SA国际传媒

Although 5G has been talked about for more than half a decade, progress has been much slower than the speed and reliability promised by the new network.

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However, as 5G deployments have increased around the world and more devices are being manufactured for the new network, both strategic and venture capital investors seem to be hedging bets 5G will become a reality for more people as early as this year.

鈥淚 think in just the last six to nine months we鈥檝e watched news (concerning investing) really accelerating,鈥� said , managing director of Telekom Innovation Pool (TIP), strategic investment fund.

Money coming in

In December, TIP was joined by (AWS), , and others for a $36.65 million investment into as telecoms look to as part of the ecosystem to build out 5G networks.

That deal was just one example of growing interest by telecommunication companies, cloud providers, hyperscalers and venture capitalists in general to help build out the 5G ecosystem.

In the final quarter of last year, created T-Mobile Ventures 鈥� a new venture arm to invest in 5G products and services 鈥� while invested in four companies 鈥� , , and 鈥� out of its 5G Ecosystem Fund. Qualcomm has invested more than $170 million from the fund since it was created in late 2019.

Just last week, Israel-based closed a $208 million Series B, valuing the company at more than $1 billion. The company鈥檚 software-based routing solution 鈥� replacing hardware traditionally supplied companies like by and 鈥� already is being used by .

鈥淚 think you鈥檒l see (5G) accelerate,鈥� said , co-founder and chief strategy officer of DriveNets. 鈥淚 think 2021 will be a good year for 5G investments.鈥�

Building the ecosystem

While it is hard to label any investment as a 鈥減ure 5G investment,鈥� Stenzel said we will see investors continue to bet on companies tied to underlying use cases of 5G.

Weaveworks co-founder and CEO said the ecosystem around 5G should see increased investment in things such as DevOps 鈥� which combines software development and IT operations 鈥� where companies such as and , and have become crucial to developers, and startups like Redwood City, California-based are doing interesting things.

Security and networking technologies 鈥� like DriveNets 鈥� also will get looked at by venture capitalists and strategics alike.

鈥淭hese 5G-related investments enable the infrastructure, and allow 5G to do what it can do,鈥� said at , an investor in DriveNets.

Mankovski said he can see new video advancements, as well as new technologies that bring content and safety to vehicles as areas investors could spotlight, especially as cars become new edge devices due to 5G鈥檚 speed and reliability.

, managing director at , said he can see strategies such as , , Qualcomm, and , as well as Microsoft, which acquired networking solutions and earlier last year to build out its Azure cloud for the coming of 5G, all continuing to invest in their 5G plans.

Cloud providers also will continue to invest in layers of 5G, as the network will help deliver faster and more reliable computing at the edge. No matter who invests or where, everyone agrees that building the ecosystem will be key.

鈥�5G is all about the infrastructure,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淏usinesses need that infrastructure to take advantage of 5G.鈥�

Almost here 鈥� maybe

Despite the money being invested, many still want to know when 5G will be deployed on a larger scale 鈥� and some think that day is not far away.

鈥淚 think you鈥檒l see private 5G (networks) this year,鈥� said Kobrinsky, adding that private 4G networks were too expensive and complicated to create. He said now that the technology is there, people could see private 5G networks in manufacturing plants and other facilities where automation and robots are used.

Kobrinsky said he expects massive investments this year and next by large telecommunication service providers as they push 5G into more areas.

鈥淭hey own the cells, the fibers, everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 their game.鈥�

Mankovski is not so sure, pointing out that 4G took longer to take hold than many initially thought, and 5G is even more of a massive upgrade with added infrastructure like cell towers necessary.

鈥淚鈥檓 not that optimistic it鈥檒l be here that fast,鈥� he said, adding one may first see more hybrid networks that work off both 5G and Wi-F first. 鈥淲e will see what happens.鈥�