In 2020, surgeons in China performed a remote liver surgery from over 3,000 kilometers away, powered entirely by 5G. It wasn’t just a flashy tech demo. It marked a turning point where telecom networks began enabling real-time, life-changing experiences, not just calls and connectivity.
Fast forward to today. 5G, and soon 6G, are reshaping what it means to be a telco. No longer just infrastructure providers, operators are becoming enablers of intelligent platforms, immersive services, and digital transformation across industries.
What Makes 5G Different From 4G for Telecom Operators?
5G Capabilities That Power Telecom Innovation
At its core, 5G offers a major leap in performance. It delivers ultra-low latency, with response times as fast as 1 millisecond, download speeds reaching up to 10 Gbps, and the capacity to support more than a million connected devices per square kilometer. These capabilities make 5G ideal for mission-critical applications that demand precision and speed, such as autonomous driving and remote surgeries.
A standout feature of 5G is network slicing. This technology allows telecom providers to create multiple virtual networks on the same physical infrastructure. For example, a hospital can run a secure, high-priority connection for diagnostics, while nearby users stream video or browse the web—without affecting the hospital’s network performance.
5G also supports massive machine-type communication (mMTC), which is essential for powering large-scale IoT ecosystems. From smart manufacturing and connected cities to agriculture and utilities, mMTC enables thousands of sensors and devices to communicate efficiently. A good example is Vodafone’s collaboration with Porsche Engineering, where 5G is used to support real-time vehicle simulation environments. In these scenarios, ultra-low latency is key to accurately testing autonomous vehicle responses in real time.
Why 5G Is the Engine of Telco Digital Transformation
Beyond speed, 5G opens the door to edge computing, AR/VR, AI, and real-time automation at scale. These capabilities push telcos beyond basic connectivity and into broader digital transformation.
With 5G, operators can now support:
It’s also redefining the customer journey. In Singapore, for example, telcos like Singtel are using 5G to power smart port logistics and urban mobility platforms in partnership with PSA and Hyundai—showcasing how telecoms are becoming key players in industry innovation.
Limitations of 5G Today
That said, 5G isn’t perfect, yet. Despite growing deployments, indoor coverage still lags due to the higher-frequency signals that struggle with walls and dense materials. Infrastructure upgrades take time and significant investment, especially for legacy networks trying to transition to cloud-native models.
While urban centers and commercial hubs are seeing meaningful progress, rural and indoor coverage gaps remain a challenge. Closing these gaps will be a key focus over the next few years.
5G Deployment Status Around the World
While 5G rollouts vary by region, the technology is steadily moving from hype to real-world impact. Countries like South Korea, China, the U.S., and parts of Europe have achieved widespread 5G coverage in urban areas. Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Malaysia, is catching up quickly, with government and telco investments driving expansion.
Here’s a quick comparison of 4G vs. 5G and where we see 5G making a difference today:
5G Use Cases in Telecom
Remote Surgery
In April 2024, Oulu University Hospital in Finland became the first medical center in Europe to deploy a private standalone 5G network across its operating rooms. The setup supported robotic-assisted procedures, giving surgeons real-time imaging and precise control over instruments with virtually no delay. In high-stakes operations where milliseconds matter, the ultra-low latency and reliability of 5G proved essential. The project demonstrated how advanced connectivity can directly support life-saving innovations in healthcare.
Autonomous Vehicles
In late 2023, CapitaLand launched a pilot in Singapore’s Science Park district featuring 5G-enabled autonomous shuttles. These vehicles communicate in real time with smart traffic lights and cloud-based route management systems, allowing them to respond instantly to changing road conditions. The trial showed how 5G can enhance safety and efficiency in urban mobility, making self-driving transport more reliable and responsive in dense city environments.
Smart Manufacturing
In 2021, Telkomsel rolled out Indonesia’s first 5G-powered smart factory in Batam. The facility integrated 5G with IoT sensors, AI, and augmented reality headsets to support predictive maintenance, real-time quality inspections, and automated part delivery. This resulted in faster production cycles, fewer delays, and improved safety for workers. The project highlighted how 5G can modernize industrial operations by enabling data-driven automation on the factory floor.
How 5G Is Reshaping Telco Business and Operations
5G is more than a network upgrade; it marks a fundamental shift in how telcos operate, drive innovation, and deliver value to both consumers and businesses.
Service Innovation and Vertical Market Expansion
5G is enabling telcos to move beyond generic connectivity and deliver tailored, high-performance services for specific industries. A major enabler of this shift is the rollout of private 5G networks, built for environments like factories, hospitals, or transport hubs.
These networks are backed by custom SLAs (Service Level Agreements) that guarantee critical performance metrics, including low latency, high reliability, and dedicated bandwidth. In smart manufacturing, this supports real-time robotics, automated quality control, and connected supply chains. In healthcare, it enables remote diagnostics, secure data transfers, and wearable monitoring with minimal delay.
By offering industry-specific solutions, telcos are expanding their role as strategic partners. They are helping businesses enhance operational efficiency, safety, and service delivery by leveraging advanced network capabilities.
From Connectivity to Platforms
Telcos are evolving from traditional network providers into full-fledged digital platforms. By combining 5G with cloud infrastructure, edge computing, and open APIs, they are giving enterprises the tools to build and scale digital services more efficiently.
Telefonica Germany, for instance, became the first European telco in 2024 to migrate its 5G core network to AWS, serving over one million users through a cloud-native backbone. Similarly, AT&T moved its 5G infrastructure to Microsoft Azure, gaining not only scalable cloud benefits but also access to integrated AI and edge capabilities.
These kinds of partnerships allow telcos to offer unified environments where enterprise customers can deploy services, test new ideas, and grow without rebuilding from scratch.
Operational Efficiency and Agility
5G networks enable real-time data flows that support AI-powered automation and predictive analytics, giving telcos new levels of visibility and control. This allows for smarter fault detection, dynamic resource allocation, and even self-healing capabilities that reduce downtime and improve overall service quality.
Automation and AI-driven optimisation are helping telcos move from reactive maintenance to proactive, cost-efficient operations. Networks can now adjust themselves on the fly, based on traffic patterns, device behavior, or environmental changes, enhancing agility while lowering operational costs.
AT&T’s shift to Microsoft Azure in 2021 is a clear example of what this transformation looks like in action. The migration went beyond a basic cloud move and included their "Network Cloud" team and core 5G operations. As a result, AT&T gained faster service delivery, reduced engineering overhead, and early access to Microsoft’s AI and edge capabilities showing how strategic infrastructure moves can unlock real operational gains.
Partner Ecosystems and Co-Creation
The future of telecom innovation is collaborative. Telcos are actively co-creating with cloud providers, startups, and vertical industry players. These ecosystems help bring new services to market faster—and ensure they’re relevant to real business needs.
NTT Docomo’s Open Partner Program is a standout, with over 4,000 collaborators developing 5G-enabled services for sectors like education, retail, and transport. This kind of open innovation will only become more important in the 6G era.
Business Model Disruption
As networks become more intelligent and programmable, telcos are shifting from product-based models to experience-driven approaches. It’s no longer just about offering standard data plans. The focus is now on delivering complete digital experiences that adapt to user needs.
CelcomDigi’s real-time billing model is a strong example. It adjusts based on user behavior and network usage, offering greater flexibility and responsiveness than traditional pricing plans. This shift reflects a broader trend where telcos are moving away from selling raw connectivity and instead delivering value through personalised, outcome-focused solutions.
What Telcos Must Know to Prepare for 6G
6G is expected to roll out commercially by 2030, with early trials likely to begin in the second half of this decade. In Europe, the Hexa-X initiative, backed by the EU, is exploring how future networks can become smarter, more intuitive, and seamlessly integrated with technologies like AI and edge computing. In North America, the Next G Alliance is focused on shaping the policies, spectrum planning, and technical standards required to bring 6G to life. These early initiatives are laying the groundwork for the next major leap in connectivity, supporting everything from immersive experiences to intelligent, machine-driven systems.
Anticipated Capabilities of 6G
The next wave of mobile technology is set to push the boundaries of what networks can do. Some of the most anticipated features include:
Why 6G Will Redefine Telecom Strategy
For telecom operators, 6G represents more than just a technological milestone; it is a strategic imperative. The applications it will support are compute-intensive and require intelligent coordination directly at the network level.
Generative AI, for example, relies on the ability to process massive volumes of real-time data, something 6G will make possible through edge-native intelligence and ultra-low latency. Similarly, Web3 applications, which depend on decentralised architecture and secure connections, will benefit from the deterministic performance and embedded security frameworks that 6G aims to provide.
In smart factories, robotics and automation will evolve further. AI-native orchestration and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) will help coordinate thousands of sensors, autonomous machines, and connected devices across complex supply chains in real time.
With these capabilities, 6G gives telcos the opportunity to shift once again from enablers of connectivity to orchestrators of intelligent digital ecosystems.
How 5G and 6G Are Reshaping Telecom Infrastructure
5G and 6G don’t just change what networks do, they change how networks are built. Let’s explore how this transformation is playing out across the network, from the core to the edge.
1. Cloud-Native Core and Network Disaggregation
Telcos are shifting away from traditional, monolithic networks toward cloud-native cores and disaggregated architectures. By breaking systems into modular components that run on standard hardware, they gain greater flexibility and scalability. Technologies like Open RAN allow operators to mix and match vendors, while SDN and NFV enable faster service deployment. As 6G development progresses, these virtualised and distributed approaches will become even more seamless, allowing networks to adapt in real time based on demand, performance, or sustainability goals. The result is a more agile, cost-efficient foundation for next-generation connectivity.
2. Edge Computing Enablement
With 5G, edge computing has evolved from a buzzword into a real business enabler. Rather than routing all data back to distant data centres, processing happens much closer to the device, significantly reducing latency. This shift powers real-time applications such as augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, and remote surgery.
Looking ahead, 6G will embed edge capabilities directly into the network. We’re talking about distributed compute at scale, where intelligence and processing are built into every layer. This kind of agility is essential for future apps that need split-second responses and personalised, location-aware services.
3. Intelligence at the Core: AI, ML, Automation
With 5G, AI and automation are already helping telcos manage networks more efficiently by handling tasks like traffic routing, predictive maintenance, and performance tuning.
6G will take this further by making networks AI-native. Intelligence won’t just support the system; it will be built into the infrastructure itself. These networks will continuously learn, adapt, and respond without human intervention. They could predict outages before they occur, reroute traffic automatically, and adjust quality in real time based on individual user needs - creating a smarter, more responsive network experience for everyone.
4. Security-by-Design in Next-Gen Networks
As networks become more open and connected, telcos are rethinking how security is built into the foundation. With 5G, this has included stronger encryption, smarter access controls, and enhanced protection for signalling systems.
Looking ahead, 6G will push security even further, introducing zero-trust frameworks, real-time threat detection across both core and edge, and quantum-resistant encryption for long-term resilience. Security won’t be an added layer. It will be embedded in how networks are designed and function.
To stay ahead, telcos need to invest in smarter tools, tighter system integration, and a culture where security is shared across every team.
5. Energy Efficiency and Sustainability in Infrastructure
Faster networks are great. But they can also mean higher energy consumption. That’s why sustainability is becoming a key focus for modern infrastructure. With 5G, operators are already seeing gains from energy-efficient base stations, smart power management, and AI-driven resource allocation.
6G aims to make sustainability a design principle. Future networks will optimise energy use automatically, rely more on renewables, and explore emerging technologies like ambient backscatter communication, where devices communicate without active power.
In short, it’s about building smarter and greener, without compromising performance.
How 5G/6G Is Changing Telco Customer Experience
5G isn’t just changing how we connect. It’s reshaping how people and businesses experience the digital world. And with 6G on the horizon, that transformation is about to accelerate. From immersive entertainment to hyper-personalized enterprise services, telcos are at the heart of this next wave of innovation.
Consumer Services Evolution
For everyday users, 5G brings faster, richer digital experiences from smooth UHD video streaming to real-time cloud gaming and immersive AR or VR. It’s also powering fixed wireless access, helping telcos deliver high-speed home internet in areas where fibre isn’t practical. As households adopt more connected devices and interactive content, 5G offers the speed, reliability, and low latency needed to keep everything running smoothly and create a more seamless digital lifestyle.
Enterprise Experience
5G is transforming how businesses operate by enabling programmable, on-demand networks tailored to their needs. Enterprises can tap into ultra-low latency for robotics, high bandwidth for analytics, or secure connections for financial systems. Through network slicing, telcos can deliver private networks with custom SLAs for sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics. As 5G and 6G continue to evolve, telcos are moving beyond basic connectivity to provide smarter, outcome-focused services that drive real-time operations and broader digital transformation.
Customer Expectations in the 6G Era
Looking ahead to 6G, customers will expect zero-latency connections and AI-driven experiences that work across platforms effortlessly, whether activating a SIM in seconds or making cross-border online payments with digital wallets. The next generation of networks will not just connect devices, but support smarter, more intuitive interactions. Features like data saving, cloud security and seamless fintech integration will become standard, helping users stay safe and connected in a fast-moving digital world.
New Revenue Models Enabled by 5G/6G
5G and 6G are opening new revenue opportunities for telcos beyond traditional data plans. With flexible pricing, real-time plan upgrades, and service-level agreements tailored to specific needs, telcos can support industries that require reliable, on-demand connectivity. For instance, businesses can pay for guaranteed low-latency performance during critical operations or scale bandwidth during peak demand.
Telco-as-a-Service (TaaS) enables operators to offer private networks to sectors like healthcare and manufacturing, helping them connect thousands of devices securely. Providers such as Deutsche Telekom and Singtel are already offering custom 5G services for enterprise needs.
At the core of this shift is API integration. By exposing network capabilities to developers, telcos can create ecosystems that support digital wallets, cloud computing, and fintech solutions. This approach not only generates new revenue but also builds more meaningful, adaptable services for enterprise and consumer customers alike.
Challenges and Considerations for Telcos
While the promise of 5G and 6G is vast, telcos must navigate a complex landscape of financial, regulatory, and technical challenges to fully realise that potential. The transition to next-gen networks isn’t just about upgrading infrastructure. It requires a fundamental rethink of investment priorities, compliance frameworks, and the technical capabilities of both systems and teams. Below, we explore some of the biggest roadblocks telcos face on the path to becoming future-ready.
Infrastructure Investment and ROI Pressure
Building a next-generation network doesn’t come cheap. The rollout of 5G and the groundwork for 6G requires massive capital investment in infrastructure, from cell towers and fibre networks to cloud-native cores and edge computing facilities. These upgrades often precede revenue, placing significant pressure on operators to show ROI over the long term. Add to this the competitive bidding and licensing fees for spectrum, which vary across regions and regulatory bodies, and it’s clear why careful financial planning is a must.
Regulatory and Security Concerns
As networks become more software-defined and globally connected, telcos are facing increased regulatory scrutiny. National security issues are a growing concern, especially when it comes to lawful intercept requirements, encryption standards, and the involvement of foreign vendors. Data sovereignty adds another layer of complexity, particularly as customer information moves across borders and is stored in third-party cloud environments. To stay ahead, telcos need to balance agility with compliance, maintaining public trust while navigating fast-moving technological and legal demands.
Technology Integration and Skills Gap
Integrating emerging technologies like AI, automation, and cloud-native architecture into legacy OSS and BSS systems remains a major challenge. Many telcos still operate with fragmented tech stacks, which makes it difficult to scale innovation efficiently. At the same time, a widening talent gap is emerging. Building and managing intelligent, secure, software-driven networks requires expertise in areas such as cloud engineering, data science, AI, and cybersecurity. These skills are in high demand and short supply. To close the gap, telcos need to prioritise upskilling, cross-functional collaboration, and long-term talent development.
What Telcos Should Do Now to Stay Ahead
With 5G maturing and 6G on the horizon, telcos have a golden opportunity. This is not only a chance to upgrade infrastructure, but also to redefine their role in the digital economy. Staying ahead means more than just building faster networks. It requires the right foundations, forward-thinking partnerships, and future-ready skill sets to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape. Here’s where telcos should focus next.
Invest in Modular, Future-Ready Architectures
As networks continue to evolve, telcos need infrastructure that can keep up without requiring major overhauls every few years. That’s where modular, cloud-native designs come in. Moving away from rigid, all-in-one systems gives operators the flexibility to grow, adapt, and future-proof their networks with ease.
Technologies like Open RAN and software-defined networking make it possible to mix and match vendors, scale services quickly, and adopt new innovations as they emerge. These future-ready investments not only support today’s 5G capabilities, but also lay a strong foundation for a smooth transition to 6G.
For telcos aiming to stay agile and competitive, building modular infrastructure isn’t just a good idea. It’s a smart, strategic move.
Build Ecosystems and Co-Innovation Models
In today’s digital landscape, telcos can no longer succeed in isolation. Their ability to thrive increasingly depends on strong partnerships and a willingness to co-create solutions. Working with cloud providers, startups, and public institutions not only accelerates innovation but also helps distribute the risks of development.
Whether it’s building edge services with industry players or contributing to government-led research initiatives, these collaborations allow telcos to deliver faster, more tailored solutions. By embracing a collaborative model, telcos are better positioned to drive value, unlock new revenue opportunities, and lead as trusted innovation partners.
Upskill Teams and Prepare for AI/6G
Finally, telcos need to future-proof their workforce by investing in the right skills. That means prioritising training in DevSecOps, platform engineering, and emerging areas like quantum computing alongside core capabilities in AI, machine learning, and cybersecurity. As networks become more software-defined and intelligence-driven, companies that actively upskill their teams will be better equipped to adapt, innovate, and lead in the 5G and 6G era.
FAQs on 5G & 6G Evolution
When is 6G expected to launch?
6G is expected to roll out commercially around 2030, with early research, pilots, and standardisation already underway.
How is 5G different from 6G?
While 5G delivers major leaps in speed, capacity, and ultra-low latency, 6G will take it further by embedding AI at the core of networks, supporting immersive experiences like holographic communications, and offering even higher bandwidth with ultra-reliable connections. 6G aims to make networks not just faster, but smarter and more adaptive to user needs.
What industries will benefit the most?
Industries like healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, fintech, and smart cities stand to gain the most from 5G and 6G. These sectors rely heavily on real-time data, automation, and secure connectivity
Do telcos really need to prepare for 6G now?
Yes. Building future-ready infrastructure, upskilling teams, and investing in ecosystem partnerships today ensures telcos stay competitive and ready for 6G’s advanced capabilities when it arrives.
Conclusion – From Connectivity to Transformation
5G and 6G are more than just faster networks. They are powerful engines reshaping how telcos operate, serve customers, and create new value. These technologies are turning traditional connectivity into platforms for innovation, enabling telcos to play a central role in industries far beyond telecom.
The future belongs to operators that embrace cloud-native technologies, build strong partnerships, and deliver experiences that go beyond basic connections to truly transform how people and businesses engage with the digital world. Now is the time for telcos to assess their strategies, prioritize future-ready investments, and position themselves as leaders in the next wave of digital transformation.
5G and 6G will define the next chapter of connectivity, opening doors to experiences, industries, and possibilities we are only beginning to imagine. The telcos that dare to lead this transformation will help shape a future where technology truly elevates how we live, work, and connect.
The journey starts now with circles.co.