Deloitte Study Recap — Wi-Fi 6 and 5G: the Seamless Network of the Future

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Deloitte Global conducted an advanced wireless survey of 437 networking executives from nine countries on Wi-Fi 6 and 5G. Released in December 2021, the study highlighted executives’ attitudes that Wi-Fi 6 and 5G technologies will evolve in tandem — bringing us innovation and solid coverage no matter the circumstances.

Check out nine other key findings from the study:

  • 65% of executives surveyed expect Wi-Fi 6 to be a top-three critical wireless technology for their business by 2023, and 76% expect 5G to be in the top three as well.
  • 2.5 billion Wi-Fi 6 devices, and roughly 1.5 billion 5G devices, are predicted to ship in 2022.
  • 45% of enterprises are concurrently testing or deploying Wi-Fi 6 and 5G for their advanced wireless initiatives.
  • 98% of respondents expected their organizations would be using both technologies within three years.
  • Over the next three years, on average, these business leaders expect to allocate 48% of their enterprise wireless network spending to Wi-Fi and 52% to cellular technologies.
  • Eight in 10 networking executives expect advanced wireless technologies to transform their enterprises substantially by 2023, changing how they operate, develop new products and business models and engage with customers.
  • Three-quarters of those surveyed believed that advanced wireless could create significant competitive advantage for their organization.
  • Four in five respondents reported that advanced wireless was very or extremely important to their organization’s ability to implement Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data analytics and edge computing capabilities.
  • Improving efficiency, the desire to innovate using new technologies and enhancing customer interactions were top drivers of adoption.

Wi-Fi 6 and 5G are designed to work together, the study emphasized, and we’ve picked up on the direction these innovations are heading. Industry associations and standards bodies are co-developing future network standards to blend cellular and noncellular technologies for 5G and Wi-Fi 6. Despite typical portrayals of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G competing for the same limited spectrum, the next generation of connectivity is sure to be a complementary success.