2021 telecoms preview: the pandemic and 5G
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Before the pandemic, the telecoms sector was already undergoing significant changes from a raft of trends, including new network models, 5G commercialisation and servicing enterprise verticals. While the pace of change has continued in some respects, in others it has been masked, subdued or delayed as the reverberations from the pandemic occurred.
As we look ahead to 2021, a number of storylines will continue to run: the pandemic impact, 5G, new ways of designing/running mobile networks and the digitisation of the enterprise. This Insight Spotlight addresses the first two, with the remaining two discussed in the next edition.
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