Vodafone controls third use case for 5G IoT

INTERVIEW: Phil Skipper, head of IoT strategy and business development at Vodafone Business, argued the use of 5G technology opens a crucial new use case, allowing operators to control elements of network infrastructure in real time and so giving it a major edge over 4G connectivity.

Skipper told Mobile World Live work by the operator in 4G IoT had only generated two major use cases, location of assets and condition monitoring, and it was really a combination of both which proved beneficial across industries.

However, with high bandwidth, low latency and the quality of service from 5G, the Vodafone executive said a third use case of control had emerged, opening a vast number of opportunities.

“The 5G network becomes very deterministic and on deterministic networks, you can have real-time control,” Skipper explained. “So if you see the projects that we are doing, they’re very control orientated. It’s connected cars, connected boats, connected trains, connected airships and connected drones. That’s the real difference between 4G for IoT and 5G for IoT.”

Skipper added operators were still crucial to running private 5G networks, arguing that they were “experts” at being able to ensure they perform seamlessly, delivering high performance and service quality.