Nokia guesswork claims to remove guesswork from 5G planning

Nokia has set forward a bold statement, claiming to remove the guesswork from operator and enterprise 5G business planning by releasing a detailed collection of its own guesswork.

New studies from Nokia claims to outline business return-on-investment from 5G services, including payback periods for new, high-value services supported by 5G, their business models and network impact. It would appear irony doesn’t translate that well into Finnish, as the claims come from lab research which is likely to be another instance of overpromising from a vendor which is praying the 5G revolution will turn the tide of growth.

“In these studies we have delivered key new insight into the benefits and business opportunities enabled by 5G,” said Harold Graham, Head of the 5G Business Line at Nokia.

“With our 5G FIRST end-to-end technology platform and 5G Acceleration Services, we have a comprehensive offer that we can leverage to help operators and enterprises understand the real value of 5G in relation to their particular business needs. Working closely with our customers we can help them evolve their business cases and provide clear recommendations for investments on their path to 5G.”

While there seems little point in continuing to justify the case of 5G as most operators appear to be raring to go, Nokia has decided to put forward some new numbers:

The team also claim ROI will be much more apparent than during previous evolutions of the network. 5G to the Home will break even after four years (assuming the price per user remains above €40) and 5G events and hotspots have a one-year payback period at venues with at least five events per month. While the numbers seem nice, everything can be profitable in a perfect world if the conditions are right. More often than not they are not.

On a more technical level, Nokia has teamed up with Elisa in Finland to deliver what it claims is the country’s fastest broadband speeds. In a field trial using Nokia’s XGS-PON technology, which the vendor claims has 10Gbps symmetrical capabilities, Elisa is now able to deliver ultra-broadband access. Well done Elisa.