Etisalat’s announcement this week that it is piloting a commercial, fixed fifth-generation (5G) service in selected areas in the UAE is expected to facilitate its stated objective to become one of the world’s most connected countries.

The UAE already has one of the world’s highest mobile phone usage rates, estimated at 228.3 per 100 population in 2016, and the world’s highest smartphone penetration at 86 per cent. Buildings like malls, office towers and hotels across the country are increasingly using internet-connected systems for security, parking, air conditioning and centralised building management systems, generating data at an unprecedented pace.

Indeed, some estimates place the number of smart devices globally at 40 billion by 2025, or five times the forecast population. The number of smartphones alone in the Middle East and North Africa region is expected to reach in excess of 460 million in 2021, excluding internet connected sensors found in home appliances, roads and buildings.

The expected widespread availability of 5G, the next generation of internet connectivity that enables an average download speed of one gigabit per second, starting in 2020-21 is likely to significantly accelerate the adoption of smart devices throughout this forecast period.

Indeed, the dizzying pace in which devices from phones to home appliances and industrial equipment are generating and processing data is driving every company, including those located in the region, to review their strategy and business models to ensure they do not miss out on the opportunity to monetise terabytes of data generated.

An automomous vehicle, for instance, is expected to consume and generate approximately four terabytes of data for every eight hours of driving.

Some look at 5G, given its high speed and low latency, as one of the most important missing factors in enabling the so-called fourth industrial revolution, where production reaches full digitalisation with the use of advanced analytics, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), among other technologies. It is also seen to be an important factor in the development and implementation of technologies required by autonomous vehicles.

However, other analysts argue that speed alone does not solve the key issues the industry faces. It is understood that applications such as smartphone facial recognition or AI making instantaneous driving decisions in autonomous vehicles will increasingly rely on “edge devices” rather than on a wide area network, which means 5G solves only part of the problem.

According to Tobi Knaup, chief technology officer at US-based Mesosphere, most autonomous vehicles are already building technology that needs minimal connection with the internet to function.

“Most of the time they are reporting particular statistics to the internet while driving, but the algorithms and maps are already pre-loaded onto the car. So, I don't think network speed is a huge limiting factor unless it becomes significantly more reliable," Knaup said.

This implies that 5G, which, in its early days is likely to be more expensive and less reliable than edge computing-based connectivity, will need time to mature before it can make a major difference in some areas of computing.

However, it is widely accepted that 5G will deliver substantially better performance for applications such as augmented or virtual reality, and video streaming and gaming. It is also expected to boost productivity by enabling more efficient monitoring and diagnostics of various assets such as rolling stock or turbomachinery.

This fits perfectly with the region’s new-found focus on efficiency in the aftermath of low oil prices between 2015 and 2017, which highlighted that economies can no longer rely solely on government spending for growth.