staff, and any visitors, with connectivity for their personal productivity environment, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.

The need to improve cellular services at business premises for public use often comes from insufficient indoor cellular coverage and capacity, and the need to eliminate white spots in outdoor cellular coverage.

The private network use focuses on serving business processes with no connection to wide-area cellular networks. These networks are closed to external interactions. Both radio and core networks reside within business premises and can interface distributed cloud platforms.

A hybrid network model serves both purposes, with a logical separation of the two parts on one physical network. The radio portion is always shared, and the core parts can be located and operated in different ways.

The need to serve both purposes affects the three choices above.

Slices of public networks for private use

Managing and operating the networks

It is common for businesses today to rely on a network operating partner for cellular services as well as local area networks.

Communication service providers offer cellular services in a licensed spectrum. System integrators offer wireless LANs as a managed service to enterprises - and small and medium business manage their networks.

The final piece of the business model considerations relates to network slicing, which is a significant innovation for cellular networks. Network slicing allows a communication service provider to tailor the capacity and capabilities used for different purposes. The introduction of network slicing provides for separation of different traffic types, allowing for functional differences between different slices with potential for entirely different business models between slices types.

In its most basic form, you define two broad network slices for the network: one private and one public slice of a premisesbased network. The consolidation of public land mobile radio for national safety and public security as well as public mobile services in the same physical network uses two different slices.

Network slices can also be more granular serve a category of use cases — the separation of enhanced mobile broadband traffic from different internet of things categories. I see network slicing as the white paint on roads. Separating traffic of similar types, and enabling bus and bike lanes to co-exist and change dynamically.

Network slicing is in the early days of the realization and business model innovation cycle. The most significant step is to move from “one slice fits all” to create a private and a public

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slice of the same physical network, which is taking place on a small scale already. The scale-up of network slicing across cellular networks can drive two major innovation streams. First, businesses can select a slice of a public network as a real option for their private network needs – something that has not been possible so far. Second, businesses can increase the value of a premise-based network realization by using it both for private and public purposes. Third, networks can offer a higher granularity of connectivity services end-to-end between the edge and devices with high quality and security.

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

The best business model for you and your business

The choice of business model will vary between industries, but the main purpose of this blog post is to help you think beyond private and public models and see the bigger picture. To stimulate you to think out of the bucket, dominated by “one-slice-fits-all” and go beyond when defining future business models for private, hybrid, and slices of cellular networks.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Cheat sheet 8: Five aspects of private/ hybrid business models

Ericsson Open Information 2020

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet

Five aspects of private/ hybrid business models

Main message

Target CSP audience

Business models for private/hybrid cellular networks are defined by spectrum ownership, asset ownership, network operations, public/private use and the introduction of network slicing.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise Sales teams

Talking points Wireless connectivity for business uses two well-established business models: Two established business models

•

buckets of data for cellular connectivity

•

managed Wi-Fi networks at business premises

Extensive business model innovation is taking place in between these models to allow business to leverage cellular connectivity in an optimal way.

Cellular networks require access to licensed spectrum that can be accessed in three ways: Spectrum ownership

•

owned spectrum licenses, such as classic cellular + CBRS PAL

•

shared/unlicensed spectrum, for example, CBRS GAA and Wi-Fi/LAA bands

•

leased/borrowed/time-based access to licensed spectrum from a license holder

Radio, transport, core and edge computing assets can be owned in three ways: Network asset ownership

•

by the business itself—for businesses relying capex-centric business models

•

by a mobile communications service provider—adding assets on premises

•

by a third-party assets owner—a partner to the business and the service provider

Private/hybrid networks can be operated in three ways: Network operations

•

by the business itself—for their own business purposes only

•

by a communications service provider—providing a turn key service

•

by a managed operations partner—limiting the use to a pure private use

A cellular network deployed at business premises can serve one or two purposes: Public and private network use

•

business applications without any connection to public cellular networks

•

public use—for basic cellular services for own staff and visiting guest

The final option to consider is to leverage a portion of public networks: Network slicing

•

using a network slice allocated to serve a specific business location

•

using a slice to serve a use case category or specific use cases

Key take-away: As a business model innovator, you want to guide your business customers to see the potential beyond the two established models and leverage spectrum, assets, operations, mixed public/private use and network slices as tools in the tool box.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Chapter 9: Initial use case focus

How burgers can beef up your 5G use case focus There will be no shortage of 5G use cases for a long time, but many industry players are struggling to decide where to start. How about turning to something familiar for inspiration? Here’s why your local hamburger joint can offer some food for thought.

As discussed in a previous blog post, 5G is a learning-intensive market which requires extensive collaboration between businesses and service providers. The most important learnings are around use cases where 5G can make a difference in solving pressing business challenges.

On this journey, businesses and service providers run into one or several of the following challenges: • 5G expanding into the business segment, and solving more complex business problems than cellular connectivity alone • Finding a common ground where business needs and solution capabilities align • Narrowing down to the most important use cases among a broad range of possibilities that come with 5G for a particular industry • 5G is a platform where the killer application is the breadth of use cases it can support – and more than one is often required to justify the initial investment.

The nature of these challenges is similar to the ones people face when launching a restaurant franchise. First, it’s important to find a location, or designated use place, where you can open your restaurant. Before you can scale, you also need to nail the concept.

Start by focusing on the key menu items you need to attract initial customers, and you have your minimum viable product.

Once the concept has been validated, there are two ways you can scale your franchise. Firstly, you can add more locations, and secondly, you can add more items to the menu based on customer feedback across the franchise.

Interestingly enough, the process kickstarting an industry with 5G is similar to the hamburger restaurant analogy. Simply put, you need to: • Find a type of use place where you see the high revenue potential • Nail a few use cases that serve your target use places • Reuse and extend your offering to similar places once they’ve been validated • Scale further with new use cases once the network is in place.

The initial nailing and scaling of use cases can be simplified if you can limit the amount of use cases required for success. I personally believe it can be done with three or fewer for any given use place.

Location, location, location

For anyone opening a restaurant franchise, it’s critical that the first restaurant becomes a success and easily replicable. The same applies to use places. Understanding the location where you wish to provide services is just as important as the use cases you plan to support.

The number of possible use places you can consider will eventually be in double digits, and each use place and its specific characteristics will determine which use cases you need to support.

Beyond the type of place, you need strong business partners who share your vision of unlocking business value with 5G in the first place. Ideally, you want them to join you on the journey to collaborate and co-create use cases that can be scaled down the road.

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Identifying the hamburger (or the use case that will attract customers first)

The first question you should ask is: which use case represents the hamburger in your customer’s eyes? You cannot open a hamburger restaurant without burgers. You can sell hamburger meals that include fries, but you can’t sell French fry or milkshake meals.

Suitable questions to ask for defining your anchor use case are: • What is the problem you are trying to solve, and can it be done today?

• Which use case needs cellular connectivity, first and foremost?

• Is this use case big enough to justify the investment?

• Is this use case sufficient enough to provide a logical solution?

Identify the milkshake (a complementary solution that improves margins)

The second question is what represents a milkshake in your customer’s eyes? This is the use case that your customer sees as a logical complement to the anchor use case. The absence of this use case will severely limit your ability to nail the use place offers.

Suitable questions to ask for defining a complementing high margin use case are: • What are logical complements to your anchor use case, the hamburger?

• Does this second use case serve the same business stakeholders as the anchor use case?

• Can you unlock additional value beyond the sum of the first two use cases?

• Can the complementary use case leverage the same network capabilities as the anchor use case above?

• Can this use case deliver quantified value that your business customers will pay more for?

• Are the two initial use cases enough to trigger the required network investments?

Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

What comes next?

The second wave of customer-led use case innovation!

Up until now, you’ve focused on nailing the three use cases required for a use place to take off. Your next challenge is to scale your innovation as far as possible – by adding new menu items and expanding into more locations.

The main purpose of the first innovation wave is to find a base concept that is strong enough to justify the initial infrastructure build out. The second innovation wave is different in nature, as it is value driven and customer led. Once a business has access to an excellent connectivity network, innovations will emerge through Gemba-like walks (incremental innovation common in manufacturing plants).

Going back to the hamburger restaurant metaphor, these are use cases that can be compared to apple pies, nuggets, sundaes, salads and coffees. These use cases target micro-segments of opportunity, most of which are not visible in the early pursuit stages. Businesses play a more significant role in this innovation stage as the network already is in place.

Bringing it all together

With this final piece in the Practitioner’s Guide to 5G for business – our summer school for sales professionals, marketers, and product managers – you now have some insights into how to start advanced 5G conversations.

Find your French fries (necessary add-ons with no/low value)

The third use case category plays the role of the French fries.

These use cases add substance to the offering, but have little or no potential to drive incremental revenues.

Great questions to ask when finding your French fries are: • Which use cases add substance but there’s no/low willingness to pay extra?

• Which use cases have low incremental cost when added to the initial investment?

• Which use cases have a strong correlation to the first two categories?

With one use case in each category, you maximize the chances of initial investment and minimize the risk of being dependent on too many use cases initially. A great concept allows you to introduce the base concept in new locations and allows for incremental use case innovation at your pilot location.

If you’ve read the full guide, you’re now able to explain how 5G contributes to accelerating the pace of the market and the complex 5G spectrum landscape in terms that business customers can understand. You should also be able to articulate how 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi 6/6E complement each other – and where they compete.

Now, the extra cheese and pickles will come as you begin to realize 5G opportunities.

This post is the last part of our 5G Practitioner’s Guide where we outline 9 strategic conversations service providers should have in 2020 to accelerate 5G for business. Investing time in these topics will make you better equipped to engage in 5G dialogues with your business customers. Thank you for following us on this learning journey and investing in your personal 5G competence growth.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020 Ericsson Open Information 2020

Cheat sheet 9: Beef up your 5G use case focus

5G for business, practitioner cheat sheet

Beef up your 5G use case focus

Main message

Target CSP audience

You have the potential to de-risk 5G investments by first identifying the 2–3 use cases that make a use place takeoff, before scaling the business to new places and by adding use case innovations in steps.

5G Marketing teams 5G Product Management teams Enterprise Sales teams

Talking points The task to move from prospect to closure for novel use cases relies on the ability to reduce the complexity of the initial investment down to three vital aspects. A bit like the first things you have to have in place when opening a hamburger restaurant: Take inspiration from hamburger restaurant to find the initial focus

•

the center of gravity for the opportunity (Hamburger)

•

Low-hanging fruits that can be added without adding complexity (Milkshake)

• low-cost additions that make the solution complete (French fries) Opportunities relying on more than three main use cases, or with different go-tomarket/realization complexities for the use cases are hard to close.

Center of gravity for the investment (Hamburger)

Low-hanging cost reduction or revenue increases (Milkshake)

Add-ons to make solution complete (French fries)

Scale to new use places once proven

•

Which of the identified/discussed use cases represent the center of gravity for the opportunity?

•

Can the projected benefits be quantified?

•

Can the required investments in spectrum, network and operations be limited?

• •

Which additional use cases represent low-hanging fruits?

Is the level of complexity comparable to the center of gravity?

•

Are both use cases of the same nature, cost reduction or revenue generation?

• •

What else represent a minimum viable product to make the solution complete?

Can this addition be included at low extra cost and complexity?

•

Will the solution work without this addition?

Once you have nailed the initial use cases for a specific use place, you have the opportunity to scale the concept to across all use places in that category.

The strong focus on few use cases in the initial deployment opens up for a second innovation wave once the initial network is in place:

Customer-driven innovation in future phases

•

innovations created on top of an existing network infrastructure

•

a higher degree of freedom for experimentation to unlock additional values

•

an outside in driven approach focusing on unlocking new business values

Expect your business customers to play a key role in this phase, when their creativity comes into play with an intuitive feel for which problems they need to solve first.

Key take-away: Approach your initial use places as a franchise creator. Nail the vital few use cases to perfection before you scale, both in the dimension of adding new use places and in adding use cases beyond the original three.

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Ericsson | A practitioners’ guide to accelerate 5G for business in 2020

Peter Linder is responsible for 5G Marketing for Ericsson in North America. A professional speaker dedicated to make you see 5G with 2020 vision.

His extensive career at Ericsson, 10,438 days today, is half-and-half in three dimensions.

Fixed and mobile broadband networking, Global and US markets combined with innovation at the intersection of technology and business disruptions. Peter graduated with a double degree from Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden, in Electrical Engineering and International Business Management. He is passionate about learning and is fluent in three languages. A passionate traveler, with 202 airports visited so far in life. He is fascinated by the engineered insanity delivered by Formula 1. Dallas, Texas, is his home base.

Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services, and Emerging Business and is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s investments in innovation have delivered the benefits of telephony and mobile broadband to billions of people around the world. The Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com

Ericsson SE-164 80 Stockholm, Sweden Telephone +46 10 719 0000 www.ericsson.com

The content of this document is subject to revision without notice due to continued progress in methodology, design and manufacturing. Ericsson shall have no liability for any error or damage of any kind resulting from the use of this document

Š Ericsson 2020