Advanced LTE and emerging 5G services are set to rival traditional wireline as the fixed WAN access of choice over the next three years. According to Cradlepoint, a global provider of cloud-delivered LTE and 5G wireless network edge solutions, these are the findings of its new survey conducted with IDG on the state of wireless within the enterprise wide-area network (WAN).
The 2019 State of the WAN Report, sponsored by Cradlepoint and conducted by IDG, surveyed 505 mid-size and larger enterprises with 500 to 10,000 employees to determine the changing role of LTE — and anticipated impact of 5G — in the enterprise as organisations adjust their WAN strategies to deal with the implications of cloud, mobile and Internet of Things (IoT).
The research revealed that nearly two thirds (62%) of the respondents plan to increase LTE usage within their WAN in the next three years. The shift to wireless is accelerating as well with an overwhelming majority (90%) of respondents citing that Gigabit LTE is likely to affect their WAN roadmap while one-third already anticipate that 5G will have the same effect.
The study also highlights that enterprises are using their WANs to connect more people, places and things. On average, enterprises connect 2.7 different type of endpoints, including branch locations (77%), IoT devices (68%), fleet vehicles (51%) and pop-up networks (50%). Nearly a quarter of respondents (22%) are connecting all of these different endpoints.
“This research with IDG underscores what we are hearing from our customers—the volume, variety and velocity of demand on WAN connections is driving faster wireless adoption,” said Todd Krautkremer, CMO at Cradlepoint. “The study also highlights that enterprise organisations are looking to get on a ‘Pathway to 5G’ starting with the Gigabit LTE services available today.”
Get on the pathway to 5G today with Gigabit LTE
Gigabit LTE is the fastest commercial wireless service available and is the first step on the path to 5G. In fact, it leverages several foundational 5G technologies, like 4X4 MIMO and the ability to aggregate individual bands of spectrum into wider bands capable of gigabit-class speeds, referred to formerly as Carrier Aggregation. Gigabit LTE is available today from major wireless carriers in the U.S. and around the world but requires a compatible wireless edge router with Gigabit LTE capabilities.
Great expectations for 5G
Many of the organisations surveyed cited growing optimism over the arrival of 5G, which promises fibre-like speeds, lower latencies and flat-rate pricing that eliminates the fear of overages. Nearly 25% said they are familiar with 5G or are actively working toward the technology. One-third of the respondents believe it’s very likely that 5G will impact their business or technology road map in the next one to three years.
First-to-market with Gigabit LTE support
Cradlepoint is currently the only solution provider today with both commercially available Gigabit LTE support and a defined ‘Pathway to 5G’. Cradlepoint’s Gigabit-Class LTE wireless edge routers for branch, mobile and IoT use cases are powered by its NetCloud service, which provides cloud management, provisioning and analytics, wireless-optimised SD-WAN, and unified edge security.
For more information on the 2019 State of the WAN survey, click here
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