The race toward 6G has already begun, even though the technology itself is still years away. For forward-looking organizations, getting ready for 6G starts long before the first network goes live.
According to IEEE, 6G is expected to be deployed around 2030, although research on the technology began in 2018. Expected benefits of 6G include faster speeds, higher connection density, improved mobility, lower latency, and greater location accuracy. Because of these advancements over 5G, IEEE predicts that 6G will improve the performance of many existing 5G use cases, especially in areas such as virtual reality, smart cities, and autonomous driving.
Organizations don't need to wait for 6G to begin preparing. In fact, one of the best ways to get ready is to fully leverage the capabilities available through 5G today.
5G Changed How Businesses Operate
After years of coordinated deployment, GSMA Intelligence State of 5G 2026 reported that more than half the world’s population is now covered by a 5G network. The feat of deploying more than 2.7 billion connections since 5G became commercially available in 2019 made it the fastest-growing mobile technology to date, but the next challenge is successfully using 5G technology for business growth.
With its unprecedented speed, connectivity, and opportunities for innovation, 5G wireless technology is changing how businesses operate. Organizations are increasingly using the currently operational 5G infrastructure to improve ROI and reduce operational complexity. According to the 5G ACIA White Paper Business Value and Return-on-Invest Calculation for Industrial 5G Use Cases, 5G technology improves productivity as much as 10% while enhancing mobility up to 35%. Additionally, organizations saw up to 80% reduction in quality related losses.
One of the most significant developments is the role 5G plays in supporting edge AI. Unlike traditional AI workloads that send data back to centralized cloud environments for processing, edge AI analyzes data closer to where it is generated—on factory floors, construction sites, retail locations, vehicles, and connected devices. This approach reduces latency, lowers bandwidth costs, and enables real-time decision-making, which significantly streamlines workflows and operations.
How Is 5G Impacting Businesses in 2026?
By using 5G wireless technology, organizations are able to process data at a much faster rate, which reduces operational complexity and improves ROI.
Improving Productivity Through Reliable 5G Connectivity
Pepthrive, which specializes in research-grade peptides and peptide-based therapies, recently moved to 5G after the company was losing hours every week due to slow file transfers between external labs and internal systems. Because each peptide batch is verified by a third-party lab before leaving the facility, all those verification files, certificates of analysis, purity reports, and testing logs must get into the system quickly to keep product listings up to date and wholesale orders moving.
The previous connection worked well when handling low traffic, but when multiple batch files were received simultaneously, it slowed down, which started to happen more often as wholesale account orders grew. As a result, the company faced potential product listing delays for products whose reports were completed but not transferred to the system. If a researcher or clinician places a time-sensitive order and experiences a delay, their trust in the company diminishes right away, Ryan Michaels, Independent Biotech Researcher at Pepthrive told The Forecast.
“Using 5G, we can now complete batch documentation transfers — that previously took 20 to 30 minutes during peak hours — in less than two minutes, and we consistently get this result even when multiple labs submit documentation simultaneously,” said Michaels.
“Throughput does not fall off under high-load conditions as our previous connectivity model did, so as a result, the entire verification workflow runs on a predictable schedule rather than being reliable only when the network traffic gets light.”
5G Overcomes Connectivity Challenges for Field Workers
In his work with construction and field operations teams in industries such as logistics and mining and in large-scale infrastructure projects, as the VP of Product at Outbuild, Mike Rolfe told The Forecast that he sees firsthand the struggle that field teams face working in locations where wired networks are impractical and Wi-Fi coverage is inconsistent.
Many field teams still spend significant time gathering information, updating records, locating assets, or waiting for decisions, he said. As a result, his clients struggle with sharing real-time data and with coordinating across complex job sites, which previously resulted in delays, downtime, and communication gaps that directly impacted project outcomes. By using 5G technology, his clients have experienced significantly reduced operational complexity.
“With reliable 5G connectivity, data can move instantly between the field and the office, helping teams make decisions faster and reducing wasted time,” said Rolfe. “When equipment, workers, sensors, cameras, and project management systems are connected in real time, leaders gain a much clearer picture of what’s happening on the ground.”
His clients that are combining 5G, AI, and edge computing see even higher productivity gains. Instead of simply collecting data, organizations analyze the data as it’s generated, he explained. For example, cameras and sensors can identify safety risks, equipment issues, or workflow bottlenecks in real time, allowing teams to respond before small problems become expensive ones. Instead of simply collecting data and sending it back to a centralized data center for analysis, organizations process at the edge. 5G provides the low-latency connectivity needed to move data between sensors, cameras, equipment, and AI systems in real time, allowing organizations to identify issues and act immediately.
Rolfe says that digital twins, which use AI to create a digital model of a physical object, are another emerging use case for 5G. With 5G supporting continuous streams of data from connected assets, organizations can create near-real-time digital representations of facilities, equipment, or projects. Rolfe says the combination of 5G and digital can improve planning, forecasting, maintenance, and resource allocation.
Overcoming Security Concerns
While 5G provides many benefits, cybersecurity continues to be a top concern for many companies. Without careful consideration and adherence to best practices, organizations can inadvertently create a boon for hackers through their 5G network.
“Compared to its predecessors, a 5G network boasts a wider attack surface due to the increased number of connected devices and the denser network infrastructure. Additionally, its reliance on cloud, virtualization, and software-defined networking introduces new avenues for exploitation,” said Samantha Kight, Head of Industry Security at GSMA, in a report.
Additionally, a recent NIST report, 5G Network Security Design Principles, explained that transmitting multiple types of traffic on 5G create cybersecurity complexities. According to the report,
Data plane: Transmitting user data, such as voice calls, video streaming, and internet browsing.
Control plane: Setting up, maintaining, and tearing down communication sessions. It includes tasks like handovers, authentication, and resources allocation.
Operation and maintenance (O&M): Providing connectivity for the 5G network equipment, including software updates, fault detection, and performance optimization.
“Each of these traffic types carries data with different sensitivity levels and [with] security and privacy implications if accessed by unauthorized or malicious users. O&M traffic provides access to devices that make up the 5G environment, allowing administrators important privileges and configuration capabilities, whereas the control plane traffic carries critical setup information, and the data plane carries user data,” wrote the NIST in the 5G Network Security Design Principles report.
The NIST recommends using virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) technology to logically separate the 5G data plane, control panel, and O&M traffic from each other, which limits the risk of attacks from spreading between network segments. Additionally, such segmentation allows administrators to more easily apply different types of cybersecurity requirements, such as encryption for user data and authentication for the control plane.
5G Pivotal in Early Days of AI Boom
Because many AI use cases require low latency and high performance, 5G has played a key role in helping organizations rapidly deploy AI. Businesses have turned to 5G for its higher bandwidth and lower latency as part of their AI rollouts, especially those with mobile operations and distributed sites, according to Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions.
"5G is not necessary for every AI scenario. Some use cases tolerate higher latency and run well on fixed networks. But when AI becomes operational across many sites or when it requires real-time responses, 5G is the strongest fit for the level of performance expected and required," wrote Ericsson.
Private 5G Networks Offer Speed and Security
Many organizations are now turning to private 5G networks to improve productivity while reducing security risks. Berg Insight’s private LTE/5G network market report found that 6,500 private 5G networks were deployed by the end of 2025 and predicts the number will reach 32,600 at the end of 2030.
“The private cellular network market is undergoing a transformation driven by the increasing availability of dedicated spectrum, evolving device ecosystem, and growing number of latency-sensitive enterprise use cases. While the market historically has been mainly supply-driven, it is today increasingly driven by organic demand from end users,” wrote the Berg Insight in the report.
Rolfe says that private 5G networks are especially useful for large industrial sites because they provide dedicated coverage across facilities, warehouses, campuses, and jobsites. Organizations can then connect thousands of devices while maintaining consistent performance and security. For many operations, he says, the private 5G network translates into fewer communication breakdowns and less manual reporting.
For example, Cargill, a global food and agriculture company, recently deployed private 5G networks in over 50 plants across the US and Europe. Because Cargill’s plants often have large production floors, moving machinery, and structures, traditional Wi-Fi was not reliable. With cellphones and tablets, employees now use the private 5G network to access enterprise applications and real-time data. In addition to improving communication and connectivity, Cargill plants are now launching new use cases that were not previously possible. In the Amsterdam plant, a quadruped robot named Spot the Dog checks for hazards, such as equipment in danger of overheating.
Looking towards a 6G Future
As businesses continue using 5G technology to reduce complexity, the next generation of wireless is on the horizon with 6G expected around 2030. According to Ericsson's 6G research, future 6G networks are expected to support data rates of several hundred gigabits per second with sub-millisecond latency. Because the new technology will open up even more use cases and business opportunities, organizations effectively using 6G technology will quickly surpass those using older technology. By identifying and enabling 5G use cases now, businesses can capture significant benefits today while preparing their organization to quickly jump into the 6G future.
This is an updated version of the original article by Michael Brenner first published in September 2019 and revised on October 10, 2024.
Jennifer Goforth Gregory has written for Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Google, Salesforce, Verizon and AT&T. In her spare time, she rescues more than 130 homeless dachshunds each year and finds them new forever homes.
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